Thursday 23 April 2009

The Namesake



Natalie asked me where we found the name Deaglan. The truth is, Shaune found it on the internet. Shaune's first name is actually Patrick after his paternal grandfather. At first we toyed with the idea that should we have a boy we would keep up this tradition maybe name the baby after his paternal grandfather and father. So we were going to call him Patrick William, William being Shaune's dad's name.

A week before our ultrasound we lost our dog Judge. Although he had been living with insulin dependent diabetes for over a year, the loss was sudden and devastating. He was our first baby. I wrote about it here and here . So when we got to the hospital to see our unborn baby in my womb, we were craving some happy news, something that we could get excited about. I mean we were really thrilled about expecting a child but we wanted something immediate to distract us from the heartbreak we were experiencing.

In Ontario, the ultrasound technician is not permitted to tell you the gender of the baby. You have to wait until your next doctor's appointment to find out. However, we were fortunate that our technician was a young mother herself, expecting her second child and she just happened to know one of my sisters from highschool. So although she couldn't tell us whether the little monkey in there was a boy or a girl she gave us enough hints for us to figure it out. I know that there is a 50 per cent chance that you can have one sex or the other but I was completely surprised that I would be having a boy. My sister has had three beautiful girls, Shaune has three sisters and as you know from a past post, my biological siblings are all girls. I guess girls is all I know. We walked out of that hospital and kept saying to each other - can you believe we are having a boy? We must have sounded like fools but we didn't care. This news made the baby seem more real. We were really going to have a baby and he was going to be a he.

At home we discussed the name. Shaune suddenly had a change of heart.

"Do you think we should name him Patrick or go with something else?" he ask me nervously several times.

"It's up to you I like the name."

He went downstairs for a while and came back up with a piece of paper with something written on it.

"What do you think of this?"

On the paper it said DEAGLAN. Without hesitation I told him that I loved it.

"You pronounce it like Declan and it means full of goodness. It's a mix of Irish and English."

So our little he became Deaglan William. And that name has been a pain in the butt ever since. People have no idea how to pronounce it. Our doctor insists on calling him Deeglan (hard g) even though I am completely obnoxious in how many times I say his name within her earshot in one visit. People also call him Deglan (hard g again) and Dee-ag-lan. Because of this Shaune has insisted on more than one occassion that we change his name. Can you imagine?

Doctor: How is DEEGLAN doing?

Me: Uhhh actually it's Jack.

Seriously though I love the name and I think after several years of hating us for giving him this burden of explaining and enunciating he will someday thank us when the girls are ooohing and awwwing about what a cool name he has.

18 comments:

  1. The girls are going to love your handsome boy's name!! We have a friend who named her son Deaglan too, so I definitely know how to pronounce it. I love how it means "full of goodness". That's wonderful.

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  2. I have recently met a woman who named her son Deaglan, so that's how I knew how to say it. I like it!

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  3. Oh! Thanks Kim. :D

    Lovely name, and a brilliant story to go with it. I love Irish names.

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  4. When he grows up, he will instantly be able to tell if a telemarketer is calling him... they'll butcher his name!

    I get calls for Vi-veeny and
    Viv-ayne all the time. I say "No thank you!" before they finish the mangling. It'll save him time later!

    His friends and family will know how to pronounce it. :) It's a wonderful name and I love the meaning. Look at that sweet face.

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  5. i really like the name deaglan...i like how it is pronounced .....your deaglan is the only deaglan i know of..... i think that is a cool name. my son's name is jacob...i didnt know how popular it was until every other mom i talked to had a son named jacob!!! but really his first name is ervin after his dad....but we call him jacob....so hearing deaglan is a fresh of breath air...

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  6. Certainly a lovely name. Lovely posting about how you came to choose it.

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  7. I think that's a really beautiful name! Unless you have a name that people know well, people will always get it messed up. My friend Rindy is ALWAYS being called "Reendy" or "Wendy" or even "Reeny." It's "Rin-dy." It drives her up the wall.

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  8. I love his name! so cool!

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  9. such a cool story. and i wish people would learn how to say it right! maybe if he is famous someday everyone will finally get how to say it properly! :)

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  10. The second time, I was sure I was having a girl (maybe becos I always missed having a sis) and so, I still remember going WOW as the technician told me, it's a boy! I said, are u sure?! Well, I've a spoilt brat now... and feel blessed nonetheless:) Yes, naming is a tricky job, Deaglan has a nice ring to it, cool:)

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  11. I think Deaglan is a great name. I know what you mean though...names are so hard. All my life, people have mispronouced my name. It's Kari, but people say it like "Carrie", when really it's "Car" "ee". It's Norwegian. I swore I wouldn't do the same to my kids, but I did. My oldest is Reisa (pronounced "Ree" "sa"), but people tend to want to call her "Ri" "sa", or "Teresa". And don't even get me started on the spelling...Oh well. I still love her name.

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  12. Very funny. He does have a cool name. The girls WILL swoon. :)

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  13. Hi Kim, thanks for popping by my blog!! Lovely to meet you.

    I love your sons name, and he is so adorable. I almost named my son Deegan (rhymes with megan) and then ended up with just Egan. It suits him better I think.

    I will be hanging around for a while if thats ok!!

    Jen
    :D

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  14. Congrats for being a new mom and also for featuring on authorblog's POTD!

    Your blog is nice.Will keep coming back for sure :)

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  15. Great story!!! Love it!!! The name is so rich, and full of meaning!!! And I suppose if he really hates the trouble he can go by his middle name... Congrats on your POTD mention!

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  16. I absolutely love it. Meaningful names are my favorites and this one has such lovely meaning for a child and a man.

    Congrats on David's POTD!

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  17. He's a cutey with a wonderfully unique name, he'll go places in life.

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  18. neat story... and I love the novel after which you named this post...

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