Name Game

When we had our little Allison Bryanne eight years ago, we were so in love with our sweet baby girl that we talked and talked about having another one.  Due to college, deployments to Iraq, and careers, our second baby dreams were put on hold for a long time, but I had this little sweet girl's name picked out then.

We love to use family-type names.  Alli's name came from my grandfathers' names - Alfred and Alan.  As a "Lauren," I grew up without a nickname, so I loved the idea of her having a nickname.  I didn't want a name that was too out there, but I wanted one that gave her her own identity.  In a generation of Addisons, Ellas, and Olivias, I hoped Allison would be common enough to not be strange 30 years from now, but not so common that there were five others in her class.  So far, so good.  Her middle name, Bryanne, has Ryan's name in it, which was extremely special at the time because he was in Iraq for his first tour.  She's actually lucky enough to have two nicknames - Bryanne has been shortened to "Bree" and "Breezy" over the years, which she loves.

My goal with Alli was for the world to call her Allison with her close family members being the only ones who called her Alli.  But our little sweetie took on the full personality of being an Alli, and it's all she'll answer to from anyone.  The only issue we run into sometimes is spelling, but she's so quick to correct people now that it's really not a problem.

Anyway, I've had little girl #2's name picked out for about seven years now, and I'm so thrilled that I have the opportunity to use it!  So, without further ado, our second daughter's name is going to be...

Riley Rachelle Lowe

I grew up riding horses with a girl named Riley, and I've always been a huge fan of the name.  It's seen a popularity surge in recent years, but was #29 on the Baby Center names list for 2012 (Allison was #37 in 2004).  So I'm hopeful there won't be 10 Rileys in her kindergarten class, but it's not a name that makes people say....what?  Rachelle is my amazing mother's middle name, and it's taken from my grandmother's maiden name Rachel (which happens to be my middle name!), so we're able to introduce a new name into the fold, but keep it in the family too.

We've been calling her Riley since the day we found out she was coming, so we're completely used to it and comfortable with it.  I can't wait to hold her in about 18 weeks and get to call her Riley in person!!  And if you're wondering if Alli approves of her little sister's name, check out her work at a local baby store while we were crib shopping a few weeks ago...