My husband and I combined old and new with both our kids' names. We coupled tradition with our personal tastes, blending names that we both liked and chose with the names of people who have had significant impacts on our families. Here's how we chose our children's first names, and the stories of the people behind their middle names.
We picked out our son's name within two weeks of becoming pregnant. After years of day dreaming boy's names (I always wanted to be a boy mom.), I thought I had everything picked out already. But then my husband entered the equation, and once we were pregnant, the real choosing began- and all my names were discarded. . . So how did we choose in two weeks?
We did what every typical expectant parent would do: we searched baby naming sites while snuggled on the couch. We knew we wanted a strong sounding name, and one that had a good meaning. After scrolling a while, we didn't find anything. So, we decided to skip the first name for now, and pick the middle name. And that was easy.
Ethan's middle name is Joseph, meaning "he will add," or "Jehovah increases." But for the Weidner clan, Joseph is also the middle name of Ethan's beloved deceased grandfather, Paul Weidner. I immediately loved the idea of making Joseph our son's middle name. I liked the way it sounded and loved its rich family history. But discovering the story of Ethan's grandfather and the origin of this name, has reconfirmed in my heart that we couldn't have chosen better.
Paul Joseph Weidner was born on July 10, 1933 in Laureldale (North of Reading), Pennsylvania. Originally named after an uncle who worked as a carpenter, little did the Weidner household know that this name would come to be passed down through four generations of sons.
A sergeant in the Korean War during his twenties (6/3/53- 5/18/55), he served for two years working as a Field Wireman in the Signal Corp, hanging telephone wires. He went on to attend Fort Wayne Bible College where he met his wife Mary Weidner. (Coincidentally, my parents met years later on this same campus.) Paul married his sweetheart on August 23, 1958. He then furthered his education in Goshen, Indiana. Once graduated, he became the head pastor of Wideman Mennonite Church, located in Markham Ontario, Canada.
However, his fresh seminary training and new ideas did not sit well with this traditional church, and venerable parishioners, emblazoned with old rhetoric, moved to have him removed and reinstated elsewhere. Heartbroken, he felt he had failed the Lord's calling; and thus declined.
Returning to Indiana, he entered the construction workforce. He was a supervisor when both the Canterbury Green Apartments and the Canterbury Shopping Center were built.
With a marriage spanning 20 years, he fathered three children, two sons and one daughter. He loved to fish, and collected model trains (which his youngest son still does today). He relished a dry sense of humor and enjoyed carpentry.
Sadly, due to pancreatic cancer, he passed away 15 days after his forty-fifth birthday on July 25, 1978. Shortly before passing away, he realized and received the peace his heart craved: God still loved him. And though he is now with the Lord, his legacy lives on.
His dry sense of humor and love of carpentry are traits that I admire in my husband. Our home is filled with a lot of laughs and hand crafted furniture.
The lessons of his life reveal themselves in his favorite Bible verse, 1 Thessalonians 5: 24: "Faithful is he who called you, who also will do it." God is faithful. God still loves. God will.
We wanted our son's name to be meaningful. And the most important thing we can show and teach our son is that there is nothing he can do to separate himself from the love of God. His great-grandfather's story offers such a beautiful example.
With the name Joseph firmly in our minds, we were equipped to pair it with our son's first name. Nestled together with hope in our hearts, my husband and I began pouring over those baby naming websites once again.
A single name kept standing out on each site. Though there were many spelling derivatives, our tastes aligned and we settled on one: Aiden. With it's Irish origin it means "Little fire" or "Fiery one." We figured with our son's chances of inheriting red hair, it would be fitting. (Turns out, his younger sister inherited that trait.)
Having the middle name picked out made choosing the first so much easier. Embracing this family name and legacy, helped us cherish and respect tradition, while also allowing us the freedom to choose our own new first name. And it gave us a platform for our choosing. We knew we wanted the name to flow with Joseph.
So we chose Aiden Joseph Weidner. This name is so much better than all the names I dreamed up in high school, and we picked it out in two weeks.
If you enjoyed this, be sure to check out my upcoming post How We Chose our Children's Names and the People behind Them, Part 2; in which I will share the story of my daughter's naming.
*A special thank you to Jeff Weidner with his family research and generosity with images.*
Cover photo credit: Wix.com free images
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