names we threw out, vol. 1

I get the name question a lot these days, now that we know Jumping Bean is a boy. I think I've mentioned before that since both Jason and I were pretty convinced JB was a girl, hearing that JB was, in fact, a BOY left us speechless. In a good way - God has a lovely way of surprising and delighting us - but also in a "uh-what-do-we-name-him" way, too. We've not picked an name, but we have definitely decided which names we don't want to name our baby. So I thought I'd share some of the non-contenders in a little series. Here's #1:

JACOB

Initially, I loved the name Jacob. I know several very cool people, adult and child, who are named Jacob. But it's important to Jason and I to have a name that not only sounds nice but means something important to us, preferably with a great story behind it. The meaning of the name Jacob? "Supplanter". Uh. Okay. What's a supplanter?

Turns out that "supplanter" means "one who wrongfully or illegally seizes and holds the place of another". Also, "one who uses deceit and treachery to supersede another". In the Bible, Jacob "supplants" his brother Esau's twice, stealing his blessing and birthright, on direction from his mother Rebekah, who advises him to deceive and steal through trickery (fooling blind Isaac by smelling and dressing as Esau).

Huh. That didn't hold too well with us, particularly as this baby is long-awaited and has not "stolen" anyone else's place (Nor did his mother tell him to lie. Nuh-UH!). Now, God did bless Jacob greatly in spite of his misdeeds, but it's a long mouthful of an explanation whenever someone asks me or my son what his name means. And so, Jacob was out of the running.

No offense to any of the cool people we know named Jacob. They do not steal, and their moms are cool.