So one of the Jewish traditions we chose to modify to our liking was in naming Eleanor. Jewish tradition is to take the first letter of the name of someone who has passed away (it's considered bad luck to name a child after someone still living, hence no Jr's or IIIs). So when Trent and I were trying to narrow down our options, I had a few letters in mind. S for my great grandmothers Sally and Sophie. Ah, how I love the name Sophie...but SO COMMON now!!! A for my great grandpa Abe. J for my dear friend, Jimmy, whom I lost to ALS 5 years ago now...then we figured out that both of Trent's grandparent's names started with E (Elizabeth and Edward) and, though neither of them was Jewish, Trent liked the idea. His only stipulation was that our daughter's name couldn't be something that would go well with pole-dancing. So we went with E(leanor) J(osephine). Simple. Understated. A bit serious. Eleanor of Acquitaine. Eleanor Roosevelt. Josephine Baker...Done.
Then Trent made the mistake of telling his family before she was born. And they hated the name Eleanor. Which is why, no matter WHAT your religious leanings, you should keep your mouth shut, because goodness knows, other people don't seem to. So Ellie was nameless for the first 36 hours or so while Trent decided if he was OK with moving forward with the name we had chosen. She was very almost Sydney, after Crosby, since a) he's from Pittsburgh and b) she was born the night before the gold medal game of the Olympics...and c) it fit the S option...
So yea, he got over it, and now everyone seems OK with her name...though every now and again, my folks try for EJ or someone tries out Ellie Jo...luckily, it hasn't stuck. I'm fine with Ellie. Might even like Nora as a nickname...but to me, most of the time, she's Eleanor.
So again, what's in a name?
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