How We Chose the Name Declan

We have received a lot of questions regarding our choice in name for Declan. I have been meaning to blog about it and finally decided to sit down and write. I figure that at the very least, Declan will find it interesting when he is older.

When we found out we were pregnant this time around we realized that if we were having a boy, we didn't have a single boy's name we both agreed upon. We started talking about names before we knew the gender and had pretty much settled on Declan by the time we had our gender ultrasound at 15 weeks. Where did we come up with the name? We found it in a baby name book of all places :). Yep. We literally went through a baby name book, name by name, until we found something we liked. I remember the night Jon came across the name Declan. He found it on a list called, "Boy names most likely to be mispelled by teachers", or something random like that (that's not why we chose the name). Jon said, "I found a name I like. Don't say 'no' right away, okay? Just think about it." When he first said and spelled it I actually liked the sound of it too. I didn't know anyone by that name, but it seemed cool, fresh, we liked the meaning and it sounded good with McLaughlin. So of course I then had to research EVERYTHING about the name. Here is what I found out;

Declan means; Full of goodness, prayerful.

The name Declan is actually Irish, after St. Declan (this is the English rendering of his name) of Ireland. He was a contemporary with St. Patrick and actually preceeded St. Patrick in bringing Christianity to Ireland. Here is a quote about St. Declan that I liked;

"…he received marks of honour and sincere affection from the people and clergy of Rome when they came to understand how worthy he was, for he was comely, of good appearance, humble in act, sweet in speech, prudent in counsel, frank in conversation, virtuous in mien, generous in gifts, holy in life and resplendent in miracles." source

Another little excerpt I liked was this;

"Declan is special, marked out for a higher purpose, even before his birth; events in the night sky herald his arrival to those with a mind for such things. His coming into the world is easeful - his mother Deithín knows neither sickness nor pain."  source

Random facts:
-Elvis Costello was born Declan Patrick MacManus. When I originally read this on a website I just remembered that Elvis was born "Declan" and I was thinking Elvis Presley but it was actually Elvis Costello. Elvis Presley was born Elvis Aaron Presley. I thought that was funny since I guess that means both our boys, Aaron and Declan, have names associated with the name Elvis. Maybe our next boy will be named Elvis... kidding!
-Declan is the name of a main character in a movie I like, Leap Year. There are apparently a bunch of characters named Declan in various popular TV shows.
-Since choosing his name, we keep hearing about other Declans. In fact, the nurses at the hospital where I delivered said that he was the second Declan born there that very week! We have met one other baby named Declan and heard from friends and family of their friends who have used the name as well. I think it is gaining in popularity and will probably not be so rare in a few years. I have noticed that most of the people around our age really like the name but some of the older generations have given us a little grief about it. :)

We chose Levi as a middle name because it was another of my favorite boys names and Jon liked it better as a middle name. I like it as a sibling name with Aaron because of the biblical and Priesthood connections of Aaron and Levi.

We hope that both of our boys will be righteous men and faithful missionaries for the Lord, just like some of their namesakes.

Some pictures of Declan at 3 months.

 Declan is such a happy baby!