What's in a Name: Emma Victoria

Emma Victoria's name has such a beautiful story behind it that combines the love of her birth family and her adoptive family.

Long before we even thought about growing our family, David and I had always loved the name Isaac and hoped to someday name a son by that name.  Though there were several girl names that we both liked, neither of us had our heart set on a girl's name in the same way as we did with the name Isaac.  If you know me at all, you know that I absolutely love names.  No joke--I had three copies of baby name books when I was in junior high and would pour over them as I imagined naming my future children!  To not have a girl's name solidified really slightly stressed me out...especially when we received such a short match for a baby girl!  I refused to let myself get too stressed out about it, though...because I was so beyond thrilled to have a baby girl on the way! 

I flew to Minnesota the day after we received the call for Emma's match, and, while I was there, David and I talked on and off about names.  Last year, when we were expecting to adopt a baby girl, we had chosen a name.  We still loved that name, along with one other one, so we prayed about those two names and trusted that God would show us which name should be hers.

Three days before Emma was born, I had my first phone call with L, Emma's birthmom.  During this call, L asked if we would consider naming her baby girl Emma Jo.  Emma was a name that we loved in the sense that it is Swedish and classic, just as the other two names that we were considering were.  Plus, Emma has a traditional spelling, which is important to me as a former teacher.  :)



By the time we arrived at the hospital, David and I had narrowed down our list to one of our original names and Emma.  I had always been a little nervous of waiting to name a baby after birth.  I love to have everything planned out, and I never imagined that I'd wait to name a baby until I saw him or her.  But, the first time I saw our beautiful baby girl in the hospital, I just knew she was an Emma. 

My great-grandmother's name was Emma Victoria, and it is from her and my other great-grandmother, Clara Victoria, that I get my middle name, since I am Bethany Victoria. Of course, I never met my Great-Grandmother Emma or Clara, but I love that Emma's name is tied to both my family and her birth family. As if that wasn't enough family history in Emma's name, my sister's name is Emily, and I think it's special that Emma's name has a tie to Emily.

Emma with her aunt Emily

We still weren't completely sure what Emma's middle name should be--I wanted to pass down my middle name to my daughter, but we also wanted to honor Emma's birth mother.  On the afternoon Emma was born, L and I were talking in her hospital room.  I told L what my middle name was and was starting to say that we'd love to name her Emma Victoria.  Before I could finish my sentence, though, L said, "Why don't you name her Emma Victoria?"  It was so wonderful to have L's blessing on the name Emma Victoria, because we really wanted to honor her desires for her daughter but also loved Victoria as a middle name.  On Emma's original birth certificate, her name is Emma Jo, and on her second birth certificate, her name is Emma Victoria. 

Emma with her beautiful birth mother!

We are so glad she suggested the name Emma for this sweet baby girl!!

We were privileged to spend so much time with Emma's birth family in the hospital.

 This is Emma with her H, her birth grandma. 

One of my strongest memories from our time in the hospital is when H shared the meaning of Emma's name and why she especially loved it so much.  Emma means "complete" and "whole."  Hearing the meaning of Emma's name completely solidified for me that God meant for this baby girl to be Emma!  David & I were praying so intently about the other names, but God already knew that this beautiful baby girl would be Emma Victoria--complete, whole, & victorious!

While we were in Missouri, Isaac spent some time with our friends Corrie & Mark.  Corrie wrote this sign and had Isaac color it for his baby sister.  There's such a big blank spot after the word "family" because we hadn't yet announced Emma's name.  :)  In a way, that just feels like yesterday, and other times I feel like Emma's always been in our family...either way, we couldn't be more thankful to have this beautiful baby girl in our family! 

Emma Victoria, you are loved!