I learned from a great movie (Where the Heart Is with Ashley Judd and Natalie Portman) to give children names that mean something. You may remember from
my post about Josie's name how we were inspired with her.
When I was 16 (long before it was on the top 10 most popular names) I decided that it would be really cool to name my son Jackson since it was my maiden name. Some even commented when they found out Cole's name since I had been advertising my desire for Jackson for 10 years. Sadly, it became clear when Alex and I were engaged that it wasn't going to be possible to use Jackson for a first name so we began thinking of a new one.
In our church all the worthy young men recieve the Priesthood (for more info about what the Priesthood is please
click here). Since I am the first member of the church in my family, it was really significant to me that my son will be the first person in my entire family to hold the Priesthood. With that being said, I really wanted his name to somehow represent my family.
A few years ago I was doing some family history research when I learned about my great-great grandmother, Sarah Cole. She was born in Missouri in 1883. After getting married at age 20, she had five children. Her only son was my great-grandfather. Learning about her made me love her more than other relatives I've researched. It was from her that we got the inspiration for our sweet boys name.
(The image is a bit fuzzy but it gives you an idea of the relationship between Grandma Sarah and Baby Cole)
Jackson was an easy middle name (though we also thought about Alexander). I like it for obvious reasons and also because it represents my dad who has no sons. I like that the Jackson name will continue for at least another generation.
I also have a thing with patterns in names. Quite perfectly (and not by coincidence) Cole is 4 letters as is Alex. Alex's middle name is his mother's maiden name (Alex Butler). Likewise Cole's middle name is his mother's maiden name. Cool huh?
And so I present Cole Jackson Blake
