Steve is NOT the new Bob

After we announced the birth of our little one, so many people wrote back to tell us how much they liked the name, ask where we came up with it, etc. Obviously, we like it, too! Looking at the little guy, Rowan just seemed right. So, here is a little bit of information on names. Daddy is a scientist, so get ready for some technical stuff.

OK. Looking at the US census data, Rowan is a rare name with only about 0.03% of all male babies born per year (2003-2006) bearing this name. Compare to Jacob (#1 boy's name for 2006, 1.13% of all male babies), Michael (#2 for 2006, 1.03%), John (still hanging strong at #20 for 2006, 0.69%).

FYI, the standard Bob (Robert) has been declining in popularity since 1992, dropping from #17 to #47. However, Steve (Steven) has likewise experienced a decline since 1992, dropping even more precipitously from #29 to #90. If we extend the comparison to the last 50 years, the same trends hold up. So I am sorry, Pie Girl: Steve is not the new Bob.

Anyways, there are various websites one can visit in search of baby names. A typical Google search for "baby names" turns up over 2 million pages. Good luck sifting through all those data. Many of you know, we chose not to know the sex of the baby ahead of time, so this made the task of choosing a name doubly difficult. We did have about 9 months to pare down the list, and in the days leading up to birth, we had come up with a short list.

This is our linen cabinet. We painted the doors with a "blackboard paint" and wrote the names on with chalk. Fun!

Looking at the lists we had worked up, you might notice that "Rowan" was not to be found. In fact, we came across the name at one of the various baby name websites, just a few days before Pie Girl went to the hospital. We didn't immediately add it to the list at the time, but we both remarked that we liked the name. It means "little red head" or "little red one." We still don't know if he is going to have red hair of any persuasion, but after sitting with him in the hospital and trying names on him, "Rowan" came shooting out of the recesses of our brains. It was an instant fit - and both mommy and daddy agreed. It was a done deal. You can find some interesting data on the name here from other people named Rowan, including how often it's misspelled, how often they were bullied because of the name, their overall satisfaction with their name, etc. And I am sure you can find much more than that if you care to. Thanks, Google! I leave you with more photos of our Little Red One.

In the car seat (more like "being swallowed by the car seat")

Big Red One with Little Red One.