The Jameson Nameson

Jameson's dad is James. I know. You thought it was Frank. But the BabyDaddy is really James Frank Webster. Frank's twin brother is James Robert. Grandad is James Lang and Great Grandad was James Elias. Apparently the Great Great was a Frank Elias, but he must have been a son of James because according to Frank's aunt, this little James(on) is number eleven. I thought it went back a bit further than that...maybe even to the brother (cousin?) of Christ?

So we decided on Jameson because it honors tradition and yet it's unique. Teachers will be able to pronounce it on the first day of school, but he probably won't have to go by "Jameson W." It's not on any Top 100 lists. We did not name our son after a whiskey, but I'll have you know that it's considered one of the finest in Ireland. And we're Irish-ish.

And the Samuel? Why Sam, I am? He was NOT named after the Samuel on Frank's side of the family, who was reputed to be "a real son-of-a-bitch." He was NOT named after the Uncle Sam on my mom's side of the family, who used to send me a $5 bill each Christmas -- for a long time I thought I was related to THE Uncle Sam, who would have access to such a crisp Lincoln. Sam is just a name that we both really liked. (We also considered Elias, Reese, Finn, Schofield, and Buren.) But if he doesn't like a name like Jameson, what chance would we have of him liking any of those weirdo names? So "Sam" could be his chance at normalcy. And it starts with "S." Like Sophie. And Stacy (whose immediate family members were Jerry, Jane, Jeff, Jeanette, Joel, Jordan, and Jason...aunts and uncles included Jeane, Jud, Jill, and the other Jeff). It was time for another "S." It's a nod to the Momma.

The runner-up middle name was Django. (And, incidentally, it combines Sophie's choices of names: Jesus and Mango). We decided that might set up too many expectations for musical genius. Or prophecy. Or fruitiness. But Django makes a great nickname. Other nicknames so far? Grandad calls him "J" and Momma has called him Cricket, as in Jiminy. Sophie insists on all three syllables of Jameson, and it seems to suit him best.