What's In A Name?

I've mentioned on the blog that we have been calling our sweet baby Avery.  I've also mentioned to people that I way overanalyzed the baby name choice already.  I thought it'd be fun/funny to write down the many different thoughts that have gone into the choosing of Avery (although, again, we still reserve the right to change our minds on this name).  The first time I fully explained all my analysis on the baby name choice to Jacob was when  I realized how crazy I sounded.  His facial expression can only only be classified as shocked when he realized how much I over-analyzed the whole thing.  And his reply was "I just think Avery sounds cool".  It was hilarious!

First off, when Jacob first suggested Avery as a potential girl name back in early pregnancy, my instant reaction was "like the labels??".  You see, I enjoy office organization a little too much, so I've done a ton of projects over the years with office labels, and the most popular office label brand is Avery.  After a few weeks, however, Avery kept popping back in my mind as a pretty name so it soon was at the top of our list.
On the day before we found out if we were having a girl or boy, I decided I needed to analyze every other possible option for a baby name to confirm that Avery would be the right choice if we were indeed having a girl.  The below analysis is the one I explained to Jacob that left him in shock:

1. Since I grew up with a "B" last name (Bodine), I had long enjoyed getting towards the front of the line in all/most school functions.  Knowing my children will be stuck in the back of the line for all things that are lined up by last name, I'd like my kids to have first names at least in the front half of the alphabet.
2. Since Jacob & I already have "J" names, it'd be too matchy to name any of our kids with a "J" name.
3. Our favorite choice for a boy name is Carter, and since I don't want all kids to have matching first syllables, "C" isn't an option (we are also likely having 3 kids so we couldn't have 2 of them matching and the 3rd be the odd man out)
4. We have an influx of "B" names in our family (my dad Bruce, my brother Brett, my nephew Brayden, etc) so that might get confusing.
5. Since "W" is an awkward last name initial to say, I'd like our kids to have unique enough names where they're likely not to have 3+ other kids in their class growing up with the same name (example: Jessica W. does not roll off the tongue).
6. We also didn't want our kids to have such funky names that they have to spell out all the time or explain.
7. I grew up often looking up my name in little name books for its meaning.  In a number of these books, it states "See also Jill" or just has the exact same meaning listed as Jill ('youthful').  Since Jill is my sister's name, this left me often feeling unoriginal.  As a result, I really want to have significant meaning to their name.  While a couple name books defined Avery as "ruler of the elves" (which could be true in ways since she's sure to be a tall girl, haha), I found a definition of Avery to be "wisdom; counselor" and loved that!

There were about 5-10 additional caveats and tangents I also provided to Jacob, but these were the main items.  I'm mostly making fun of myself by admitting to my overanalysis.  I've learned that picking a name for a baby is a big deal!  Whether we stick with Avery or surprise ourselves and change our minds, our baby girl will know for sure that her mama put a lot of time and thought into her name choice :)