What's in a Name?

As I walked my dog last night, following my four-mile route through the streets of Minneapolis, I began thinking about the names Mitch and I have chosen for our two sons, Hunter James and Mason John. Interestingly, at least to me, is that Mitch and I selected Hunter's name seven years before he was born. Early in our relationship, I can recall sitting on the living room floor in my college apartment talking about baby names with the guy (later man) who would eventually become my husband. Mitch would say he picked the name and that he picked it because he enjoys Hunter, which is actually incorrect. I picked the name years before while reading a teen mag, probably YM, and discovered that a model during that time had twin boys, one of whom was named Hunter. I loved the name and decided that if I were ever to have a baby boy, that's what his name would be. Also, on another interesting note, I remember reading a book as a young adolescent/early teenager that featured a young man who became a father during high school and decided to raise the child on his own. He named his little boy Mason. I remember liking the name and did not remember that particular book until after my husband said he'd like to name our second child Mason, if we did in fact have a boy. In terms of middle names, James is my father's name and John is Mitch's grandfather's (his dad's dad) middle name. According to my mother, if I had been a boy, my name would have been James Weston. We almost selected Weston as our boy name. A girl name that I almost received was Rachel. Mitch's mother almost named him Harold! I'm so glad she and Roger selected Mitchell instead.