HOLD THE PHONE.......We've got a new name! Aaron just couldn't get on board with Leander. And I am sad about that because I do love it so much. But it isn't fair if Aaron doesn't love it as much as I do. So one night I was looking at a list of baby names and it was a collection of names that the authors considered to be the best baby names NOT in the top 1000 on the SSA list from data collected in 2018 (which is the most recent list). I read through the list and there were a lot of names that fit my style. Later, I had Aaron read the list to see if anything stuck out to him. He glanced through, and said "What about Oslo? Ross Oslo Swan."
I was prepared no to like anything he came up with that wasn't Leander, I admit, BUT his suggestion threw me off guard. It sounded really good all together, Ross Oslo Swan. Hmmm.......
So I said, "Well, it sounds really good, and flows well, but I wonder what Oslo means." Because, you know, meaning is important to me, and I thought there was no way it could mean anything that meant anything. Oslo is the capital of Norway.......but that didn't really have any significance, BUT, the reason they names the capital Oslo is because Oslo means "meadow beneath the ridge" so, a nature name! Just like I've been wanting. Not only that, but a nature name that pretty much perfectly describes where we live. I was a little bit stunned. And said, "Aaron it's perfect." And he said that he liked it a lot.
A few days later we were talking about it again and Aaron told me that he always thought he'd come across "the name" while he was indexing, as sort of a blessing for doing what he was supposed to be doing. (Our stake president has asked each ward member to index one batch per week.) But Aaron said when I showed him the list, the thought came to his mind that he should scroll to the bottom section of names, and it would be a little ways up form the bottom, and then his eyes went straight to Oslo. He didn't tell me at first because he didn't want to make too much of it, but I thought it was a pretty cool story. I don't know how much Heavenly Father cares about what our earthly names are, but I do know He cares very much about us and the things that are important to us, and we've been praying about our baby's name for awhile. So Aaron's experience makes me like Oslo all the more.
Then I noticed that his initials would be R.O.S., Ross, which would be his first name, and I liked that too. Just for fun on Sunday we looked on Familysearch.org to see if we had any ancestors from Norway, and I do! Not only that but he came from a little town near Oslo, called Rollag, about 2 hours from Oslo, actually. His name was Eric Gautesson Midtboen Hogan. His parents have different last names, but the farm he lived on in Norway was called Haugen Farm. So he took Haugen as his last name, then Americanized the spelling to Hogan when he came across the ocean with his wife and kids. He was the first person to join the church in the Hogan line. He helped settle Bountiful, UT. My mom's maiden name was Hogan, and she, and therefore I, am a direct descendant of Eric Gautesson Midtboen Hogan from close to Oslo, Norway. So we can add that to the list of meaningful connections that go along with the name Oslo.
I'm in love. Haha! I am about 99.99% sure that Aaron officially agreed that Ross Oslo Swan would be our baby's name. He would go by Oslo and whatever nickname we think up for him (we haven't come up with a nickname yet... maybe Ros (hard s sound like a z) or I think solo would be cute, but Aaron isn't sure). We agreed not to announce the name, or tell anyone about it until after he's born and we see that it fits him. I'm not really worried about it fitting him, it's too perfect not to, but I am totally on board with not having to hear anyone's opinions about the name beforehand. We'll announce after he's born, and it will be a done deal.
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