Name Game Clues Explained

Congratulations to the winner of our name game: NANA! Bob's mom guessed Elizabeth "Ellie" Anne D'Errico waaaaaay back when. But we had fun messing with people for many weeks to come anyway. Wah-hahah! Runners up with the correct First and/or middle name guesses: Grammy, Rebecca, Aunt Cait, Mommom, Moriah, Aunt Cyndee, Brenda, and Julie!

Here are our clues, explained:

Clue #1: We both hold the philosophy that a girl should have a name that is versatile. It should lend itself to a cute nickname when she’s just a little kid, and later seem professional and mature in its full form, you know, for when she's signing contracts in her law practice later. Unlike Maddie's name & nickname, which we both loved equally, this name/nickname combo was a compromise and source of significant debate between Bob & Meg.

Elizabeth actually got nixed by Bob (along with a dozen other girls names) when we were thinking up names for Maddie. Reason: he doesn't like the usual nicknames. Beth, Liz, Lizzy, and god forbid...Betty. He thought they were obnoxious. Meg has always wanted an Elizabeth. Meg probably would have BEEN an Elizabeth, if not for the pesky surname "Thieme" which would have flowed so nicely "Hi, I'm Beth-eme". This time Meg mentioned that the only Elizabeth she remembers teaching was 1) a sweetie pie and 2) went by Ellie. And there we go.

Clue #2 : One of Little D's names appears on Maddie's name guesses list. (link to list)

Actually, Elizabeth is on the First Names list and Anne is on the Middle Names list. So thank YOU guys for thinking up this combo first.

Clue #3: “ROBERT ANTHONY!” You have to have a good yelling name, so a child’s middle name is important. We like the whole single-syllable middle name thing. Worked for Meg, worked for Maddie... “MADELINE ROSE!”

Pretend you just found crayon on the wall or broccoli in the couch, and try it: "ELIZABETH ANNE!!!"

Clue #4: Her name, like her sister's, could also have a literary link. And again, her genre is up for guesses.

Elizabeth Bishop, poet & writer. I'm sure I read something by her in high school. But more importantly, the literary characters Elizabeth Bennet from Jane Austen's work Pride & Predjudice, Elizabeth March from Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, and the historical characterization of Elizabeth the I of England, in all the Philippa Gregory novels Meg loves. And then there's the beloved Anne of Green Gables series...*sigh* This girl has some books ahead of her.

#5 – As far as we know at present, at least one of her names has never been used at all on either side of the family.

Wah-haha! This is one of those "Two coins add up to 30 cents and one of them is not a nickel" things. It's true, that one of her names has never been used..and the other has. Elizabeth is Godmother and awesome Aunt Laura's middle name. Oh, and Heidi: we had NO idea about your stepmom, Elizabeth Anne Miller...but I'm guessing she doesn't mind. That's pretty darn funny though.

#6 - Old Testament and New.

Old: Elizabeth, sometimes found in the Hebrew form, Elisheba, appears as the name of the wife of Aaron.

New: Luke chapter 1: She was the wife of Zacharias and Mary's elder cousin. She was childless for many years, though she prayed for a baby. One day she got her wish.

Elizabeth is also listed as the mother of John the Baptist.

#7 – A little research inspiration: Not that she's named after them, but she shares a name with the daughter of a favorite American composer, a congresswoman, and a guest star on the show "Doogie Howser, M. D.".

Again, this child is NOT named after these people. We just wanted to send you on a little Wikipedia trip:

Elizabeth Irving, daughter of Irving Berlin and Ellin Mackay. In doing a little more research we re-discovered that Berlin was actually a Russian immigrant, although he was a great influence on American popular music, so we're sticking by this one. Meg did not have time in her schedule for American Music History at LVC, sorry.

Elizabeth Dole served in the administrations of both Regan and George W. Bush, and was a congresswoman from North Carolina until 2009 when she lost her seat to Democrat Kay Hagan.

Elizabeth Anne Allen played Doogie's date in a 1992 episode. She totally wins because she's got BOTH names, and a Neil Patrick Harris connection!

#8 – There’s even a musical that uses her name prominently.

Oh what fun. It's in German. :-) It portrays the life of the empress consort of Franz Joseph I. What? We like obscure musical references! Elisabeth the Musical

#9 - Both Little D's first and middle names have experienced an overalldecline in popularity over the years.

Name Voyager is here, and such fun to play with.

Elizabeth:

Anne:

#10 - "Did somebody already guess one of her names?" YES, THEY DID!

Pretty early on, too. But we had fun messing with people anyway.

#11 – Despite the general absence of our daughter's name from our class rosters, our little girl's name IS in the Social Security Administration's top 20 girls' names for 2008.

Elizabeth was #9 (Anne was #499)

#12 - Do you like vowels? We really like vowels.

Elizabeth Anne (Anne with an 'e', like Anne Shirley of Green Gables, of course.)

This clue we either thought would totally give it away without a shadow of a doubt...or really screw with people. Either result was fine with us at this point. Because at 38 weeks we just didn't care about much besides the prospect of getting baby OUT.

... which we did, the next day after the last clue. Good thing, too, because we had no clue for the following week. Good timing, Ellie!