Before knowing the gender of this baby, Isaac and I kept a running list on our phones of potential names. I’ve never personally cared for anything trendy that will quickly outdate itself. Thankfully, we both enjoy classic baby names, and had lots of inspiration for both boys and girls.
I’ve always been fond of the name Samuel, and one of my first students I had in my teaching career was named Samuel––Sam for short. I think it’s a perfect name for both a little boy and an older man, too. Also, I adore Samwise Gamgee from Lord of the Rings (I can’t be the only one, can I?!).
Samuel means “God has heard”, and when I discovered this, I knew beyond anything our future son would be named Samuel. This child is a gift from God––one I have prayed for years for. God truly has heard these prayers.
When thinking of his middle name, I wanted to make sure it was short. I have this thing with syllables, and didn’t want him to have a multi-syllable middle name along with three syllables in his first. Just as with his first name, we wanted this name to be meaningful to both us and to him someday. When we chose Alan, it fit together so perfectly and we knew our son would be Samuel Alan.
My sweet, kind grandfather (my mother’s father) is named Alan, and I was named after him. With this being his first great-grandson, it seemed so perfect to name Samuel after my grandfather, and by extension, me. After finding out we were indeed having a boy, I was so excited to be able to use this name. Our Samuel Alan.
It’s such a wonderful thing to name a child. My family has always viewed names as being blessings spoken onto a child’s life, and each of our names have meanings behind them. That’s why it was so important to me to choose names that either meant something special or were inspired by special people.
I am so glad we have shared Samuel’s name and we’ve become accustomed to hearing it around home. It’s so special to be able to call him by name, even before he is here! We love you, sweet Samuel Alan.
