Way back when, around the time I was playing tether ball and four-square during recess, I loved the names Christina and Kristin, and I was almost certain that when I grew up and had a daughter I’d name her Kirstin (notice that little letter switch? I thought it was so beautifully clever). I clung to those names (probably because they belonged to the cool, blond-haired, popular girls), but put them on the back burner, stashing them away for when I’d need them. But then I got pregnant and something weird happened. Those names I loved quickly went down the drain. They’re lovely names, but they just weren’t right for us, and they weren’t right for our daughter.
When I was around 11 weeks pregnant I had an inkling that I was going to have a girl. I never said anything about it out loud because I didn’t want to jinx it, but the feeling lingered. I actually had to convince myself right before the anatomy scan that if my mother’s intuition was wrong and I was carrying a boy, it would be okay.
Regardless of sex, my husband and I knew we wanted our baby to have a name that had some sort of Italian significance since she would be born there. I was so convinced that I was having a girl that I referred to her by this name even before the anatomy scan. My husband often reminded me that I should maybe think about boys’ names just in case she was actually a he. It turns out my gut was right—the scans didn’t show boy parts.
So how did the name come about? The region where we lived, like Tuscany, Umbria, or Veneto, is called Friuli-Venezia Giulia. I said our region aloud one day during my first trimester and my tongue lingered over the last word: Giulia. I repeated it several times in my head and then finally said it out loud: Julia.
photo credit: PumpkinCharm Photography
It instantly felt right. We tossed around several names that all had ties to Italy either in spelling, pronunciation, or meaning, but we always went back to Julia. There’s something comforting about a simple, classic, and beautiful name. And while unique names are fun, we decided to go with the American spelling: Julia, just Julia.
As for her middle name, Grace? Well, it just felt right. We went through practically every name under the sun and paired it with Julia, but kept falling back on Grace. We knew the name was a keeper once my husband started referring to her as Gracie more often than Julia. Actually, more often than not, he calls her Gracie Lou Freebush…poor girl! I never knew the name Grace was so popular as a middle name until we let the cat (her name) out of the bag.
We actually kept her name under wraps until the day she was born. I wanted to keep mum because I didn’t want to hear everyone’s opinions, good or bad, about her name. It was a lot of fun keeping it a secret and even more fun to reveal it to everyone.
Does your child’s name have a story behind it? Did you keep it a secret or announce it well ahead of time?
GOLD / coconut / 8266 posts
Julia Grace is a beautiful name! My R shares a middle name with my grandmother.
blogger / pomegranate / 3491 posts
Love that she is named after where you lived – so special. My C shares his first initial with Mr. C’s mom who passed away and his middle initial with my grandpa (also deceased).
blogger / persimmon / 1398 posts
That’s a beautiful name… and I love the significance behind it!
blogger / pear / 1563 posts
What a beautiful name! We had about 36 hours to pick little p’s name (hadn’t given it any thought before), and his name just came to us. And we still love it. It suits him very well.
clementine / 933 posts
What a beautiful name! I love the idea of keeping the name a secret until after the baby is born (It’s much more difficult to be snarky about a name once you see the baby who will wear it!), but I don’t know if I have that kind of restraint!
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
I love your daughter’s name! Simple and elegant. The two names go so well together also. It just rolls off the tongue!
blogger / persimmon / 1220 posts
Ah, love the story behind your name! We didn’t keep ours a secret.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
Great story behind the name!
blogger / nectarine / 2600 posts
I love name stories!
blogger / nectarine / 2687 posts
one of my co-worker’s daughter’s name is Giulia — she was born in Italy, too!
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
I love the name, it’s beautiful. We kept ours a secret until he arrived – we didn’t know what we were having and hadn’t even agreed on a girl name!
pomegranate / 3225 posts
beautiful name. I have attempted to keep both baby girl’s names secret and I’m shocked by how rude people can get about it when you don’t tell them! Like they are personally offfended and it’s their right to know. Sheesh.
blogger / clementine / 750 posts
@Mrs. Cowgirl: We were really, really close to going with the traditional spelling, but in the end I wanted it to be easy for her (and others) to spell/pronounce it.
@kml636: YES! It’s like people thought they were entitled to know, which was really frustrating. I liked having a secret to share with my husband; it made it feel special between us.