Introducing...

Jack Jefferson Etheridge

I must admit... naming this little booger wasn't easy! We both honestly expected a girl, and not that we had a girl's name picked out already (boy was that going to be a fight!), but a viable boy's name just never popped into our heads at all. So when we found out a boy's name was what we were going to have to come up with... we were blank! I partly blame my sister, since she had her two kids first, she obviously had first pick of names... and two of the better (significant) names in the family, Hampton & Sam, were snatched up (rightfully so) well before our little family had even begun! 

And then I suppose I put the other half of the blame on Jei. You see when Jei & I were trying to name Allen, 'Allen' was the front runner from the beginning. But it never did sit well with me that we were going to use 'Jess' for his middle name... even though I loved the two names together and how it sounded. My dream or vision if you will... was to have two sons named after their late Uncles, one named Allen and the other named Jess. Obviously, if we used Jess in Allen's name, we couldn't very well have used it again as a first name for another boy (we would've been "those" parents!). 

I of course made my argument, and although it certainly was a valid one, Jei's "50/50" argument, one that stated that we only have a 50 percent chance that our second child is going to be a boy... so what happens if we end up having a girl and we never have the chance to use the name 'Jess', ...ultimately beat out my argument and won! In the end, Murphy's Law prevailed and a second son is exactly what we got. Naturally, I suggested 'Jess Allen' as a potential name candidate... but it got shot down rather quickly (for obvious reasons). 

So with Jess, Hampton, and Sam all out of the question... we weren't real sure what we were left with. We had already decided that his name was going to come from the 'Gringo' side of the family (we just didn't see "Jesus Epifanio Etheridge" working very well!). Actually, there were a few good names on Jei's side, but just like with my sibling, hers got first choice of all the good ones! With all that being said, we were obviously left with a very limited pool of names to work with. Well actually, after breaking out both paternal & maternal family tree books for ideas, there were plenty of good names to choose from... just none that really tugged on our hearts.

Back when we were trying to name Allen, and arguing back and forth about whether to use the name Jess or not... one name in particular kept popping up as a potential substitute in case I ended up winning the 'Jess' argument. Moe-Joe's father's name was Jackie, and although it would probably be considered more of a girl's name in this day & age... Jei & I still really liked it, so much so that Allen was almost named "Jackie Allen". So once again, a little over two years later, and we were still tossing around the idea of naming our son 'Jackie'.

My Grandfather, Jackie Coogan Ferrell, proudly served in the United States Navy. Unfortunately, I don't know too much more about him... for he passed away from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease when I was little - and long before I had the chance to know him.

I can't say I can recall any good stories about Jackie or his life... but just from being in the family and hearing my mother talk about him, I know that he was a good man who loved his wife and his two children very much, and who died way too early in life. (Jackie and his daughter, "Moe-Joe", at her wedding.)

As you can see from the picture below, Jackie lived long enough to see his Grandson (me) be born. I of course don't remember him, but it makes me happy to know that he was able to meet, hold, and play with me as a baby. Judging by how much I loved and enjoyed being around his wife as I grew up, I'm sure I would've had the same feelings for Jackie, and am sad that I never had the chance.

Early on in his life, everyone called him Jackie... but as he got older, he shortened it up to just 'Jack'. I only found that out recently when I told Moe-Joe that 'Jackie' was in the list of potential names. I honestly liked the name Jackie a lot and really wanted to name my son after his Great Grandfather, but always thought it was a bit too girly. Neither of us wanted to have him bullied and made fun of in school over his name... but at the same time, he sure would've grown up to be one tough S.O.B.! ("A Boy Named Sue") But after finding out that he eventually went by 'Jack' in his elder years, Jei & I had a new very doable name to consider.

Jei absolutely loved it, but I actually wasn't too fond of it in the beginning. But as time went by and no other brilliant name that we both loved came up, Jack was definitely beginning to sound better and better. In the end, Jack just seemed like the perfect fit, especially when he made his grand entrance at the hospital. The way Allen looked like an 'Allen', Jack most definitely looked like a 'Jack'! It was certainly more frustrating and it took longer than we had hoped, but Jei & I finally found the perfect name for our new son... and we could not feel more blessed to have named him after his Great Grandfather and to have honored such a great man.    

Now, I'm sure you are all wondering where on Earth we got 'Jefferson' from... and if it's another long story like the one above, then you probably don't want to know! Fortunately, that story is short & sweet... however uninspiring it might be. We were going back & forth for what seemed like forever with a few names for Jack's middle name, but nothing really flowed the way we wanted it to. And then one day while I was at work and surfing the web (your tax dollars hard at work!), I stumbled upon a headline that sounded quite intriguing.

Of course I didn't save the article and have since tried to find it again without any luck, so I don't remember exactly how it read, but it had to do with five of the most *BLANK* names in American history. Again, I can't seem to remember exactly what the "blank" was about... but I think it had something to do with leadership. Anyway, I was intrigued about what five names would be on that list, after all, we needed all the help and ideas we could get at that point! Of course if I can't remember what the article was about... then surely I'm not going to remember any of the other names mentioned in the article, so I apologize if this story really sucks!

Obviously, 'Jefferson' was on the list and right away I liked it and immediately paired it up with Jack just to see how it sounded. I of course loved it and couldn't wait to tell Jei about it and see what she thought. That evening I told Jei about the name and much to my surprise she didn't hate it, but actually liked it enough to send it straight to the top of the list! By then it was pretty late in the pregnancy and we didn't have a lot of time to sit and think about it, so Jei pretty much left the big decision up to me. Like I said, I really liked the name but there was something about it that was bothering me. 

John Hampton, Sam Aulden, and Allen Jess... all of Moe-Joe & Dad-Oh's grandkids have family names... except for one. Jefferson wasn't anywhere in my family tree, and it certainly wasn't in Jei's... so even though Jei was okay with it, it just wasn't sitting well with me that we were going to break tradition and use a non-family name. I think if we had a really good second choice that we liked, which happened to be in the family, we probably would've used that one instead. But we didn't, so when it finally came time to decide on his name... as in we're in the hospital with birth certificate papers in front of us, we both agreed that Jefferson was not only going to be his middle name... but a new family name as well.