Nolan Walter Netherland Becker - What's in a Name?

So - for each child - I also do a "What's in a name?" post to explain how and why we chose the name we did. Nolan's name choice goes back to 2009...but settling on his name only happened a few weeks before he arrived.

When I was pregnant with Jack - Tyson and I spent a lot of time thinking about baby names. Nolan was at the top of our list...until Tyson's Aunt Kim told us she would have named a son Jack Dyer. Once we heard it, the name Nolan was pushed aside, but never forgotten. When I learned I was pregnant the second time (Josie) - Ty and I talked about how THIS could be Jack's brother, Nolan. But then we learned Baby #2 was a girl. (and I began my fight for Josephine)

Fast forward to the first few months of my pregnancy with Baby #3...again, we talked about boy names and Nolan was at the top of the list. Boy names are REALLY hard for me. My girl list was super long (and amazing)...and then we learned we were expecting a boy...and I was torn about what to name him. Even though the name Nolan had always been a front runner, I wasn't sure if it was what I wanted. Finally, after MONTHS of talking & thinking - Tyson and I settled on TWO names. Baby #3 would either be Nolan or Blake. Even on the way to the hospital I was wasn't set on a name. But once he was born - Tyson and I both knew he was a Nolan.

The name Nolan is of Irish decent and means: Noble or famous

Since we *BELIEVE* Nolan is our last baby...we threw in two family names for his middle name.

Walter: My maternal grandfather is Walter Walker and my paternal great-grandfather was Walter Clevenger.

Netherland: Netherland is Nancy's maiden name. Since she has two sisters, the name Netherland wasn't carried on.  She gave Tyson the middle name Netherland, so we decided to give it to Nolan, too.

And that's why we have our Nolan Walter Netherland Becker.

Also - if you give your child a name with 27 letters, you will spend A LOT of time on the phone with the Social Security Office, because they will surely misspell your child's name on his SS card.

Footnote: I say we *BELIEVE* Nolan is our last baby...but one can never be too sure. If I didn't have to be pregnant for the last 4 weeks of the third trimester, I'd consider a 4th.