Christopher and Anna Marie Maxwell working on baby names

[Savoring Samsara]

I'm waiting for one of them to embrace the hardcore Puritan virtue names like Obedience, Silence, or Fly-Fornication.

I love Fly-Fornication because even though I know it's meant to be interpreted as "avoid fornication," my brain always reads it as "fly (as in the insect) sex."

[thoughtful]

Bland Maxwell

Docile

Repentant

Humble

Prisoner 16 Maxwell. That would be truth in advertising.

Sweet Maxwell

But only if it's a girl, of course.

I wonder how Sarah would describe her in the blog. Hmmmmm . . . ;)

[bionicmlle]

Sweet Maxwell

But only if it's a girl, of course.

I wonder how Sarah would describe her in the blog. Hmmmmm . . . ;)

I am number 6. And you are...?

[Seven Severn]

I'm going with Matthew or Andrew and Elizabeth or Tabitha. With the exception of Tabitha they're pretty conventional names and I don't think they'd raise any of Steve's eyebrows.

[Odd1Out]

I've seen a couple of guesses for Elizabeth. There's no way Steve would allow that name. And I'd guess both Christopher and Nathan would be sensitive enough to not do that to Joseph.

[Justme]

Some have suggested Susannah may have had Trisomy. Is this hereditary or random? What are the odd's of another child having this?

[anjulibai]

I think it's both. It's caused by a problem with the meiosis in the creation of gametes, leading to an extreme or part of an extra chromosome being in the gamete. Sometimes it just sort of happens, as an accident, but some individuals are more prone to having something wrong with their meiosis.

It's possible Susannah was a one-time occurrance. It's also possible her trisomy was the cause of those two other miscarriages.

[Seven Severn]

I've seen a couple of guesses for Elizabeth. There's no way Steve would allow that name. And I'd guess both Christopher and Nathan would be sensitive enough to not do that to Joseph.

Yep. I'm a dumbass. Elizabeth is out. Hmmm... maybe Naomi.

[NurseNell]

We might be related, I had an ancestor named Thankful.

Any of us with ancestors in Puritan New England have Thankful and Mercy among our ancestors.

[divadivine]

My vote is for Asshat Douchecanoe.

[Miggy]

And Melanie is going to have a "D" baby, yes? So David or Dan or Daniel or Dinah or Deborah. I would hope that Delilah is not an option given the story about her. Would they do Davida/Daniella? Probably not.

My friend has just called her baby Delilah and the jokes have started already. There is the biblical Delilah, the song and the fact it is being shortened to Deli and has therefore picked up the nickname Sausage/Salami. Please Mel, if it's a girl, Deborah = good, Delilah = bad.

[uber frau]

Deborah was so presumptuous as to boss blokes around and to prophesy. Not a good role model for a Maxwell girl child. She might get ideas and tell her grandfather to go to hell.

My money ia on Damaris ('little girl-it fits perfectly with the theme of perpetual infantilisation) or Dinah ('judgement'-because where are you going when you die?). One thing im sure of: there will be no daughters named Delilah or Diana.

[anjulibai]

Dinah had sex outside of marriage or was raped, depending on your interpretation. Either way, she was defiled.

I can't imagine the Maxwells would consider that someone they'd want their daughter to emulate.

Damaris would be fine as a role model, but I think it's a little unusual for the Maxwells.

Deborah I think could go either way. Her role is one of a man's, but she also had that role at the command of God.

I think Danielle could be a viable option.

Definitely if it's a boy, it's between David and Daniel.

[singsingsing]

I'm thinking Danielle or Daniella. Dinah was a victim of rape (I hadn't heard of there being another interpretation, but it seems pretty clear that she was raped), Deborah was WAY too independent, she led Israel and criticized and gave orders to men, plus the name is a bit dated. Damaris would be viable, but again, it seems kind of dated. Pretty sure Dorcas and Delilah are right out. They could do a D virtue name, but there aren't many. Deliverance? Diligence? I can't see them going with Destiny. I saw a Puritan named 'Desire' in my family tree once. Can you imagine a Desire Maxwell?

[twin2]

My predictions:

Girls: Ruth or Rachel

Boys: David or Samuel

[Handmaiden of Dog]

The line was "Barkis is willing"--that was what Barkis the carter told young David, as a roundabout way to propose to Peggotty.

[/Dickens nerd]

Carry on.

Wow, I don't know how I got that so wrong; thank you for correcting me. Of course it was Peggotty.

[anjulibai]

I'm thinking Danielle or Daniella. Dinah was a victim of rape (I hadn't heard of there being another interpretation, but it seems pretty clear that she was raped), Deborah was WAY too independent, she led Israel and criticized and gave orders to men, plus the name is a bit dated. Damaris would be viable, but again, it seems kind of dated. Pretty sure Dorcas and Delilah are right out. They could do a D virtue name, but there aren't many. Deliverance? Diligence? I can't see them going with Destiny. I saw a Puritan named 'Desire' in my family tree once. Can you imagine a Desire Maxwell?

The other interpretation, a little more modern, is that she willing had sex. It would still have been a defilement, though, since it was pre-marital and without permission from her father. Evidence for this is that the guy seems to have cared for her enough to get a circumcision. This interpretation is used in the novel The Red Tent.