Before Kyle and I even had kids, I was working on a set of names. Yes, a set. I grew up in a family where all of us kids have names that begin with the letter C and Kyle’s family with, obviously, the letter K. I think it’s neat when a set of kids go together! To start, I had no preference on which letter we would choose so I had multiple lists of names all grouped based on their first letter. All the lists were put together simply because we liked the name, no special ties to anything. Kyle was quick to veto the sets he didn’t like and before Kade was born we settled on using K as our first letter.
Something else that was important to me was that if we had girls, they had strong names. I liked the idea that their email signature would be a name that didn’t let on whether it was a male or female on the other end of the thread. For this reason, we decided that no matter the gender our kids would be named Kade, Karsyn, and Kooper. All chosen because we liked them individually and as a group. When working on our names I would say them all together, along with Kyle and my name, to see how it flowed. They were intentionally used in alphabetical order to help anyone that might not remember which kid was which! Middle names were not chosen ahead of time, rather we worked on them through the pregnancy of each kid.
Kade – Had our firstborn been a girl we discussed spelling it as Kayd.
Middle Name: Thomas
Kyle’s middle name is Thomas named after his dad’s name of Thomas. Simple. Almost a rite of passage as a first born boy.
Karsyn — Boy spelling: Karson
Middle Name: Reilly
When I was a kid there was this little white Scottish Highland Terrier dog that was abandoned at the vet clinic after his prognosis would be amputating his leg. His owners didn’t want a three-legged dog, so they left him. Amazingly, he healed and was able to keep his leg, but then needed a new home. When the clinic called, my mom said yes and he became part of our family. When I hear the name Riley, I think of the selfless love and hospitality, for all, that my mom has always quietly shown by example. When I hear Riley, I think of my mom. One night when we were watching Yellowstone, I noticed Kelly Reilly’s name in the credits and it felt like the perfect way to honor my mom’s small portion of Irish heritage. Not to mention, I have a soft spot in my heart for the way Beth loves and serves the ranch on the show.
Kooper –
This was always going to be my caboose name. When Koop was born I told Kyle I for sure wanted to use this name, but I was fine saving it for baby number four. Kyle said he was good with three being our caboose so to make sure this name got used, we went with it.
Middle Name: Rhen
Generations ago, the story goes that the bank in Bremen asked the farm families to name their operations. Ours is called Rhein Valley Farms. When I see Rhen, I see the farm and think of the generations that have built us to this point. I think of my dad, I think of my grandpa, I think of our lineage and heritage on this place since it was homesteaded.
Krew –
Alphabetically, there aren’t many choices after Kooper! I do love this name and how it flows with the rest of the gang.
Middle Name: Ross
Kyle’s mom’s maiden name was Ross. All the more special to us since they had two girls and the Ross name can now be carried on in a different way.
So, had we saved Kooper as our caboose name, what would we have used in the number three slot?
Kollyns – Kyle’s “meh, could work, don’t love it/don’t hate it” choice
Kirbe – my favorite. It would completely wreck my alphabetical approach, but if there is a baby 5 who turns out to be a girl, this is my pick! 😉
Funny how all of our kids’ names could have also been spelled with a C and now often confuse people – sorry to make it complicated!
My original working list of name sets & all the names we didn’t use. No surprise here, but Kyle wasn’t a fan of many, ha!
Remy
Ryann
Rylee
Ramsay
Ryatt
Wintyn
Wesley
Willow
Quincy
Tinley
Sage
Sterling
Suttyn
Sutter
Saylor
Sawyer
Stella
Harper
Hayes
Hudson
Haidyn
Houston
Hunter
Knox
Kutter
Krosbi
Kreed
Kye
Koy
Kace
Kinsley
Kimze
Kensley/Kinsley
