Some names to ponder for Mary and Eric

Ignore my mom's picture. I like the names Hilary and Kelly. The two boy names I like are Brandon and Chris.

Janine. For goodness sakes. Uncle Walt and Aunt Julia (called Dudy because that's how she pronounced it as a child) were twins, born in 1900 to your great-grandmother, Julia Tompkins. Uncle Fabian was the baby of the family and he was born in 1906 when Julia was 48 years old. My dad, your grandpa Robert Tompkins, stayed home from school to help his mother with the twins for a time. I don't know how long, but in big families, that was the common solution and my dad never acted like it was a big deal.

Other than all of that, her account was pretty accurate, right? :)

I suppose you could call her account pretty accurate if naming someone else's babies is considered an accurate thing to do. And just for the fun of it, Mary, let me throw in an idea: Cecily and Celeste. Hmmmmmm? Now. How accurate is that?

I kinda like some of the more exotic Irish names.

Girls: Máire, Nóra, Sorcha, Fallon

Boys: Declan, Quinn

My memory is not good for everything. I almost said Aunt Stella and switched it to Aunt Somebody. Was Walt married to Stella? Plus, I never recalled that Aunt Dudy was a Julia either. I just always liked the name; there was no sentimentality to it at all. That's a good story. 48? That's a year later than I thought. Did you know your Grandmother Julia, Mom? I can't recall that either. Maybe if I see it written...

Okay. Here it is. Aunt Stella, married to Francis Dolan, was my mother's only sister. Walt, my dad's brother, also known as Gerry, was married to Evelyn. Evelyn had a ten-year old daughter, Carol, when they married and he adopted her, loved her, and loved her children. I only saw her one time, when she was ten. He also loved Sue because he saw her at age nine months walking around my mother's house, and then just sort of kept up with her after that. She made him two hangers which he always said he treasured, every time I saw him. Both Julias were Julia Elsie. Yes, I knew my grandmother. She didn't live too far from us, my dad supported the household for a long time, and my mother believed she cared more for the resident children than for us. (They were my Uncle Fabian's children, Mildred, Margaret, and Jimmy. Their mother was my dear Aunt Mildred, whom I never missed visiting.) I certainly never had the feeling that she needed to see me and I was always very nervous in her presence. You remember my story that my dad said he only saw his father laugh once? Well, I think the same must have been true of my grandmother. I never saw her smile and certainly never heard her laugh. She died shortly after my ninth birthday.

Mary and Eric - I went and looked at the Irish baby names. I was surprised at how difficult most of them were to spell and pronounce. My all time favorite is Caitlin and a name to go with it might be Chloe although I don't think Chloe is Irish. Boys are harder names to pick but i like Robbie's choice of Quinn. What about Dolan for a first name?

Thanks for the suggestions. Eric and I are having a very difficult time deciding on names. I would like to keep with the more traditional Irish names, but Eric is worried that we may be trying too hard with a sibling to Murphy. I just feel like Murphy has such a meaningful name, that I hate to slight these children by giving them a less meaningful name. I also like the idea of using an old name, expecially a relatives name and I have jotted down Stella, Francis, which I love, Walt and Julia, which was on our list before we had Murphy. My other favorite Irish boys name is Finn, but I haven't quite convinced Eric of it yet. It does seem easier to come up with girl's names, but then again, not knowing the sex of these children, I need to come up with 8. What a task. One thing I do know for sure, they will definitely have the name Tompkins and xxxxx.