Via Wired Mesh I found a list of the 100 most popular baby names in 2002. As expected, Madison was high on the girls list, no. 2 actually. We like the name, but it is just too trendy right now. There would be five other girls in her kindergarden class with the same name. How could a mother with a unique name like Genia (hint: pronounced like "Kenya" except with a "G") do that? Trinity was on the list at no. 77, and I'm sure The Matrix had nothing to do with it. Just like Emma being at no. 11 had nothing to do with Ross and Rachel's baby on Friends. Riiiiiggghhht. (Update: Josiah weighs in that Emma has been increasingly popular since Gwenyth Paltrow's performance in the adaptation of the Jane Austen novel a few years back.)

We should find out Friday at our sixteen week visit whether we're having a boy or a girl. We're obviously pretty excited about that, and we've been thinking about names since before we even found out Genia was pregnant. If it's a boy, his name will be Aidan. It actually came in at no. 41 on the boy's list, so it won't be unheard of, but it shouldn't feel worn out. We chose it because we like the way it sounds, and according to the book we have, it has Irish origins and means "fiery." I love that. One thing I would love for my child to have is passion. Passion for God, for life, love, friends, art, music, and everything good. We may go with a Hawbaker tradition and make his first name John, but even if we do, we'll call him by Aidan. Choosing a middle name if we don't go with "John Aidan" has been tough, though. I keep telling Genia that we should make the middle name Edge, but she keeps shooting me down. We thought the idea of using Danger was funny for a couple weeks, but w!
e dropped that too. Can't you see our little boy out there on the playground pulling some girl's ponytail and telling her "Danger's my middle name" with a sly grin and an arched eyebrow? It would rule! On a more serious note, I like Paul (an Apostle and the Pontiff!), but she doesn't. And I've started thinking Matthew would be a nice compliment to Aidan. If it's a girl, which would be pretty surprising since everyone keeps telling us it will be a boy, we like the name Bailey Elisabeth. Bailey wasn't even on the list, but it also isn't something that people will mispronounce and misspell all the days of her life. A nice comprimise, I think. Elizabeth runs in my family, and we think it sounds good after Bailey.