What's in a Name?

I've always enjoyed hearing stories about the person a child was named after, what a name means, or why a child was given a certain name. While Judah is rising in popularity, it is still pretty uncommon, so I figured I might share why we picked it as our boy name. In no particular order, here are some of the reasons.

• We both really liked it! It was easily agreed upon.

• An Old Testament name paired well with the names Adam, Hannah, and Joel.

• It fit our two-one-two syllable pattern (Adam Lee Simpson, Hannah Jo Simpson, Caleb Joel Simpson, and Judah Lee Simpson).

• Having two boys with J names sounds cute ("Joel and Judah").

• It's unique.

• We liked the meaning - "praise the Lord", Genesis 29 shares a beautiful story of how Judah's mother (Leah) came to eventually find her self-worth in God (not in her beauty or her role as a mother, wife, etc.) Verse 35 states, "She conceived again, and when she gave birth to a son she said, 'This time I will praise the Lord.' So she named him Judah." Not that we didn't praise God for our firstborn, but Judah's crazy birth story brought about a different type of praise. Sweet Judah gives us more and more reasons to praise each day, and I'm sure this will continue as he grows!