What are we going to name Jane?

Okay, that's kind of silly. We always refer to her as "Jane". That name is pretty much not going to budge.

And...to be honest, her middle name is probably not going to budge either. We like "Jane Elizabeth". It means "God is gracious, God is my oath." Good name.

My brother Joe told us that we should consider doing a statistical analysis of the frequency of names in both of our families, so that is what I did. These names are JUST for direct ancestors, so grandparents, both first and middle names. Not siblings' names. It goes back about 5 generations on each side. Also, I omitted a few of the Scandinavian "middle" names - they really aren't middle names at all. "Jens Petersen Jensen" or something like that. I didn't count Petersen because that's just not a possibility for a middle name.

If there is no middle name listed, it's because it only got 1 vote.

Note that Jane Elizabeth is the third most popular choice, if you switch first and middle names!

MOST COMMON FIRST AND MIDDLE NAMES FROM BOTH CHALLIS AND VASICEK FAMILIES' ANCESTORS:
1. John John (sheesh. We're definitely not naming somebody "John John"!)
2. James Edward
3. William William (or William William!)
4. Daniel
5. Thomas

1. Mary Ann
2. Ann Marie
3. Elizabeth Jane
4. Sarah Elizabeth
5. Elizabeth Kristine

MOST COMMON FIRST AND MIDDLE NAMES FROM CHALLIS FAMILY'S ANCESTORS:
1. John John
2. Daniel
3. George
4. Thomas
5. William

1. Mary Ann
2. Anna Jane
3. Elizabeth Maria
4. Margaret
5. Sarah

MOST COMMON FIRST AND MIDDLE NAMES FROM VASICEK FAMILY'S ANCESTORS:
1. John
2. James
3.Charles
4. Hans
5. Joseph

1. Ann Marie
2. Mary Ann
3. Nancy Elizabeth
4. Eliza Kristine
5. Mette

Family names that I absolutely LOVE:
(not sure how to combine these, but I love all of them!)
Sophronia - except that Danny absolutely vetoes this name. I can live with the compromise of Sophie; that's what we'd call her anyway. Sophia or Sophie.

Isabella - this name is entirely from Danny's side of the family, but it's beautiful. You could call her Bella for short.

Sarah - the problem with naming a daughter "Sarah" is that I'd have to name another one "Dorothea" or my other sister will feel totally discriminated against!

Anna - Danny and I both agree that we want a daughter named either Anne or Anna. It's so often put as a middle name, but it's such a great first name!

Priscilla - I know that somebody else in the family really likes the name "Mary Priscilla." I like "Anna Priscilla." This is definitely a middle name.

Top Favorite Names for our Future Kids
(as of 5/16/09)
1. Daniel Edward - it's a tradition for the first son in Danny's family to be "Dan" or "Daniel" or "Danny". I don't know what we'll call him. "Dan" is...my father in law! How could I call a baby that? We'll just see.
2. Fredrick William - we love this name! Fred or Freddy for short.
3. James - my issue is that if we have a daughter named "Jane" and a son named "James" - that may be confusing.
4. John - and we definitely will have to have either "James" or "John", but not both because I don't like the name "Peter" that much.
5. Isaiah - both Danny and I like this name.

1. Jane Elizabeth - our favorite name, by far.
2. Eve Marie - our second favorite name, by far. It's kind of suspense-less, having already picked out this name for our second baby girl. Danny and I both really love it. We would call her Eve Marie, by both names. That's a tradition in Danny's family - Ruth Ann, Mary Lynn, etc. I like the sound of this name a lot.
3. Cora Madeline - this name is so beautiful! It's after one of my great grandmother's on my grandma Vasicek's side. We would probably call her "Coraline" for short. Yeah, we did see the Tim Burton film, and thought it was awesome; but we had actually picked out this name before we saw it.
4. Anne - or possibly "Anna". Anna Isabella, Anna Priscilla, Anna Sophia...I don't know.
5. Isabella or Sophia - these are tied for how much I like them. The first would be "Bella", the second "Sophie."