I have loved picking out my children’s names since I was a child myself 🤣 Funny enough, just like *everyone* said back then, none of those names ended up on my children. But that’s okay. All my kids’ names have meaning behind one or both parts that just didn’t exist back then. I used to pick names just because I liked them, but now I (& my husband 🤣) pick names that we like AND that are meaningful. Here’s the meaning behind our newest addition’s names!

Peter

Peter and Ada’s first names were both decided within the first month of Russ and me being married. We’ve been married nearly 11 years now, and Peter’s name is finally being used! Peter comes from my maiden name, Petersen.

What I find so funny (and also kind of miraculous) is that I never thought to use the name before marrying Russ. You see, I dated a guy all through high school and a little bit of college, and we had named all our future children. Luckily, Peter never crossed our minds, because that means Peter remained untainted by a different relationship!

It’s also kind of wild that Peter never got used by any of my siblings (or even cousins)! Our Peter is likely the last grandchild on my side of the family, but no one else used the name. (Granted, there are only two boys who don’t have the last name ‘Petersen,’ but still! My sister did almost use it for her 2.5yo son, but I had claimed the name long ago, so I told her, “Go ahead! But if I have a son, he will also be named Peter.” She went another direction 🤣)

The last interesting thing about Peter’s name is that I don’t generally prefer names that have associated nicknames, but I made an exception for Peter because I actually like all the associated nicknames, so it won’t bother me if he chooses to go by Pete or Petey. At the moment, we call him by all three names (and it’s the stinking cutest thing to hear Holly call him “Little Petey Boy” 😍)

Maverick

Maverick ended up on our radar because I did an internet search along the lines of “strong boy names.” We’ve never chosen a name before based on the meaning of the name, but I thought it might be fun to do that this time around. Maverick means “nonconformist.” I liked the idea of our son carving his own path and not just blindly following the crowds.

There were other options on the list that I also liked, but Maverick stood out to me because I thought Russ would like it. I sent him my shortlist of the names I liked and their meanings, but mentioned that Maverick was my favorite. He replied that he didn’t like any of the others, but might be on board with Maverick.

Russ has always said that he thinks it’s weird to name children after yourself. It’s a common practice (especially in my family!) to use the dad’s first name as the first son’s middle name, but Russ has never been interested in using his name as our son’s middle name. However, using Maverick became my way of giving our son’s name a connection to his dad without using Russ’s actual name.

For one thing, Russ has always been interested in aviation. His grandpa and dad were both pilots, and he actually has his private pilot’s license, too. He currently works in the aviation field, and someday he may further pursue his piloting dreams. Since Top Gun: Maverick came out last year, everyone is pretty well aware of the name and its connection to aviation now, but Russ was interested in the original Top Gun long before the newer movie came out.

For another (much smaller) thing, Russ’s high school mascot was a Maverick. High school mascots really don’t matter in the grand scheme of things, but it’s just kind of fun that there’s another way to connect the name Maverick back to Russ.

So there you have it! Our cute boy’s name and how he got it. How did/do you choose your kids’ names?