Baby Name Contest

Don't get me wrong, we're excited to have a boy. We can't wait. Trouble is, after three years of marriage, the only name we've agreed upon is Ela (or Ella, or Elanora, depending on whom you ask). We figured the discussion on spelling was minor and could wait. That is probably the main reason we decided this baby was a little girl.

Alas, life is never so simple. We've been forced to confront the dreaded decision of naming a boy.

This common and oft-fought battle nearly always seems to start at the same point. Almost every man I've met loves the idea of having a Jr., named either after himself or one of his progenitors. As the fate of the universe would have it, an equal number of women abhor the idea. As much as they love their husbands, they don't love them that much, or at least not their names. I'm sure my wife thinks that one of me is quite enough to have running around the house, usually without certain amounts of clothing that she would deem to be minimal. As these things usually go, it is generally the husband's responsibility to protect the sanity of the home and drop the idea as promptly as conceived. I myself came to this conclusion at least two years ago.

With that issue out of the way, we had to face our next problem: most boys have terrible names. Who in his right mind would curse his first born with a name such as Rasputin? Or Ethan? For that matter, I never could understand why my own parents would name me after the most famous adulterer of all time.

As a couple, we've been compiling a list of the least humiliating and sickening names for quite some time. Of course, going back to the list revealed that of the 20 or so we found acceptable, only four would be suitable for a boy. Last night we agreed on one for this particular creature. This is, however, no guarantee that we will permanently stay in such a state of agreement. We had at one point, a year or two ago, been decided on our first boy's name, but someone (I'll not mention who; she knows who she is) renigged on the deal.

So, we'd like to invite you all to make a guess. Leave your try above. Be sure to fill in your name. There'll be a prize for the first one to get it right. I'll leave a clue from time to time. The clues and guesses are listed on the left. Here's Clue the First: the name contains two syllables.