Naming Squirt

One of the more trivial, but important things we struggled with when I was pregnant was choosing and agreeing on a boy’s name for Squirt.

When  I was pregnant with Spud (and not knowing her gender then), I remember that we managed to come up with several girl’s name and only a couple of boys name. We actually settled on one name for each gender well within the early 2nd trimester of my pregnancy.

When our dear Dr. Ah-Chai boo-booed it for us by accidentally letting us know Squirt’s gender after my amnio results, technically, that knowledge should have made our lives easier; given that we need to only think of a boy’s name. 

Technically, we could also have made our lives simpler by just using the boy’s name which we had picked earlier had Spud turned out to be a boy.

But we didn’t. 

Somehow both Silver Bullet and I agreed that the name we had earlier for a boy was just “doable” and not exactly “it”. I don’t know why that was, and with Squirt’s(real)  name, it took us months upon months right into the later weeks into my 3^rd trimester before we finally agreed on one name .

I came to realize that looking for names especially that of a boy, not only is much more difficult to think of (and agree on), it was also one of the most irritating thing I have ever done.  I don’t know how many times I have looked through the list of names on several websites and only to come to a conclusion that they are all the same. Even after going through them over and over again, there was no real  “Aha! That’s IT!” moment

We wanted simple, we wanted easy and we wanted a name that is neutral enough that has no negative connotation when the name is being translated to Dutch or Malay. Nothing fancy, nothing weird and nothing unique-sounding.  Most important of all, it should be easy to spell and pronounce. Given the criteria we had, coming up with a name was not the easiest task – for a boy, it was hideous!

It made the whole process much more challenging than it already was, as what I liked, Silver Bullet (mostly vehemently) didn’t. And what he suggested did not move my mojo. Some of the names we agreed to shortlist were just lukewarm. By the end of a few weeks of rigorous search as I was already nearing the due date, I was getting impatient and slightly more than annoyed because he did not agree to one name which I really, really liked.  I don’t think we have more than 3 and we were not even close to come to an agreement of one name which we both like!

But like all other things, it all sorts itself out in the end. I suggested something which Silver Bullet was open to, he suggested a variation of it, and we both decided that we liked the name after mulling over it for a few days. 

If it was up to me, it could have been Eddie. But it was not my decision, and that was the one name which Silver Bullet has the most objections to because it reminded him of a boy he really did not like very much. And so, we mutually agreed on Squirt. 

Okay. Obviously, that is not his real name, and for the purpose of privacy protection, only pseudonyms will be used in this blog. 

What’s funny though, while most people would be aware that Squirt is his nick name or his belly-name, and we use it more as a term of endearment as we do with Spud, there are actually people who actually believed that Squirt is his real name!

In fact, wishes were even addressed with “Squirt” spelt out on a formal-sounding congratulatory notes sent out to me.I literally smacked my forehead when I read the note, thinking that this person could not possibly think that I would name my child "Squirt" in real life. (Turned out he really did!)

How bizarrely funny is that?!