The Naming of the Babe

Chris and I had decided to wait until the birth to name our baby, mainly because we were waiting until then to find out if it was a boy or girl, so we had many months of tossing name suggestions around.  Although the name suggestions were all boy names because we decided on Audrey as a girl name from month 3 or so.  Our baby Audrey is named after her great-grandmother, Audrey Joyce Kelly nee Higgins (and after her mama, Ellen Audrey McGuinness). 

Her middle name took a bit more work and we didn't start that work until after she was born.  I had suggested to Chris the name Kay after baby Audrey's grandmothers, Karen and Kathleen, he liked the idea of the name but the ring of it didn't work for papa, so he did some thinking and researching while I laid in bed recovering.  Chris came up with the suggestion of Kai, telling me that it is used in many cultures and has many different meanings, including "ocean" in Hawaiian, and "strong" in another language.  I was easily able to imagine our little girl playing in the ocean and I know she is already strong in spirit and will grow to develop many strengths.  Kai it is, rhymes with "tie".

And as for the last name, with two last names already in the family we had some choice here too.  McGrundallness is a contraction we use just for fun and never really considered it for our babe.  As for McGuinness, I had heard the comment many years ago that people never mix up who a child's mother is, therefore matching last names are not so important.  I was convinced of this idea then as now, so that left Rundall as the last name for our little girl.

So, what will this name mean for the future path of our babe?  will she be a Northwestern alum like her great-grandma? will she be a world traveler in search of other Kais? will she work in the screen printing business like other Rundalls have?  Time will tell and I'm looking forward to being along for the ride.