When I was younger and childless, I used to dream of the kids I’d have. I would have at least two – a boy named Jack and a girl named Olivia. Now that I’m a grownup with two kids, one of them is indeed named Jack (well, Jackson, but Jack for short), but I’m not as in love with the name Olivia. Livvy is so cute but Olive doesn’t sound pretty at all! Now, I love the names Emma and Abby (but not Abigail).

Chad has an ex named Emily, so when we were first tossing baby names around, Emma was never an option. Grace was one of our first choices. After all, this baby that was conceived with one less-than-cautious act must have come to us by the grace of God. The middle name wasn’t as quick to come to us, though.

When I was very little, I loved long, beautiful names – Samantha, Elizabeth, Anastasia, Alexandria. I was disenchanted with my plain and ordinary name and wished I could have a more glamorous moniker. My beautiful and extraordinarily awesome sister’s middle name is Elizabeth, so that added charm to the name for me. I’m sure you can see where this is going – how I contributed to the naming of the baby – since the title of the post is “Grace Elizabeth – A Story of a Name.”

Chad and I both loved the name Grace Elizabeth immediately, and it was chosen before we knew the gender of the baby (we had more trouble coming up with a boy name but had a few possibilities for that too). When Chad related the baby’s name to his mom, she was shocked – her mother, who had died when she was young, was also named Grace Elizabeth! This sealed the deal – the baby would definitely be named Grace Elizabeth, after her maternal grandmother and also because we liked the name.

Thank goodness it turned out to be a girl after all! Tyler Elizabeth just doesn’t have the same ring to it.