What's in a name?

I posted a long "note" on facebook last night about Baby #3's name. I really put a lot of thought into spelling out why we have named her what we have. But for some reason, blogger is being difficult and I cannot get it to also post here-- not without re-typing the whole thing, anyway. And since a large portion of it was part of another person's commentary on the meaning of a word, I decided I better just rephrase and shorten here.

I had a girl name in mind months ago, when we found out I was pregnant. But I REALLY thought I was having a boy-- when we went for the appointment last week, we had a boy name picked out. We had barely even talked about girl names!


But after several nights of combing books and baby name websites, I came across this entry by John Piper, which brought me back to the original name. Really, take the time to read it. It is beautiful.


Well, that sealed it for me-- I am having a Hosanna! As for the middle name, we have chosen Eliana. Eliana is a Hebrew name meaning, "my Lord has answered." (It is pronounced el-ee-ah-nuh)


Together, those names encompass exactly what Piper talks about regarding Pslam 118-- Hosanna, which means, "save, please!," and Eliana, "my Lord has answered."


We can't wait to meet her face-to-face!



20 weeks!!!