The Names of My Kiddos

I often get asked where my kids names come from and since we put a lot of thought into finding names with good meanings, I really should have a record of it somewhere, so here it is.

When we were pregnant with our first baby, we could not agree on a name. I feel like I threw about 5 names a day at James and he denied them all. Then he'd come up with one or two each pregnancy and I'd shut those down. I wanted something unique and James wanted something with a good meaning. That combination is tricky.

EZRA JAMES

By the time Ezra was born, we were down to two names. We put it on the board in our hospital room and we asked everyone to vote on a name when they came to visit. The other name got the majority vote by far, so we went with Ezra 😆Ezra's name fits him so well. Probably the best of all our kids because of its' meaning. Ezra means "helper". Before he could even understand what that word meant, we could tell he was an amazing helper. All his teachers comment on what a great helper he is. If I was gonna have a boy as my oldest, he was the perfect one. His middle name is James after his dad. His nicknames are Ez, Ezzy and Ezzy Bez.

MAKAI NEIL

Makai's name is my favorite of all our kids names. His name is a variant of Michael which means, Who resembles God?/Gift from God. James wasn't so sure about this name, but I fought for it and I'm glad I did. It's perfect for Makai. I originally thought we'd end up calling him Kai (which I loved), but it hasn't ever stuck. We usually call him Mak and I sometimes call him Duke, but Makai is what he goes by most often. Best results for a response are if his name is said in a stern, inflective way with the addition of his middle name. lol. His middle name is Neil after my Dad's middle name. He looked a lot like my dad as a baby, so it was a good fit.

DEKLAN STEELE

Deklan was the trickiest of our kids to name. He was 3 days old before we had a name. I had him in a birthing center and went home 2 hours after delivery, so they said to just call them when we had a name for the papers. They finally called me 3 days later and said, "We need a name to submit this paperwork." I was like, "I know, I'm so sorry, give me an hour and I'll call right back." I took that full hour. lol. We called him Kaleb for a day and then spent the rest of the time trying out other names that didn't fit. Then my mom suggested Deklan. When we looked up the meaning, James was sold. Deklan means "man of prayer, full of goodness". I love that this is Deklan's name meaning. Not only have I noticed that he has often turned to prayer for help as his first thought, but Deklan is also a really difficult kid with a lot of anger and aggression and the meaning of his name helps me to think and remind myself that he is also so full of goodness. His middle name is Steele, which is a family name on the Tressler side, and also fits him incredibly well. His nickname is Deko or Dekle Bug

BRYNLEE KAY

Brynlee was our first kid to be named before birth. One of the nurses that I saw almost weekly had a little girl named Brynlee and I absolutely loved it. Her name is a little more complicated as far as the meaning goes. When I first looked up the meaning, I found "virtuous, princess". Obviously we were sold with this meaning and gave her this name. However, I have never been able to find that meaning again. I'm sticking with the hope that it actually does mean virtuous, princess somewhere in the world. I have also found the name being from English decent meaning "gift from God, happiness". I'll take that too. Even though she's a stinker and the biggest little sass bucket, she really is a gift from God; especially as a baby (she was a dream baby in all aspects!). Brynlee's middle name is Kay after me. Her nicknames are Bryn, Brynsie Kins, Kinsie, and Bryn Kay.

BRIELLE ADELINE

About a year after I had Brynlee, I had a feeling that we would have another baby girl and that her name would be Adeline. However, by the time I got pregnant with Brielle, Adeline didn't feel right as a first name, so we ended up choosing it as a middle name for her. Adeline means noble, so we hope that this will help her to always think of her divine nature as a daughter of a Heavenly King. She's the only one of our kiddos who doesn't have a family name for a middle name. The meaning of the name Brielle is "God is my strength". This seemed like a beautiful and perfect name, especially for our "Rainbow Baby". We also had Brielle's name picked out before she was born. Her nicknames are Brie, Brie Brie, Briellie, Punkin and Trouble.

KODA JAY

Last, but not least is Koda. This name was one that kind of came to me. I was so sure we were going to be having a girl. I had created this whole vision of our family with another little baby girl, so when they told me it was a boy, I felt a little disconnected. I searched desperately for a name for the baby, so that I could start to picture him and change that final family image in my mind. One day I was in the shower and suddenly thought of the name Koda. I actually thought I made it up, but when I looked it up, I was so excited to see it was a real word and had a fantastically perfect meaning. Coda is a musical term which means, "beautiful finish that brings the whole piece to an end." Hello! Final baby! Loved it. Kota also means happiness and good fortune in Japanese. We combined these and spelled it Koda. The name Koda is also a Native American name meaning "friend", so I loved that too. I did kind of have to fight for this one, but I'm glad I won. His middle name is Jay after my brother Jason who goes by Jay. My brother is an incredible man, and I am so proud of him. Koda's nicknames are Doda and baby Yoda.

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Yes, I like different names, but if you think about it, all names are kind of weird when you first hear them and then they grow on you and it just works. I still have a couple of names on the back burner, but they are really more out there and I might have to save them either for a pet or if I'm ever blessed with a cute little black baby! lol.