We found out we were pregnant on July 21, 2011. Almost instantly we started thinking of baby names. We honestly had more boy names that we liked. We actually had a boy's name picked out -- Mason Richard Clark. (Funny enough -- John's oldest sister Erin had a baby boy and named him Mason. Neither of us had talked to each other about it.) So, on October 23, when we found out we were having a girl, we didn't know where to start. John has always known that I like older, classic names, but I have also loved the name Harper for a long time. I remember when Victoria Beckham named her daughter Harper, I was crushed. I didn't want our daughter's name to be extremely popular. I looked at the most popular baby names list and made sure it wasn't in the top 10. I love the idea of using family names. I want the name to mean sometime. No, I don't mean that actual meaning of the name as in "strong heart" or "warrior," although that is pretty interesting. We wanted to use the name of people special to us...who we would want our daughter to emulate. Fortunately for us, our families' had a name in common. Evelyn. John's paternal grandmother's name was Evelyn Hansard Clark. My paternal grandmother's name was Christine Evelyn Beck Perry. These also happen to be the only great-grandmother's that are no longer with us. And so it was...Harper Evelyn.
John and I wish so badly that Harper could know these great-grandmothers. I often get choked up because I know my Big Mama would be over the moon with Harper and I want to share this experience with her. My Big Mama passed away 2 years and 2 days before Harper was born. We like to believe that our grandmothers and grandfathers in Heaven were able to meet Harper before we did. I like to imagine Evelyn and John Clark Sr. and Christine and Richard Perry Sr. passing around sweet baby Harper.
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| Christine Evelyn Beck Perry and Richard Lewis Perry, Sr |
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| John Dawson Clark, Sr. and Evelyn Hansard Clark |
Thanks for sharing this. It is always interesting to learn how names are chosen. I did not realize Christine's middle name was Evelyn. Very nice. She was such a sweet person. I also like the name Evelyn because it is my mother-in-law's name, and she is a remarkable lady. She used to go moose-hunting and she rode snowmobiling and motorcycles. She could ride a horse before she could walk. ~Margaret
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