What's in a Name

I totally can't believe I forgot to make this announcement as excited as I was to hear it myself. My sister is pregnant!! This is such a huge deal because she has medical issues that made getting pregnant difficult to the point where they thought that it might be impossible. We are so thrilled. This is her second baby in case you all lost count. I should have known she was going to call me with the news, however, because one of my friends is pregnant right now and the last time my sister was pregnant another one of my friends was at the same time. It's weird. And they're due within weeks of each other. My friend is due 11/15 and my sister is due 11/26. That's as of right now. If you've had any experience with baby's and due dates, you know this will probably change a few times as their pregnancies progress.

Anyway, on Easter, we had a bbq at the friends' house that are having the baby and they asked us what we thought of some of the names that they had already picked out. At first, I thought they were joking and I almost laughed. After finding out that they were serious, I was happy that I hadn't lol. C had a similar reaction. They already know that I intended to post about this, so it's totally not behind their backs. Some of their names:

Eleanor
Jethro
Ferrari
Harrison Walker

I can't remember some of the others. I should have taken them up on their offer of giving me the list, lol. I, for one, think that prospective parents should take into account whether or not a child's name is going to get them beaten up on the playground. You can take the high road and say that kids are mean, your child will have more spine, blah, blah, blah, all you want and I will disagree all I want as well. Funky names are all good and well. I like originality too. But Jethro? Come on. The kids are going to ask this kid if he had indoor plumbing growing up and if he owned shoes before starting school. I also get that liking or disliking a name is all in personal taste but some are a no-brainer. Jethro for example. I just think a good dose of realism should be taken with your unique, modern child-naming ability.

I also had to steer my sister clear of a name as well. I'm not trying to tell them what to do but I also can only be honest in my opinions if they are going to ask me. They will choose for themselves whether or not to listen to me in the end.

Thoughts?

Also, if you could keep my friend in your thoughts during her pregnancy, it would be much appreciated. Her husband is going to be deployed to unpleasantness the entire time and may even miss the birth. This being their first child, she's going to have a lot to deal with on her own the next 8 months.