I don’t mean me literally, of course. Really, how gullible are you? Actually I will be the grandfather of TWINS (!) sometime in August. My younger daughter Emily gave us the exciting news a few weeks ago. I simply didn’t believe her at first. There are no twins in our family that I know of (although one time I saw a guy in Taos, NM, at a teacher’s conference who looked amazingly like me).
I still think of Em as the baby and the little girl who at one time had a collection of over 10,000 stickers (really) and who would count them regularly [truth!]. Hours of counting. HOURS. The name “Emily,” by the way, means “the diligent one.” [“Neal” means “champion of the world.” Just saying.]
Emily txted me and said it was okay to share the recent sonogram with you. So here’s what the twins look like:
They are about an inch long here. But what strikes me most is how intelligent they already look.
Em is working on names. And I am trying to coerce/manipulate her into using names that I LIKE. But the whole endeavor is getting muddled because
1) Emily has always been strong-willed (her first words were “no way”) and for some reason SHE wants to name the babies, like I’m not a university professor and all.
2) Then there’s the issue of whether the twins will be two girls, two boys or one of each (which in a way seems like a better deal).
3) You have to decide if the names are going to rhyme (Roy/Coy) or not (Sylvia/Gertrude). If I had a twin (and some folks believe we all have twins out there just waiting to be reunited with us–of course, most of those same people were simply devastated when Oprah ended), I would not want us to be named something so rhymingly predictable as Neal/Bill. I would want his name to be cool and hip, maybe Creel or Steele.
If Emily’s twins are a boy and a girl, my first thoughts were Neal and Nealy. But a problem with that is my first grandson Daniel (see “Introducing Mr. Happy” post) already has the middle name Neal. Could I have two grandsons with the same name? Maybe. It’s 2012. Two girls? Nealy and Nell. Two boys? Neal and Niels.
I also like the name Thatcher for a boy. (I actually do.)
THE NAMING CONTEST
I hearby open up a contest to help name the twins. Like the HGTV Dream Home Contest, you can enter as many times as you like. The prize will be really, really cool and very, very valuable.
Post your ideas! We only have about eight more months.
NealEnJoy 
I have always been partial to Xavier – it sounds powerful! Also Conrad. Ok, I’d like my prize now!
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Boy = Hayden, Thomas
Girl = Valerie, or Serena
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Ha loved counting those stickers! The dr. bets one of them is a boy because she had to poke to make him move while the other was boxing. 🙂
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Hayden (G/B)
Grace(G)
Xavier(B)
Congrats!!!
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Alex and Alexandra
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I love your blog, Neal! So funny! About the names (and congrats, by the way), I am bragging, I guess, but I think we chose our youngest’s name well. We were living in the Pacific NW and missing the South, so we chose a very Southern name: Lily Catherine (and we call her “Lily Cate”). We have received so many compliments on this name. Lily has become almost too popular lately in my area, but not so pervasive as some names these days. My son was four when Lily Cate was born and told people that her name was “Lily CAKE.” My kids are Madeleine (which was somehow shortened to “May”), Caelan (a boy~my husband had a Scots friend with that name), and Lily Cate. May and Lily are Edith Wharton characters, and I DO love Wharton but didn’t do that consciously. 🙂
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Thanks, Leigh Ann! Love your children’s names.
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Very cool idea, Neal–the blog, and having twins!
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Thanks, Tim. Your time will come!
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Boy: Aiden or Cray or Mason
Girl: Allison or Carly Ann or Madison
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Mason is SUCH a cool name! I may decide on that one (for a boy OR girl, right?). I mean, Emily may decide on that one.
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Yay! Maybe I’ll win! Haha Mason is a great name though.
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Okay! I am up for it!
I’ll suggest the names that one family in one of my schools used for their twins (They said the hospital already had them named, so they just went with it.)
Male – (pronounced mol-ee) and Female – (pronounced fi-mol’-ee]
It works best if you have a boy and a girl.
😉
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Congratulations!
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Thanks, Michelle.
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My great-nephew and niece are named Mason and Maggie; the two names work well together should Emily have a boy and a girl. I also have newborn great-nieces named Indigo (please don’t so this to your grandchild!) and Anabelle. But my recommendation for a boy would be Calvin (and Hobbes if they’re both boys) . . . because I have been a Calvin and Hobbes fan for years. You’ve already noted their intelligence, and Calvin is certainly intelligent. If you and Emily are not a C & H fans, stop by my office and I’ll let you check out one of my collections.
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WOW! Way to go, Neal. You might remember that I have twin boys (Willis and Warren). Both are family names. They just turned 28 on Feb. 15. Just remember that the time will fly by, so no matter what you name them, just enjoy every second with them. I have written many stories about my boys and can’t wait until I get a grandbaby from them. Take care!
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Alisa! Hi. Long time, no hear from. I hope all is well with you. Yes, I do remember that you have the twins. May you get grandbabies soon!
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I actually have a ton of names (middle names included) already picked out for my future children, my mon says I won’t use them because my husband will have a say but I said that I’m the one carrying them so I’m the one going to name them. My top two are Emilee Renee and Gabriel Dean. Other names I like are Rylee, Kathryn, Elisabeth, and Vivianne for girls and Riley, Logan, Levi, and Connor for boys. I also like unusual spellings for names like Emilee, Rylee, or Kathryn.
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