Originality is not our strong suit

When I was growing up I never really thought of myself being the maternal type. I wasn't one of those girls who just couldn't wait to have kids one day. That feeling didn't hit me until I was about 25. I did, however, love to pick out names for any future kids I might have. I always wanted something on the original side. No common names for me.

For girls, I was partial to Coral and Kaitlyn. For boys, I didn't have a clue. And then one day I was reading a book and the main character was pregnant and she kept calling her baby Lumpy. For some reason, I thought that would be a great name for a little one! No one else would have it, that's for sure. Well, thank God I didn't have kids until I had outgrown the Lumpy phase. Although I did name a stray cat that came to live with us Mophead. I'm truly sorry about that Moppy.

When Mike and I found out we were pregnant with our first baby, we immediately settled on Emma Mae if it was a girl. Emma after my mom and Mae after his Grandma. But we argued and argued about a boys name. I really loved the name Austin. But Mike said he would never name his child after a major city just in case we ended up moving there someday. He really loved the name Steve. But I had an ex boyfriend named Steve and didn't want anyone to think I was naming this child after him! So, the debate continued. Until one day, we were listening to the radio and the Wallflowers were playing and Mike said how about we name him after Jacob Dillon from the Wallflowers? I immediately said yes because Jake was one of the names I liked from the beginning. I could have cared less about Jacob Dillon though. I mean I like his voice but that's it. I think we all know that if I was going the route of naming our child after a musician, Jake would now be Rick.

Anyway, the point of all of this is to say that yesterday I read an article about the most popular baby names of the year. The top boy name for the last 10 years is Jacob. And the top girl name? Drum roll please. Emma. For the last 12 years it has been Emily, but this year Emma took over the top spot. I'm sorry children. I thought we were giving you unique names, but it looks like you'll be in class at school with four or five other kids who answer to the same name. If you want, you can just ask your teacher to call you Lumpy.