KOLYA is pronounced like the boy's name Cole (which happens to be my cousin's name) plus "ya" at the end. It's the Czechoslovakian/Russian nickname for the boy's name Nickolai. It's European enough to tie into Sasha's Serbian roots and yet it's girly enough to work for an American girl. Plus, it starts with a K and has two syllables which were my criteria in the name picking debacle. I wanted two syllables because everyone else in our family has two syllables and I like that our kids will have the same first and last initial. Sasha and I first saw this name when I took my first trip to Chicago to meet his family. We went to a movie store and saw the title Kolya on the cover of a movie about a little boy who goes to live with this old man. Even then, before we were even serious about marriage, we said "one day if we get married, that would make a cute name for a baby girl."
MATTILEE is my grandmother's first and middle name smooshed together. Her name is Mattie Lee Stillwell, but her siblings and my Popaw have always called her Mattie Lee...only in their Southern way of saying it, they smooshed it together to sound the very same as Mattilee. I can't be prouder to name my baby girl after such an amazingly strong and caring woman.
Just for the record...
Kallen's full name is KALLEN LAZO KECMAN. We just liked his first name when we found it in a book. Even then, I wanted a two-syllable first name that started with a "K." LAZO is Sasha's dad's name. I never met Sasha's dad because he died when Sasha was in undergrad.
If we were going to have a boy this time, or if we ever have another boy, his name will be something along the lines of KARTER LANGDON KECMAN. He'll have the same initials as Kallen. KARTER is still in question. I like it, but think it's a little plain. Plus, I don't like taking a common name and changing the spelling. LANGDON is my Memaw's brother Willard's middle name. He died when he was about 20, so I never got to meet him, but I've always heard great things about him.
MATTILEE is my grandmother's first and middle name smooshed together. Her name is Mattie Lee Stillwell, but her siblings and my Popaw have always called her Mattie Lee...only in their Southern way of saying it, they smooshed it together to sound the very same as Mattilee. I can't be prouder to name my baby girl after such an amazingly strong and caring woman.
Just for the record...
Kallen's full name is KALLEN LAZO KECMAN. We just liked his first name when we found it in a book. Even then, I wanted a two-syllable first name that started with a "K." LAZO is Sasha's dad's name. I never met Sasha's dad because he died when Sasha was in undergrad.
If we were going to have a boy this time, or if we ever have another boy, his name will be something along the lines of KARTER LANGDON KECMAN. He'll have the same initials as Kallen. KARTER is still in question. I like it, but think it's a little plain. Plus, I don't like taking a common name and changing the spelling. LANGDON is my Memaw's brother Willard's middle name. He died when he was about 20, so I never got to meet him, but I've always heard great things about him.
