A colleague and his wife are “expecting” and like many parents-to-be are in a quandary over choosing a name for the new addition to their family. Their difficulty in choosing a name reminded me of choosing a name for my daughter.

My dilemma started the first time I was pregnant. It happened that a close friend was also expecting her first child. One day over coffee, I told my friend that if my baby was a girl, I wanted to name her Megan. She said she was set on Shannon. She was due in August. My due date was September. When her daughter was born, she suddenly had a change of heart and named her—guess what… Megan. I was angry with her right up until September 5 when my son was born.

Three years later my friend and I were both pregnant at the same time… again. My husband had named our son and so I had dibs on choosing the name for our second child. She was positive that this time she would name her daughter Shannon. I felt safe in telling her that I was going to name my daughter (if it was a girl this time) Christine, after my mother-in-law.

Just like the first time, my friend got to the delivery room first. She forgot all about Shannon and named her second daughter Christine. I was furious and determined not to let ANYONE know the new name I had chosen for my daughter.

I loved the sound of the name “Nicole”. It was a name that I hadn’t heard too often, so I believed that it wouldn’t be too common as my daughter grew up. To be sure that one of his co-workers or friends didn’t hijack my choice of name, I stubbornly wouldn’t even share it with my husband.

Nicole was born October 2 and she made a very loud entrance into this world. “Shhh,” I comforted, as the nurse put her in my arms, “Don’t cry Nicole”.

My doctor asked, “What did you say her name was?”

I answered, “Nicole.”

“Oh,” he smiled, “that’s my daughter’s name.”

There were five Nicole’s in my daughter’s class in school. So much for secrets.