Name, Name every body has one...

My sister-in-law had a baby in September. 
Their second.
Now they have a girl, and a boy.
He is a junior.
But they call him by his middle name, so it's not confusing.


Why?


With all the names in the world... I mean,  I had a baby name book with OVER 10,000 names in it... why give your kid your name?


Or name your kids Michael and Michelle? 
Eric and Erica? 
Steven and Stephanie? 


These are all basically the same name... 
Think how confusing it must be for the poor kid, never really sure which one you are calling and afraid NOT to come, just in case it was him and will be in trouble for not coming when called...?


My other nephew, from HeMan Hubby's other brother, is also a junior. They too, have two.
A boy, then a girl.


Thankfully, MY sister did not name her son after his father, nor did MY brother name either of his sons after himself.


But he did name them after the grandfathers.
Which is cool only because neither was named Horace or Floyd or Eugene... mercifully, those names are all a few more branches back on the family tree.


About the same level on the family tree as the name my sister chose for her son... 
Luckily, it was a name that's not awful... and has actually seen an increase in popularity over the last few years. 


Having the most kids in either of our families, it was a chore at times to pick a name that we liked for our last child, but wasn't too close to any of our nieces or nephews names.


AND still be unusual and interesting, without being geeky.


So HeMan Hubby devised a plan.


He 'tried out' the names we had picked. 


When he called the kids to dinner he added the try-on names. 


When he called the kids in from playing he added the try-on names. 


When he scolded the kids he added the try-on names. 


And it worked.


We figured out which name went with our other 5 kid's names --- when you're calling 6 kids you want them all to know their name was called-- without sounding too much like another name or getting lost in the roll call.


We like it and it's a little different. 


He's 12 now and LOVES his name.


But he says SIX would have been the best name ever.


Maybe I shouldn't have talked HeMan Hubby out of that one?