What's in a name?

Congratulations to everyone that figured out our son's name from the word-search puzzle!

To those of you still wondering, his name is: Neven Robert Guth

Not that it matters to us, but so far it's been mostly positive reviews, with the occasional "that's interesting..." thrown in. ;)

Now, on to the "Does it mean anything?" and "How did you choose Neven?" questions I'm sure most of you reading this will want to know the answers to.

The short answers are: "Not really", and "We liked it."


The long answer is:

Neven's due date is in August. He also shares a small portion of German ancestry, so it was a no-brainer that we should name him after the famous German painter: August Neven du Mont...


Wait, no, that isn't it...


The real reason we chose Neven is because the name is derived from Gaelic and Slavic roots meaning "little saint" and "marigold." According to one source, "Marigolds are known as the 'Herb of the Sun' and are symbolic of passion and creativity," and we wanted to ensure our new son would exemplify these qualities.

Not convinced? Very well, we didn't choose it for any of those things either. In fact, until I started writing this blog post, I hadn't even thought to look it up. However, if you do a google image search for "Neven", you'll get a lot of pictures of marigolds (and one of a soccer player, and another of a dude with a creepy mustache).

The truth is, Heather and I just liked it. I'm pretty sure we had it picked out in the back of our heads before Aria was born. Plus, it's palindromic, which is freaking awesome.


Now, for his middle name, things were more deliberate. Neven inherits his middle name, Robert, from his grandfather (my dad). My dad is an exceptional man and father, and it is impossible to quantify just how much he means to both Heather and I. It is a legacy we both hope our son will be proud to carry throughout his life.


Just in case you were curious, we never considered a different last name for him.


Until next time,
Shaun

Print this post