What's In a Name Anyway?

I've always loved the name Caroline, long before I was married or even seriously dating. I think it came from the many Sunday afternoons of watching Little House on the Prairie and watching the strength of Caroline Ingalls care for her children, work the farm, run the house, etc. all with such a gracious way about her. Truth be told, THAT is where I got her name. It didn't hurt that it was just about the only name that Adam and I could agree on when I was pregnant with this little girl.

When Adam and I decided on Caroline's name, we (okay I) didn't think there was going to be much in the way of confusion. It's pretty straight forward - how hard can it be really. No, it's not a common name, but it's not unusual either. She's been called and/or her name has been misspelled like "Karalyn", "Carolyn", "Carol Lyn", "Carey", "Kerry", or "Cary" are just some of the examples. The misspelling of Cari, I understand. There's a lot of different ways to spell that name. But CAROLINE?! C'mon really?

She is getting tired of being called "Carolyn". Now, if you ask her what her name is it's "Car(e)-o-line". Try saying it differently and she'll correct you. Maybe she's getting to the point of not wanting to go by the nickname of "Cari", but prefers Caroline. Don't know. Just watch out if you mispronounce her name.

One of the reasons I really wanted to name her Caroline was because of my cousin Cari Jo. Cari and I are less than a year apart and have a wonderfully fantastic relationship. I asked Cari Jo if we named our little girl Caroline would she mind if we called her Cari, after her. She was thrilled and was really flattered. So, it only makes sense to derive the nickname, and spelling for that matter, of Cari from Caroline and after Cari Jo.

Here's a recent picture of the two "Cari's" together. I absolutely LOVE this picture of the 2 Cari's! The other picture, not so much.