What's in a name?

When we found out this little munchkin inside me (still suuuper weird to say) is a little boy we were so excited BUT that meant we had no name for him. Of course he is a boy because we have two perfect girl names (and we will be keeping those a secret for our next munchkin to come, if it's a girl, because we still love both of them). However, we didn't stress about a boy name because we were going to cross that bridge when we got there. Well, we got there. Boy land! And nameless boy land no less. The girl names came to us so easily. One is a name I have loved forever that Taylor happened to love too and the other is a name that goes well with the first one that we fell upon one day and both instantly loved. We can't say the same about a boy name. NOTHING has come to me in a  "THAT'S IT" moment. Now Taylor is a different story, he has loved the name Hudson all along and Hudson is a great name but it's not the name for our baby, I don't think about him and think "yep, that's Hudson in there". It just doesn't seem fitting. Not to mention that 3 people on my facebook have little boys named Hudson. I don't want to copy someone else and I don't want him to have the same name as everyone else in his classes at school ESPECIALLY because our last name is Smith. So what things are we considering when looking at names?

Must haves:

• Strong masculine sounding name
• We like traditional or old fashioned names
• A name that would be appropriate if he were President or the CEO of a major company
• Something that will grow with him and isn't just for a baby or little boy.
• Nothing that people will easily make fun of
• Something easy to pronounce
• Something easy to spell

Must NOTs:

• No Hyphens or apostrophe's
• No weird spelling of a normal name
• Something made up
• The name of an ex boyfriend
• The name of a good friend's child- no copying
• The name of a same generation family member (i.e. cousins or cousin's kids)
• Something that isn't easily shortened (i.e. Nicholas to Nick or Nicky)

You see it gets tricky. Maybe I am pickier than most, I am not sure. But I can't honestly believe someone would name their kid after their ex-boyfriend from college or the same thing as what their cousin just named their kid. I want my kid to have a good strong name that is unique to him but isn't something made up. I can't imagine that is too much to ask.....but it is.

So the hunt continues. Thank you all for your suggestions, we have had some awesome ones we are considering and some ones we are like NO WAY! But, that's the fun of having kids, you get to name them what you want! Everyone has an opinion and that is why there are so many different names out there which is great. The world we be no fun if everyone was named Lauren.

And for those of you wondering.... NO, we are not sharing the name before he is born. You all got to find out he is a boy so the name will remain a secret until it's written on his birth certificate and made official. If you don't like the name we choose, say it behind my back because I don't care, it's going to be something Taylor and I like and that's what matters.

And no, we have not decided yet. So if you have any suggestions that fit the bill of the must haves and must not's please comment and let me know!