Emma ~ a short form of Emily, from Latin meaning flatterer
Story told by Tracey McElmeel
Emma Therese~
Like most women, I had always daydreamed about what I would name my children. When I was younger, I liked exotic, unusual names, like Jasmine or Katrina. But as I grew up, I began to consider more traditional names. When I got married, my husband and I often discussed what we would name our children. I had always liked the name Emma; I felt it was a classic name that would never go out of style, yet wasn't so popular that there would be six other Emma's in her classes at school. Although since coming to StorkNet, I've found it is a more common name than I thought! It was also my great-grandmother's name, and I had a special bond with her while growing up.
My husband really wanted to name our daughter Alexandria, but I was vehemently opposed! I thought it would sound too pretentious when combined with our last name, which is also very long. I also had a coworker with a similar name, whom I did not get along with, and I was afraid I would always associate my beautiful daughter with a cranky coworker! So in the end, I won that battle!
We went back and forth over her middle name, thinking of Grace, Rachael, and Lynn, but none of them seemed to fit our baby. Finally when I was going through my hope chest I found a book of prayers to St. Theresa. I have always had a special interest in St. Theresa, and had since I was little. So in the end we chose Emma Therese.
It was very easy for us to decide what our daughter's name would be, but it was much harder to agree on a boy's name! I think that's because I was so certain from the start that I was having a girl; I just knew it was pointless to waste my time arguing about a boy's name. Right before I got pregnant, I was teasing my husband that I wanted a boy to name Brutus Alexander, so that I could use the baby's initials as an excuse to call him Bam-Bam! For the duration of my pregnancy, my little bump was called Bam-Bam, even though I knew it would be a girl. Due to complications, I had more than twenty ultrasounds during my last trimester. Every single one confirmed my belief that it was a girl. At the first of those ultrasounds, the technician asked if we had any ideas about whether we were having a boy or a girl, and my husband immediately answered, "We're positive we're having an Emma!" And have an Emma we did; she is now the most important thing in our lives, and I would never dream of trading her for a Brutus!
