Henry's Name

I don't know about you other boy parents out there, but naming a boy was hard for me...and I had to do it twice! When I found out I was pregnant again, I immediately started a list of names for both boys and girls; and the list of girl names kept growing and growing while the list of boy names stayed at two names - and no, neither was Henry.

So how did we come up with Henry Raphael? This is a question that we still get asked a lot, and the answer is: we have no clue... I think, one day, I just asked Ralph to say a random letter, and I would look online and tell him which names I liked starting with that particular letter. And through that process, we ended up with Henry.

And then came the challenge of the second name...and finding/choosing THIS one was harder than the first name. Luckily, my dad came to the rescue! Owen's second name is Michael, and we chose that name because Michael is the patron saint of police officers/firefighters/paramedics/military (in honor of Ralph's line of work).

So my dad suggested Raphael, Gabriel, and Nathaniel. We already have two Gabriels on Ralph's side of the family, and I wasn't really liking Nathaniel. So I did a little bit of research on Raphael, and I learned that he is the patron saint of medical workers such as physicians and NURSES (which I am); so that was it for me. I was sold on Henry Raphael. BUT...would Ralph like it?

And then I remembered that Ralph was OBSESSED with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when he was younger; and one of his favorite quotes to say from one of the movies is, "A little TOO Raph." (Here's the clip from the movie to understand the reference.) Long story short, I told Ralph about the TMNT reference and the fact that we're totally naming our sons after the Ninja Turtles (there's a Raphael and a MICHAELangelo); he replied with a laugh and said, "Lock it in."

We kept his name a secret until he was born because we know how people can be with their opinions, which is why we called him Rerun throughout my pregnancy. Rerun is in reference to Lucy's and Linus's little brother from the Peanuts comic strips. When Lucy found out that she was having another little brother, she said it was like watching reruns on television; and that's when Linus suggested that the baby's name should be Rerun. And you know what? The nickname could not have been more perfect because Henry looks EXACTLY like his big brother.

I mean...IT'S THE SAME BABY.

So that's how his name came to be. Other tidbits about his name:

• Ralph liked the name Henry because he can call him "Hank".
• Owen has a hard time pronouncing the name and says "Hanky" instead.
• His initials are HRH, which also stand for "His Royal Highness" (NOT intentional, believe me).
• Henry means "home ruler".
• Henry is the real name of Indiana Jones, which made Ralph and I love the name even more. (Wow, we are such...dorks.)

Until next time!