How Ezra got his name

Some people do not share their babies' names until they're born (such as Megan, who inspired this post). We are not those people. Ezra's name had been close to decided for a few years before we even started trying to get pregnant, and if you know me, you know I am a huge name nerd. I talk about names all the time. For about two seconds, we thought about keeping our baby's name a secret until he was born, but it would have been impossible... not only because HOW COULD I NOT TALK ABOUT IT, but also because friends and family with good memories would have already known the name.

But not everyone knows how little Ezra Burkhart Leo Lehman got his name. So I thought I'd share.

Ezra is a name that we just like. Why? It sounds pleasant to us. Ezra seems like a person we'd want to hang out with. While it's on-trend as a Hebrew Bible boys' name ending in an A sound (his classmates might include Elijah, Isaiah, Noah, Jeremiah, etc.), and is increasing in popularity, it was #204 last year - common enough that most people have heard it, but rare enough that most people don't know more than one Ezra. The -a ending keeps this name from sounding hypermasculine, which we like. We also, like many of our new-parent peers, like the Z. And we like that it's Biblical even though we are not fond of the book of Ezra (Ross likes to joke that our Ezra will someday have a foreign wife...). We were also going for a name that sounds ethnically Mennonite, and we think Ezra Lehman does.

Burkhart is Ross's middle name, and he loves it. It's after his great-grandfather, Burkhart Lehman, who immigrated to the U.S., and it's also Ross's grandfather's middle name. There was no question in Ross's mind about passing on Burkhart as a middle name to his son. Ezra Burkhart was the combination we were planning to use for our first son for several years.

Leo is my grandfather's first name. My Grandpa Leo is my only living grandparent, and we have had a close relationship for my whole life. He is amazing. Until last summer, Leo was on the docket for potential son #2's middle name. However, when the reality of having a baby boy this year hit, the thought of missing this opportunity to honor my grandfather made me pretty heartsick. After all, we don't know if there will be a second son or when he might be born, and I wanted to make sure my grandpa had the chance to meet his namesake.

Lehman is Ezra's only last name. I've been asked a few times if he has Boehm in there somewhere too. Nope. My birth surname means enough to me to keep it as a second middle name for myself and use it socially like a double surname, but I had no interest in passing it on to my child.

So there you have it! Ezra Burkhart Leo Lehman. A big name for a little boy. Hopefully he'll love his name as much as his parents do.