What's in a name?

Do you know how hard it is to name another human being? There is so much to take into account! Will it be a strong name as an adult? How easy will it be for other kids to manipulate the name and tease the child? Do the initials make up some weird combo? What does the name mean?  (After all, Amos means "burden" and even if we did like the name, I can't imagine naming my child "burden"!!)

Then there are always the stipulations we put upon ourselves. We wanted an Indian name that began with "A" and was 4 letters long and was 2 syllables. Now you add in Biju's taste in names and my taste in names and that makes it almost impossible to come up with a name for a third boy!! We were very willing to be flexible. An "A" name with 5-6 letters, or a 4-letter name beginning w/ a vowel other than "A" - and by the time he was born we were even willing to let it all go out the window just to be sure we found a name suitable for this child. Aren came *this* close to being named Samuel. We both liked the name. But in the end, we decided it just didn't fit with our other two boys and we really did want to stick with our original plan. The only "want" we didn't end up with was the name being of Indian origin. 

I'm quite pleased with the names of all three of our boys and, as it turns out, they all have strong meanings.

Ajay:  Unconquerable
Alex:  Defender of Man
Aren:  Mountain of Strength