Naming Greer

It's been seven weeks and two days since our little lady joined our family. But, it's been 25 weeks since we knew our babe was to be a girl and that her name would be Greer.

From the moment we found out we were expecting, I felt 100% certain that we would be welcoming a bouncing baby boy. I even forced husband into narrowing down our top boy names, which he continually insisted we not do until we knew what we were having. Since we knew our number one girl name, and because we were obviously having a boy (how wrong was I?!), there was no need to worry about naming a girl. 

To my biggest surprise and delight the tiny babe growing inside me was a girl! In the immediate moments after finding out, we watched a dancing baby girl on the ultrasound and knew it was our Greer. 

I can't remember where I first heard it, but Greer has been a favorite for years, stemming all the way back to our college/dating days. It was the name husband and I kept coming back to. While we decided to share the gender, we opted to keep her name secret until she was born. It wasn't too hard to keep her name under wraps, and it made revealing it on her birthday that much more special. In the privacy of our home and when we were sure no one could hear, husband and I called her by name, testing it out to make sure that it was the one. During the remaining weeks of our pregnancy, naming our daughter Greer became more definite each time the one-syllable pronoun rolled off of our tongues. 

Our next decision was the middle name(s). I have two middle names (Margaret Rose) and for the longest time I didn't want to give our children three names. But, I had a change of heart toward the end of pregnancy and decided that I would love to pass down the two-middle names quirk that my mom and sister also share.

Originally we had decided on Greer Elizabeth. I adore the pairing of a unique and uncommon name with a classic and more feminine name. Elizabeth fit that bill, complementing Greer perfectly. It was on our babymoon that we decided a second middle name was exactly what we wanted. I had had a name crush on Arden after having heard the name a couple of years ago, but had forgotten about it since. While babymooning I read the name again in a magazine and it clicked. Our little lady would have a pass down from mama, and three names that her daddy and I are crazy about. That's how we landed and settled on Greer Arden Elizabeth Hill.

While we didn't choose any of her names for their meaning, we both love what they stand for, especially strung together. Each name's meaning complements the others beautifully. Greer is a surname that means "alert/watchful". It reminds me of the way the Lord is watchful over us. With Greer being our miracle baby after a miscarriage, it felt like a sweet reminder of the care, love, and guidance God showed us as we walked through that valley. In Latin, Arden means "a dwelling place". We want her to dwell in the Lord, to know Him, and find rest in His presence. And in Hebrew, Elizabeth means "my God is abundance". Even in the busyness, wants, and demands of this life, we want our girl to know there is always overflowing fullness found in the Lord. How lovely are the three of those together?

I must say, naming your child can feel like a lot of pressure at times. So when you settle on a name that just feels right and you love the sound of it every time you hear it, you've found the one. We are so smitten with our daughter's name and thought from the moment we first saw her that she wears the name so well. We can't wait to see who our tiny Greer Arden Elizabeth will become!