What's in a Name?

Since baby names are on the brain lately, as I mentioned here. I thought it would be fun to share our parents’ stories of how Parker and I got our names.

PARKER

(As written by his father)

  

Parker's first name is derived from three sources:

1. One of my favorite, early church leaders was Parley Parker Pratt.
2. Parker’s mother and I were privileged to spend some time in the home of President Spencer W. Kimball and his wife. I had met President Kimball's next door neighbor, Sam Parker, when he served as a missionary. Sam Parker invited me to visit any time we were in Salt Lake City. So when Sandy and I were engaged, and on a date in Salt Lake, we went to visit Sam, which resulted in him taking us next door to meet the Prophet.
3. Parker means Keeper of the Park or Guardian Angel. Since Parker was our firstborn we thought that he would watch out for his other siblings and be their guardian angel. He has fulfilled, and even surpassed, our expectations! Parker has been an eloquent and exceptional example for his siblings to follow.

Parker’s middle name, Andrew, is passed down from his father’s middle name.

*Fun fact: At my Las Vegas baby shower, I found out that Parker’s parents were originally thinking of naming him Matthew Mark. I don’t know why that cracks me up when I think about Parker with that name, but it does. I’m glad they went with Parker. It just fits him perfectly.

STEPHANIE

(As written by my mother)

Picking the perfect name, for any baby, is a monumental task. Our second baby was due on July 4^th. Not knowing the gender, Vaughn and I had discussed many possibilities for boy and girl names alike. However, in the end we could not agree on a girl’s name.

So, when July 14^th rolled around, and I was already 10 days overdue, we knew we had to make a decision just in case we had a girl. That same day, as we were driving home from an outing with our 3-year-old son, he suddenly exclaimed, “If it’s a girl, why don’t we name her Stephanie!?”

Vaughn and I looked at each other and said, “Sounds good to us!” So, on July 17^th (at thirteen days overdue) our beautiful baby girl joined our family and was given the name Stephanie Dianne—her middle name being that of my dearest friend.

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Reading these stories from our parents was so much fun for us. While I knew parts of these stories already (like #3 about Parker, as well as the fact that my older brother came up with my name), I had no idea about all the other fun and interesting details (like the fact that my parents did not know that I was a girl until I was born). A special thanks to my mom and dad and the Smith’s for sharing these special tidbits with us!