That took my entire pregnancy to come up with. I assume most girls carry around a list (in their heads) of their imaginary future children's names that's been edited about a hundred times since their first dreams of a family in elementary school...and I'm no exception. Virginia, Rosemary, Evelyn, Ava, Olive, Madeline, Maggie, Lily...that was the most recent edition up until I found out I was pregnant. Once that happened, I suddenly hated every single one. I just couldn't imagine calling out any of those names to my child. Back to square one!
The next list was not easy. First, all the names I liked were, of course, really popular. In high school, I thought I was a genius; I loved the old names of the stars from black and white film and figured nearly nobody else would feel the same way. I thought everyone would continue to give their kids boring names like our own (Kelly...ugh!). Little did I know, every generation really does seem to think alike! So, I had to think outside the box unless I wanted my child to be one of five Olivia's raising her hand in class.
Second, I had usually leaned toward more Anglo names...Madeline...Maggie...Like I said, these are some of the most popular, but despite that, I suddenly felt I wanted my child to bear an Italian name. My mother's family, who I've spent my whole life with, is Sicilian, but I don't look it and my name certainly doesn't help. With Billy's name being very German, our child was pretty much screwed as one hundred percent Anglo. Having an Italian name, though, would give her just that bit of identity you long for when you don't seem to quite fit into any one category, let alone the one you know best.
So, the quest to find a likable Italian name that would be fitting for a (more than likely) fair-skinned, blue-eyed, blonde baby began...and sucked. Nothing was right; nothing! Then one day, out of nowhere, "Gia" popped into my head.
Some of you may recall an HBO film based on the life of fallen supermodel Gia Marie Carangi; some may recall my obsession with said film and supermodel from about age thirteen to eighteen ;) My daughter is not named after this woman. I swear! She is the reason I know the name, yes, but you could really...probably...say that my daughter is named after Cindy Crawford! Once known as "Baby Gia." I just thought, "How stinking cute!" A little blonde baby could easily pass as a "Baby Gia," in my mind, and it sounded just too precious. The problem was whether to name her simply "Gia" or find something it could be pulled from as a nickname.
I found only two: Gianna and Giada ("Jah-nuh" and "Jah-duh"). At first, I absolutely did not want to go with Gianna (which we pronounce "Gee-on-a" like any other native of America, by the way!)--it didn't appeal to me in the least. Instead, I thought Giada was an absolutely beautiful name...but I was afraid people would assume I named my baby after Giada de Laurentiis, especially considering my infatuation with her food and cookware, hehe...What a dilemma! Lucky for me, Gianna grew greatly on me and, after a time, was clearly my daughter's name.
The next task was her middle name. I immediately wanted Rosemary--Gianna Rosemary just felt right. But...Billy hated it. A lot, I think. He came up with "Bella," which is pretty, but the last thing I wanted was for people to think my daughter was partly named after a Twilight character and, more importantly, it didn't seem to flow properly. "Gianna Bella" sounded like one entire name to me. "Giannabella!" Please, don't steal this for your child...please. Anyway, I still liked it and thought maybe it was just missing a little something like "Isa" at the beginning. Also, I wanted her middle name to mean something important. "Gianna" was chosen for being pleasing to the ear, but at least part of her name should carry some importance. So, I looked up the meanings of about ten billion names, came up with an acceptable list, and we decided that "Anabella" was perfect by sound and significance.
"Easy to love..." exactly what our baby would be...and is.
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| ...even with that little grimace ;) |
