12:55 pm - 03/07/2013
In her second blog for Nameberry, celebrity mom and name lover Natalie Hanson, who has five children with musician husband Taylor, reveals how and why they chose the adventurous Wilhelmina for their second daughter’s name.
Hello Berries! Last time I wrote to you, I shared that I was expecting a little girl and that we were searching for her perfect name. Our daughter arrived in October, and we named her Wilhelmina. Wilhelmina is a form of William, which means “resolute protection”. Right now I am so in love with this strong and beautiful name, and even more in love with the girl who bears it!
The story of Wilhelmina’s name starts in October 2010, two years before her arrival, when I came across the name Wilhelmina on a Nameberry list! My first impression of the name was how strong it sounded. It was like the “Isabella” you wouldn’t want to mess with.
I decided to pass the name along to my sister-in-law, Jessica, who is a fan of strong, Germanic-warrior sounding names. Jessie appreciated the suggestion and told me it reminded her of Willa Cather, the author of Oh, Pioneers!, a book she had read a few years before. Her choice of books did not surprise me, as I have always thought of Jessie as a sort of “pioneer woman”. She is one of the strongest, hardest working, most loyal women you could ever know.
Later on when I was telling my husband Taylor about my exchange with Jessie over the name, Wilhelmina, he immediately professed a real liking for the name himself.
“Really?!” I had to process for a minute. I’d only thought of the name for Jessie and had absolutely not considered it as one we might use.
However, he was right. It was a beautiful name. It was clearly feminine, with quite a heritage, and a plethora of pretty nicknames to choose from. These were all qualities I appreciated in my first daughter’s name. I began to think Penelope might have met her match!
Over the next year or so the name hung around as one we were both fond of, and when we found out we were expecting a little girl, it seemed the perfect choice. Wilhelmina sounded lovely as a sister to Penelope, and, in a way most wouldn’t recognize, she would be named for her dear Aunt Jessie.
Wilhelmina. It was settled. She arrived and being the name enthusiast I am, I proposed we hold off on a nickname commitment until everyone was acclimated to the name in its full glory. It wasn’t long before I got a call from Taylor’s mother, telling me she was having a Christmas gift monogrammed, and “Wilhelmina” just wouldn’t fit. I decided to go with Willa. It is ode to the Oklahoma pioneer spirit, and the symmetry to Penny is the icing on the cake!
Although Wilhelmina isn’t a very popular choice, I have yet to get the “Huh?” response, like I did with Viggo, my youngest son’s name. It seems to hold some sense of familiarity with people. So far, all of her siblings and little cousins have had no trouble saying her name. I think the spelling is a little intimidating for some, but in speech, the sounds are fairly simple. We all think Wilhelmina is wonderful, and I hope you do, too!
Source.
Penny is real cute, btw.
Natalie Hanson blogs about naming her 47th baby.
In her second blog for Nameberry, celebrity mom and name lover Natalie Hanson, who has five children with musician husband Taylor, reveals how and why they chose the adventurous Wilhelmina for their second daughter’s name.
Hello Berries! Last time I wrote to you, I shared that I was expecting a little girl and that we were searching for her perfect name. Our daughter arrived in October, and we named her Wilhelmina. Wilhelmina is a form of William, which means “resolute protection”. Right now I am so in love with this strong and beautiful name, and even more in love with the girl who bears it!
The story of Wilhelmina’s name starts in October 2010, two years before her arrival, when I came across the name Wilhelmina on a Nameberry list! My first impression of the name was how strong it sounded. It was like the “Isabella” you wouldn’t want to mess with.
I decided to pass the name along to my sister-in-law, Jessica, who is a fan of strong, Germanic-warrior sounding names. Jessie appreciated the suggestion and told me it reminded her of Willa Cather, the author of Oh, Pioneers!, a book she had read a few years before. Her choice of books did not surprise me, as I have always thought of Jessie as a sort of “pioneer woman”. She is one of the strongest, hardest working, most loyal women you could ever know.
Later on when I was telling my husband Taylor about my exchange with Jessie over the name, Wilhelmina, he immediately professed a real liking for the name himself.
“Really?!” I had to process for a minute. I’d only thought of the name for Jessie and had absolutely not considered it as one we might use.
However, he was right. It was a beautiful name. It was clearly feminine, with quite a heritage, and a plethora of pretty nicknames to choose from. These were all qualities I appreciated in my first daughter’s name. I began to think Penelope might have met her match!
Over the next year or so the name hung around as one we were both fond of, and when we found out we were expecting a little girl, it seemed the perfect choice. Wilhelmina sounded lovely as a sister to Penelope, and, in a way most wouldn’t recognize, she would be named for her dear Aunt Jessie.
Wilhelmina. It was settled. She arrived and being the name enthusiast I am, I proposed we hold off on a nickname commitment until everyone was acclimated to the name in its full glory. It wasn’t long before I got a call from Taylor’s mother, telling me she was having a Christmas gift monogrammed, and “Wilhelmina” just wouldn’t fit. I decided to go with Willa. It is ode to the Oklahoma pioneer spirit, and the symmetry to Penny is the icing on the cake!
Although Wilhelmina isn’t a very popular choice, I have yet to get the “Huh?” response, like I did with Viggo, my youngest son’s name. It seems to hold some sense of familiarity with people. So far, all of her siblings and little cousins have had no trouble saying her name. I think the spelling is a little intimidating for some, but in speech, the sounds are fairly simple. We all think Wilhelmina is wonderful, and I hope you do, too!
Source.
Penny is real cute, btw.
not right now, but in the future
i think michelle had 6 or 7 kids by the time she was 30, and that was with one set of twins.
5 of us were born before my mom was 30, then 3 in her 30s, and 1 in her 40s.
tl;dr csb but I am really jealous of Natalie and her babies :( boo
a friend had a few one night stands until she got pregnant and then bam single mama, she loves it. i am too paranoid to be having unprotected sex haha.
Having a period is easily the worst part of being a woman.
On one hand, I'm content with just my daughter, but then again people don't really have great things to say about being an only child. I don't want her to be lonely, but idk if I want another baby. It would be nice but idk if I can handle more than one.
/csb
I'm a middle child and daddy's girl. I love my brother and sister but it would have been cool to be an only child.
One of my cousins is an only child. I come from a big family so she's always had cousins around, or family friends, and now as a teenager she has her own friends so she's never been lonely. She actually loves being an only child. She is a bit spoiled though, but I think that's natural for parents to do when they only have one kid to take care of\spend their money on.
I have the sort-of unique experience of being an only child and having siblings. My half-siblings were raised with their mother, so I was basically an only child with a brother and sister that showed up every once and a while. I must say that the only child part was waaaaay better. My brother and I are just now having a decent relationship now that I am in my mid-twenties. I have no relationship with my sister and don't care if I ever see her again.
I loved the only child dynamic. My parents were wonderful and I got loads of love and attention without being spoiled. I am definitely more introverted than my friends who grew up with siblings, but I would not go back and change my childhood for anything.