the names

OK. I can't tell you how anxious I am to know whether our little bundle of joy will be a boy or a girl! I am sometimes beside myself. I, personally, want a little girl. Only one person has asked me why and I'm not sure I can explain my reasoning. I think, in my mind, I've always pictured myself with a little girl first. It's not that I don't want a boy. Maybe it's because I was the first child in my family and so I want to have a girl first. Who knows? I'll investigate more and see if I can come up with some logical, deep-felt heart reason for my desire. Anyways......

My husband and I have already pretty much decided on our boy and girl name finalists. Isn't that amazing? And, my parents are pretty much in agreement, too, which even though doesn't matter in the whole scheme of things, really does help.
:-)

If the child is a boy (which is what my husband wants more than anything since he already has four girls), my husband has insisted we name him Jerry (which is my husband's first name). His family has started this little tradition with their firstborn boys of taking the dad's first name and giving a different middle name (so as not to make the child a junior). However, we won't end up calling the child Jerry. He'll be called by the middle name. Let me just share something about this with you. My father-in-law's name is Jerry Walter. My husband's name is Jerry Anthony. When I'm around my husband's family, they all call him Anthony and I call him Jerry and have two people turning to look at me. I have to admit this annoys me a little bit, but I have relented since the other two names will be family names from my side. So, we decided the boy's full name will be Jerry Allen Granville. Allen is my father's middle name. We would have gone with my dad's first name, but then our child would be Jerry Kerry and that is just unacceptable. So, Allen it is. Granville is my grandfather's name and the original due date fell on his birthday, so that's pretty significant.

Now, I've given lots of thought to what I would want to name my little girl. My very first thought for a long time was Samantha Josephine. But, when you put our last name on there, it just doesn't sound very feminine to me and a little hick. Her nickname would no doubt be Sammy Jo (which is cute until you add the last name). My dad suggested first names of Emily and Amy. Well, my husband's brother already has an Emily, so that's out. And, I'm not too fond of Amy. So, I compromised with one of my favorites and have decided on Emma. I had finally decided the girl's full name would be Emma Ruth Josephine. Why these names? Emma I just like. (And, it's cute to hear my dad already calling the baby Emmy Jo. How precious is that?) Ruth because I am in love with her story in the Bible and her name means "friend, companion." Josephine because it was my grandmother's name. My mom is very happy about this and so am I. One little problem. My mom's not digging the three names and she suggested a different second name. My mom's middle name is Rosemary, so she said I should call her Emma Rose Josephine. I have to admit I like that name, too. So, what to do?

I'm really happy with these names. No one's really digging the three names except me, but oh well. They're significant and I think they all flow beautifully.

I'm kind of interested to hear what you think. Just for the fun of it. You may even help me to decide or lend some insight into the names. Especially the girl's name which now has me a little stumped.

Should it be

Emma Rose Josephine
or
Emma Ruth Josephine?