What's in a Name

I've had lots of people ask me about Greta's name...Here goes:

Margaret Elizabeth "Greta" Norton

When Dave and I first learned we were "with calf," we literally stood in the kitchen and named all of our future children in two minutes. Dave is gunning for five offsprings. I told him lets get through one and see how it goes. Before we knew the gender of the baby, we had top picks for a boy and girl. Margaret was a name I'd been thinking about for years. Dave liked it too. It is my Great Grandmother Campeau's name (my dad's grandmother on his mom's side). It is also Dave's mom's middle name, my confirmation name, and a great name for women in history. It means pearl and is easily translated in several languages. I actually like several of the various ethnic variations....Marit, Marguerite, and Margareta. We were undecided if we were going to call her 'Maggie' or 'Greta.' I let Dave take that job----After her dramatic birth (a whole other blog for that), he said the first word out of his mouth when he saw her was 'Greta,' so it stuck. I also have some amazing friends with the name Margaret. I have yet to meet a Margaret I don't like.....

The middle name Elizabeth is a Monforton family name. My twin, Jennie, has the middle name Elizabeth along with my two cousins (Paige and Hazel), as well as my Grandmother Monforton (Clara Elizabeth). It is a great name-strong and classic. I liked it as a first name too, but Dave wasn't sold on the idea.

The long and short of it....we wanted to give Greta a name that was strong and timeless. A name she wouldn't be embarrassed about, and a name people would take seriously. Greta is fun loving, a bit different, but not completely out of the blue. Greta is also the German form of Margaret, which is fitting with Dave's heritage. His Grandpa Koch is first generation American. Grandpa's dad, Wilhelm, was from Germany and came over in the 40's. (Secretly, all of my children will have Von Trapp children names. Greta is pretty close to Gretl, the youngest of the Von Trapp children. Dave isn't sold on this either. Brigitta, Liesl, Marta, Louisa, Fredrich, Kurt........)

And there you have it.