The Name

Ryan and I kept her name a secret for the entire pregnancy, but now that the cat's out of the bag, I'll talk a bit about why we picked it:

- First, we said each name we liked over and over again - by full name, but just first and last name, by just first name. Another name we liked ended in the 'e' sound, as does our last name, and we decided it was too "ditzy-sounding," so we threw it out.
- We said it happily ("yay, Nora!" You scored a goal!"), sternly ("Nora, do not throw that stuffed animal in the toliet.") and conversationally ("Nora, how was school today?"). 
- We considered the name's meaning.  Nora is a form of Eleanor, which means "a shining light." It also means "having a good name and integrity; an honorable woman."  One of the other names we considered meant "a weary woman," and we couldn't quite get over that, which is why it got thrown out.
- We put it at the top of a resume hastily made in Microsoft Word.  Was it cute enough to be a little girl name, but also strong enough to support a well-rounded woman? 

As far as her middle name goes, that was the one piece we were always certain of. Rae is the feminine spelling of, obviously, Ray, which is my maternal grandpa's name. I have always had a good relationship with him  (and all of my grandparents, really), and wanted a piece of him to continue on with her.  We also just really liked the way it sounded with the names we were picking.

Thus: Nora Rae.