What's in a name?

February 28, 2017

I've never had an easy time of it when it comes to naming my babies.

For my firstborn, I was certain only of what initials I'd use. For my second, the name I'd selected during my pregnancy turned out to be all wrong. We settled on a new name, but my sister, who was pregnant at the time, very testily laid claim to it. We couldn't leave the hospital with a blank birth certificate, so it was back to the drawing board. After poring over baby name books throughout the one night our infant daughter was in the nursery, we finally came up with a winner.

When, this summer, I was pregnant with our third child, we were once again totally unsure of what to name the baby. Well, "unsure" is putting it politely: We couldn't agree on a name. We went so far as to hold a baby-naming contest at our shower (that turned out not be so helpful, as entries included "Dangerhawk"). After laboring for a solid 18 hours, my husband graciously offered to let me have my choice (smart man). But we went in a different direction, anyway. 

Then, after a year and half of pondering and procrastinating, I decided to launch my own freelance business: My newest baby was born... and the pattern continued. What should the business be called?

I held brainstorming sessions for myself, scrolled through long lists of possibilities, and spent hours checking to see which domains were already taken. I thought I had some strong contenders, but my "focus group" (also known as my husband and a few close friends) responded to those with the polite sort of comments reserved for parents who name their children Bronx or Lucifer. 

When the name finally came to me, I knew immediately I'd found The One. The focus group gave it a unanimous thumbs up.

So last Friday, I filed the paperwork for a DBA at the county clerk's office. When I got home, my husband had hung a congratulatory banner. And now, it's official. 

Welcome to the world, Shiny Apple Press!