The Name Game

I’m not a dummy.

I’ve seen the blank stares, the jaw drops, the raised eyebrows…

I’ve heard half-hearted, “Oh”s.

I know what, “That’s unique,” really means.

It means that there are some folks out there who think the Tool Man and I are nutty for naming our baby girl, Tacy Mae.

Oh, well.

I love her name, and the Tool Man does too!  It was carefully selected for several reasons, and I thought I’d take a moment to share them with y’all.

First of all, for some inane reason, the Tool Man and I have gotten ourselves into the little conundrum of naming our children with either “T” or “L” names – just like Mom and Dad.  I don’t think we started this intentionally, but the Tool Man insisted we continue the trend with our third child.

So after eliminating 92% of name possibilities, we began the hunt.  I knew exactly what I would name a boy but had no good candidates for girl names.

It so happens that about the same time we discovered that we’d be needing a girl’s name, I was reading my favorite childhood book to Ty and Lucy.

The book?

Betsy-Tacy, by Maud Hart Lovelace.

(Let me say here that if you have a daughter, you need to get her this book!  It’s actually a series of books that follows the life of Betsy Ray and her friend Tacy, and eventually Tib, from 5 years old to adulthood.  The three best friends have many wonderful, innocent, adventures growing up in the early 1900’s in Minnesota.  It’s such a sweet story, and I highly recommend it.)

Anyway, Ty and Lucy were actually the first ones who thought to name our baby Tacy.  I wasn’t sold on the idea at first, but after a few weeks, the name grew on me.

I’m one of those people who thinks that the meaning of a name is just as important as the name itself.  Ty’s name, Tymothy, means, “Honoring God,”  and Lucy means, “light,” reminding her to let her light shine.

I had no idea what Tacy meant. Honestly, I’d never heard the name outside of the Betsy-Tacy books.  I searched for the meaning of Tacy on several name websites with little or no luck.  Finally, I remembered that the Betsy-Tacy book mentions Tacy as being short for Anastasia.  So I decided to look up the meaning of Anastasia.  Guess what it is.

Resurrection!

Wonderful!  What better name than one that calls to mind the single most important event in the history of mankind.  I knew immediately that this baby girl would bear the name Tacy.

For her middle name, we chose Mae, my grandmother’s middle name.  (Because my grandmother’s first name, Zula, was out of the question for obvious reasons.)

So Tacy Mae it is!  Has a nice southern ring to it, doesn’t it?  Especially when Lucy says it.  I’m amazed at how she can draw it out into 4-5 syllables.

I absolutely love my little girl’s name, and I know of no other person who shares it.  I know plenty of Stacy’s, Tracy’s, Casey’s, Lacy’s, Macy’s, and even a Jacey.  But not one other Tacy!

Sweet Tacy Mae, you truly are one of a kind!

Lindsey