7.16.2009

Walking With You - Naming Our Babies


Walking With You was created to help support those who have lost a child. Together we share our stories, helpful information, scriptures, encouraging words, prayer requests, and more. Thank you to those of you who have joined us for the past few weeks...for courageously sharing your stories. If you haven't joined us yet, and would like to, you are more than welcome.

This week, we are sharing how we chose the names for our babies and any special meaning behind them.

My husband and I have always had problems coming up with baby names. He's from Syria, and it's no secret that he's been brought up in an antisemitic environment - though I have to say he's come a long way from his roots in his 15 years here. And the bulk of American names are based in the Jewish faith. Andrew was actually going to be Nathan, until someone in Yasar's family enlightened him on that name's origins.

When we first found out we were expecting, we started tossing around different names. Our first round was Laurel Edith and Oliver Philip, respectively. That lasted a few months, then, right before we found out that we had the female version cooking in the oven.

And then we came up with Leila. Leila (pronounced Lay-la) is of Persian origin, meaning "dark beauty". Since my daughter was destined to have dark brown hair, and a 50/50 shot at having my brown eyes, we thought it would be the perfect, beautiful name for her.

Her middle name, Mae, was meant to honor both my mother (middle name May) and grandmother (Edith May, where we thought to transfer the "e" into Mae). Viola! The perfect name for our little girl. Leila Mae.

As a side note, a few weeks after we lost her, my husband asked me if we could use the name again. We both loved it so much! I hate to say this, but I actually, for about a minute, considered saving that name - just in case. But no, it belonged to Leila, and it will never be used again.

Leila Mae Wasouf. A beautiful name for a beautiful soul.

10 comments:

  1. I love her name. I was wondering if you pronounced it "layla" or "lila."
    I like Ella because it means "one who travels." I thought I'd love for my daughter to travel and see the world. We were going to use Erin as a middle name because it's a combination of my husband (Aren) and my dad's name (Eric), but for some reason, I didn't give her a middle name. I liked the name Ella so much that I was sad for a minute that I wouldn't get to use it again. I've actually read that that's a pretty normal thought.
    I might have to do a post too. I like this topic.

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  2. That's lovely. My story behind Logan's name isn't so romantic, but we think it's funny. Maybe I'll do a post on that later this week, when I'm not feeling so emotional.

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  3. It is a beautiful name and thank you for sharing your story.

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  4. I love that Leila means dark beauty. She is indeed beautiful!!

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  5. What a beautiful name for a beautiful little girl. Thank you for sharing how you named your Leila Mae. And thanks so much for sharing Walking With You with others. I have so enjoyed visiting everyone this week and reading how each baby was named. Names mean so much.

    Blessings to you...and continued prayers...


    Love,
    Kelly

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  6. Gosh what a breathtaking story and a breathtaking name Leila. It is just heart stopping. I'm so sorry for your loss but thank you for sharing your naming journey with us

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  7. Laila is a beautiful name. In India there is a famous love story (like Romeo and Juliet) and in that story Romeo's name is Majnu and Juliet is called Laila. I will join your "walking together" campaign and blog about my son Akul's name this week. I am so happy you are finding new ways online to support other grieving moms.

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  8. I am so happy that God has blessed you with a variety of support during this storm.

    BTW my middle name is "Mae". I'm proud to share it with her.

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  9. Leila Mae.... what a sweet name for a little girl. I really like the meaning behind it too. Perfect name for a perfect soul:)

    Much Love,
    Jenny

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  10. Leila's name is so beautiful. The meaning fits her. She is a beauty.

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