Thoughts on the naming ritual

We picked out names the last time we were pregnant (I say we, even though technically I am the only one that's pregnant, because Mike is an amazing husband who deserves to be included on that....seriously, he's fantastic, and I love him....more on that later).

I want to briefly share how we picked out our names, and then comment on names in general.

Kait and Mike's Name Choice Ritual:

• Step 1---Buy a huge name book (I picked 10,000 baby names, but any will do, I suppose)
• Step 2---Read every single name in said huge baby book (this step takes a while)
• Step 3---As you're reading through the book, write down every name that you would consider (for first or middle names).  If you wouldn't consider it, it won't be the baby's name, so it doesn't MATTER if your husband might have liked it!  This usually results in somewhere around 100 names.
• Step 4---Read the resulting list to the husband.  Any that he would NOT consider is stricken from the list.  This decreases the list substantially, and left us with approximately 20 names of each gender.
• Step 5---Individually (you and husband both) rank the names in order of preference. 
• Step 6---Compare rankings
• Step 7---Create combinations of these favorite names that you BOTH like.

Reasons why I like this process better than the general discussion/argument over names and/or the skimming of baby name books:

• You KNOW that you didn't miss any name that you LOVE and just didn't think of for whatever reason.
• You have less arguments over a name that one of you loves but the other not so much.
• You are working together, and it becomes a much more joyful process.
• You don't accidentally name your daughter something that sounds pretty but means "valley of sorrow" or something similar (this happened to us, and we're big into meanings, so it got nixed)

So here are OUR names...announced at week 11 with our last pregnancy, but being used for the first time with this little Chicklet:

William Alexander LaPlant (William is Mike's middle name, and it means strong-willed warrior. Alexander means defender of the people.  Mike is a police officer, and so it seems very fitting for his son to have a name with that meaning.)
or
Amelia Sophia LaPlant (Amelia means determined and hard working and Sophia means wise.  Those are really the characteristics I'd most like my daughter to have, and I think the names sound beautiful together.)

We'd like the nicknames to be Mia or Will (Mike and I both HATE Willy, Bill, and Billy.)

Here are my thoughts on names in general....why is it cool to have weird names just for the sake of being weird?  Yes, it's nice to not be one of three Katies in your first grade class, but do you really want your child to be named Atiya?  Abass? LaRen?  Really??