Monday, January 28, 2008

For all you inquiring minds...

No we are not actually going to name our son "Zippy Zap".

We DO have a name picked out for our baby boy. The name has just recently edged up on our list and has been at the top and it doesn't look like any other name is going to surpass it in the near future, but (disclaimer:) it could change at anytime if we feel impressed for one reason or another. We still have not chosen a middle name yet. We aren't holding back on telling people the name and we're not keeping it secret or anything like that - but we just simply haven't figured out the full name yet.

But the name for now that we have picked out for our son is "Preston ______ Thomas". (middle name unknown yet).

In case you want to know of where we came up with the name...

It was one night when Will and I were looking back at our family histories during FHE. My maiden name is Southworth, and my dad's family history comes from England. And the history goes back quite a ways, not quite as far as the Thomas ancestory but it does go back quite far. Anyway....we discovered that the very first Southworths came from a town in England called "Preston" in Lancershire. There is even a historic site there called the 'Southworth Manor' and they get about 60,000 visitors a year. I didn't know any of this.

So of course this all became very interesting to us and we kept researching more and more. We also learned that one of the early Southworths was killed for his religious beliefs (remember why people came to America - for religious freedom from Europe). Anyway he is buried at Westminster Abbey Church. And then one of his offsprings came to America on the 3rd ship over (the Queen Anne) and established himself in Plymouth Rock in 1637 I think it was. And thus my family comes from him. He helped establish one of the 1st churches there in Plymouth Rock. They were a religous family seeking religous freedom in the frontier of what would be America.

Anyway, we learned all of this because we thought it was odd that as far as we kept trying to go back, my Southworth family had lived in America for a very long time - whereas most of our other ancestors we can only go back 4 or 5 generations before finding their records in Scotland, England, Ireland, or Denmark, etc.

Anyway back to the name Preston. We also have had some other things come up with town, location, and things to do with it that have only further impressed upon our minds to name our son this. One of which, happened tonight - with the passing of dear Pres. Hinckley, we watched a video of his life and a good portion of it talked about his mission that he served in Preston, England and the good work he did there. And then in 1994, he went back and dedicated the Preston temple. Preston also holds one of the oldest branches of the church still operating today. It is the landing place of the 1st early missionaries of the church to England.

And also, as many different times we tried to come up with ways and reasons why the name Preston could be bad for a little kid - we just couldn't come up with any. It doesn't rhyme with anything terrible, you can't shorten it into a nasty nickname, and its just a good sturdy strong name for a boy.

Now as we have been trying to find a middle name for Preston, we have been turning to the Thomas family history. An interesting note, Will's grandma's maiden name is "England", and we have joked that wouldn't it be funny if we named him Preston England Thomas. But that is going a little too far on the Geographical side of things. So don't worry, we won't pull that one.

So anyway - just thought we'd share. Anyone from the Thomas side have any great family names that they can suggest for middle names - we're open to hear them! :)

11 comments:

Jennifer said...

I like both middle names. They both fit Preston. My family is from England too, and my grandpa and grandma went on their mission there. Good luck with the coming months in your pregnancy!

Lisita said...

I love that you are choosing such a meaningful name... I think Preston sounds perfect!

NelsonFam said...

I LOVE the name Preston! Good choice. Mark really likes the name Weston so, who knows, we could have a Preston and a Weston (I doubt it since the name hasn't quite taken a hold of my heart yet).

Here is a list of middle names:

Preston Levi Thomas
Preston Harmon Thomas
Preston Edgar Thomas
Preston William Thomas
Preston Daniel Thomas
Preston Dillan Thomas
Preston Mark Thomas
Preston Bryce Thomas
Preston Hinckley Thomas
Preston George Thomas
Preston Mitt Thomas
Preston McCain Thomas ... now I am just being silly.

Good luck finding a middle name!

The Thomas Family said...

Love the name! The moment I read it, I could totally see you guys with a little Preston. SOO cute.
I thought Preston William flowed well together.

About Laura's comment. How fun would that be. Preston and Weston. They would have to be great little buddies.

Carolyn said...

Here's my two cents worth:

Preston Douglas Thomas
Preston Scott Thomas
Preston James Thomas
Preston Lance Thomas
Preston Miles Thomas
Preston Cameron Thomas
Preston Marcus Thomas
Preston Lee Thomas
Preston Ronald Thomas
Preston Noah Thomas
Preston Christopher Thomas
Preston Gabriel Thomas
Preston Braden Thomas

I have a few more, but you're probably tired of reading!

Will Thomas said...

Laura,

If yours turns out to be a little girl today, then we'll have to steal Weston, and we'll call him Preston Weston Thomas. LOL

I had a good friend growing up named Weston, so I'm with Mark. I like Weston.

Jenni said...

Baby you're funny, but no we're not going to name him a rhyming name. Preston Weston....lol. Silly Will.

Joan said...

Jenni - as a retired schoolteacher, I offer one caution. Do not put Preston (great name, by the way) and Thomas with a middle name starting with a vowel.....his initials would become PAT, PET, PIT, POT or PUT - all sources of ridicule among little kids. That leaves out Arthur, Evan, Isaac, Orion, and whatever starts with U.

Unknown said...

I guess Ubert is out of the question. hehehehe

I think my favorite is
Preston Lee Thomas

I have no idea if Lee is a family name or not but it works.

If you are really interested having a Thomas side name for a middle name.
Milo comes from Sandy's side.

Preston Milo Thomas. It's just a thought

Saving Grace said...

Well I guess Preston Grace Thomas is out of the question so my vote is Preston William, or Preston Scott but just for the heck of it you should spell scott with one t.

Sandy said...

I thought Preston England worked well but I also like Preston William Thomas or Preston Daniel Thomas. What about Preston Zippy Zapp? I'm kind of attached to that one.
I wouldn't worry too much about the initial thing. Have you looked into Will's initials? WET. Now that's a cause for ridicule if there ever was, but he turned out ok.
I don't remember it being so difficult to pick a name but then I don't remember many things anymore.
By the way, I've been through West Minister Abby when I went to England with Linda. Beautiful!!
How about Preston Minister or Preston Abby - never mind that one.
I love how names for babies come about. Thanks for sharing your story. Be sure to share it with Zippy, too. Huh, Will!! Yeh! I just remembered, I'll see you tomorrow!! YEAH! We can finish this conversation then. :-)