We have a winner....

In the name game at least. We've decided that our little girl's name will be

Tabitha Anne-Marie Erwin

For awhile though, until she tells us otherwise, we'll keep calling her Masha. It seems heartless & cruel to me to suddenly take away the name that she's gone by for a while. With the name we chose, we hope that it will give her options in the future to go by what she likes. And as pointed out by my astute father-in-law, now Michael will have TAME x two on his hands.

Tabitha is a name that we could both agree on. Most of the others on the list Michael vetoed for one reason or another. We also both really liked that in 1998, Tabitha was ranked # 281 for girl's names according to the Social security Index. That way, when she does get called on in class, 10 other little girls won't be answering.

Anne / Ann has been a family middle name for a few generations now, so by following this tradition I'm hoping will help her feel connected into the family.

By the same token, Marie / Maria is the name her mother gave her, and is in fact the only thing that Masha still has from her mother. By connecting Anne & Marie with a hyphen I'm symbolically connecting Masha's past with her future.

And then Erwin obviously for the last name.

Whew! So glad that's settled. I now appreciate a little bit more the angst that people experience naming their children. This was a bit more anxiety-ridden than naming kittens.