<p>Like most new parents, my husband and I spent a lot of time searching for the perfect name for our firstborn.&#0160; We spent hours poring over baby naming books and dutifully combed the internet for ideas.&#0160; &#0160;We bounced suggestions off each other, listening to how each name would sound when paired with our last name.&#0160; I wrote out every potential name on a master list where I drew a dark line across the names that didn’t make the cut.</p>

<p>We were methodical in our process.&#0160; We knew that we were having a boy, which narrowed the list of candidates quite a bit of course.&#0160; We also knew what we wanted; since we were born in different parts of the world we wanted an “international” name – one that would work in Spanish, German and of course, English.&#0160; We wanted a classic name with a modern sensibility.&#0160; Oh, and it had to sound good when his name was read aloud by the Nobel Prize committee.&#0160; (Hey, you never know.)</p>

<p>In other words, we were paralyzed by our search for perfection.</p>

<p>Naming your child is one of the few things expectant parents have any control over – you can’t control how or when the baby will arrive, or the gender, or what he or she will look like.&#0160; So it is natural to put a lot of thought into the name – and while coming up with a name can be a lot of fun it can quickly become a source of anxiety.&#0160; There are so many variables to consider – do we want to honor family traditions or are we brave enough to start our own?&#0160; (We weren’t, but good for you if you are.)&#0160; How do you find a name that’s too not common, but still familiar?&#0160; Will the name make him a target for playground teasing?&#0160; Who do we know by this name, and do we like this person?&#0160; It can go on forever.</p>

<p>Thankfully, even though we were precariously close to falling into the trap of prenatal naming obsession, we ended up coming up with a name pretty easily.&#0160; As we took a walk one afternoon, my husband and I played a game where he suggested names and I dismissed them.&#0160; Until he said, “what about Sebastian?”</p>

<p>Sebastian.&#0160; It’s a classic name, uncommon but not weird.&#0160; &#0160;It worked in all our required languages.&#0160; It sounded strong and masculine.&#0160; It worked with our last name.&#0160; We liked its meaning - “revered”. It definitely isn’t a name for everybody, but it was perfect for us.&#0160; We loved the name – so much so that we decided to keep it a secret until our son’s birth.&#0160; And when he was born, and we looked at his face for the first time, we knew it was perfect.</p>

<p>One of my favorite memories of that day was overhearing my husband call the grandparents and tell them our son’s name for the first time.&#0160; They loved it.&#0160; Cheers all around!&#0160; We’d done well, and we moved on to the business of caring for a newborn.</p>

<p>When Sebastian was a few months old, my brother made a comment along the lines of “I didn’t realize you liked the University of Miami so much.”</p>

<p>“What are you talking about?”&#0160; I asked.&#0160; </p>

<p>“Well, you named your son after the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_the_Ibis">school mascot</a>.”</p>

<p>“What!”</p>

<p>After all the hours of researching every possible association for the name Sebastian, I had overlooked a most obvious and personal one.&#0160; While a beautiful name, it was also the name of the mascot of my undergraduate alma mater.&#0160; I even lived on the same floor as the guy that wore the costume, and this fact never once crossed my mind.&#0160; It’s still the perfect name for our son, but I thought I had uncovered everything there was to know about this name.&#0160; Clearly, this is impossible and I have learned my lesson.</p>

<p>We are now expecting our second child, another boy.&#0160; We’ve been much more relaxed this time around, thankfully.&#0160; But I’m now in my eight month of pregnancy, and the blank spot in the birth certificate worksheet mocks me every time I dig it out.&#0160; I want my second son to have a name that was chosen as thoughtfully as our first son’s.&#0160; Our friends agree, “You need to find a name that goes with Sebastian – it’s not like you can call him Bob.” </p>

<p>Sometimes it feels like we’ve dug ourselves into a hole, but of course we haven’t.&#0160; We may not have not bought any books this time around, and I haven’t visited any baby naming websites or looked up “The Hottest Names of 2007”.&#0160; Instead, we will meet this new little boy, and I know we will look into his eyes and just know what name is perfect for him.&#0160; And if this new, relaxed approach doesn’t work, we have a plan B.&#0160; I did go to graduate school.&#0160; I just don’t like how “<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Cavaliers">Cavalier</a>” sounds in German.</p>
