Playing the name game

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet".

After a debate that has lasted more than 2 years (see, I am stubborn), Ryan and I have finally reached a conclusion.

We have both always liked the name Alexander for a boy's name. We also like the idea of using Ryan in a boy's name. We think Ryan Alexander flows nicely.... but we do not want to call our son Ryan, it would be way too confusing, so we always knew we would call him Xander. But here's the issue, it would require us to explain again and again that even though our son's name is Ryan we call him Xander. I do not want to explain that a million times.

So then we thought, "Why don't we just call him Alexander Ryan?". It doesn't flow as nicely. And I don't like the idea of the first name and last name both ending in "er". But, it would require a whole lot less explaining when we call him Xander.

This debate started when I found out I was pregnant with Ryleigh. It continued even after she was born and we hadn't even thought about having another kid. And it most definitely came to a head when we found out we are having a boy.

But in the end we have decided to switch what we originally told everyone and name our son Alexander Ryan. And hopefully we'll stick with that conclusion up until March when we sign the birth certificate