What's in a name?

Ok, so several people have asked how Hollyn got her name. I'm guessing this is about the same reaction my mom got thirty years ago when she named me McCall. I wanted to take a minute to explain. First, just as a sidenote, it rhymes with "Collin". If you've heard the pronunciations I've heard, you'd be laughing with me, I'm sure. Second, Lee and I struggled for MONTHS to name our newest addition. We didn't know she was a girl until about three weeks before she was born, so we battled coming up with not one but two names. We had a solid list of about five names we agreed on, but none of them felt right-- if that makes any sense. I consulted EVERYONE, and I do mean EVERYONE, and then realized that the only opinions that really mattered (no offense to any of you) were mine, Lee's, and Libby's, so I stopped asking. I prayed about it and worried about it and stressed about it and ALMOST pushed Lee over the edge with talking about it. Even Libby said, "Mom- can we just name the baby already? I'm tired of talking about baby names."
And then my mom recommended Holland. I liked it. It was different. However, I didn't want all the country conotations and for her life to be filled with wooden shoe and windmill jokes, but I looked it up anyway. Holland didn't mean anything, but HOLLYN was there, right under Holland in my baby name book that I'd borrowed from a friend, and its meaning really struck me: confident. Of all the gifts I could wish to give my daughter, that is definetly at the top of my list. I'd love for her to grow up and be secure in who she is-- scratch that. I'd BE THRILLED if she grows up to be even OK with who she is, as so many wonderful, beautiful girls never reach that point. Needless to say, that was it for me. Hollyn. It worked, and it stuck. Having a unique name has given me character (at least I'd like to think it has), and I hope it will do the same for her.

Note: this is yet another way my two girls are different. Here's how we named Libby:
Me-- It's a girl!
Lee- What are we gonna name her?
Me- How about Libby? (this name literally just randomly popping into my head out of nowhere)
Lee- I like that. Ok, we'll name her Libby.
Done. It took less than a minute. She might as well have named herself.

So, will Hollyn grow to be confident? Who knows. But I do know one thing-- so far, so good.