Day 220: Name Game - A Final List

We have eight weeks left, if we're lucky. It's getting down to the wire, and I feel the need to push us closer to consensus on a name for this kid. We have a working list of every name we've given even the slightest consideration. Since my scientific approach failed (when I tried to apply a fancy spreadsheet to the problem of arriving at a compromise), I thought I might try something more straight-forward this time. Simple ranking.

I took the top dozen names from the "scientific approach" (some of which aren't under serious consideration at this point, but whatever). I ordered them randomly, then asked Mary to rank them from favorite to least favorte. I did the same. My list, in order, is:

• Emmett
• Everett
• Addison
• Elliot
• Clement
• Watson
• Reik
• Robert
• August
• Emerson
• Lincoln
• Waldron

Side note for the uninitiated: the name Reik is pronounced "rake"... at least that's how we're saying it, and it comes from the Scottish ancestors on my mother's side.

Mary's list looks like this:

• Elliot
• Reik
• Addison
• August
• Everett
• Emmett
• Emerson
• Waldron
• Watson
• Lincoln
• Clement
• Robert

So I took the ordinal position of each name, in each list, and averaged them. For example, in my list, Clement is 5th. In Mary's list, it's 11th. The average average 5 and 11 is 8. Clement gets a score of 8. I then ordered the list according to each name's score.

• Elliot - 2.5
• Addison - 3
• Emmett - 3.5
• Everett - 3.5
• Reik - 4.5
• August - 6.5
• Watson - 7.5
• Clement - 8
• Emerson - 8.5
• Robert - 10
• Waldron - 10
• Lincoln - 10.5

If we were to compromise using this method, Elliot would win.

I've redone the poll again. This time for the last time, I promise. The top five names from this methodology are now open for voting, as is the "something else" option. Please do make your one selection. Mary and I will be refraining from voting, to see what people really think. We'll very likely then be ignoring what people really think when we finally reach our decision!

The problem I have with these methods of finding a compromise is that, in the end, I just don't want to compromise. I want to use the name that I like best. I've asked Mary to take some time with the idea of Emmett, to look at it again, ponder it for a few days, try it on for size, in her mind, as the name of our boy. Who knows... maybe it'll grow on her.

So what's your vote?