Robin's baby shower is coming up and I've been thinking about names for the baby.  Have I mentioned that she and Patrick found out it's a girl?  I think I did and I'm so excited.  I've considered a few names, not that I really have much of a say, but still, it's fun to think about.  I wonder if they'll name her after someone else.  I don't know how I feel about that, personally.  On the one hand, I think it's quite an honor to name a baby after someone you love and hold in high regard.  On the other hand, there's something to be said about letting a new person enter the world with their own identity.  Either way, as long as it's name isn't Apple or Denim or something equally ridiculous, I think either way is fine.

Anyway, names for Robin's baby.  If she wanted to honor Mac in some way I think Mackenzie would work.  It's a common girl's name and I think it's cute.  I also like Madeline which works for Robin and Patrick in a few ways.  First, it's French and Robin, having spent years living in Paris, is a bit of a Francophile and I think she'd like a French name for her baby.  Also, it's Patrick's mother's name so they could honor her memory.  And for short, they could call her Maddie, which is completely adorable.  What about Madeline Mackenzie Drake?  I kind of like it.  Go me.  Who knows what they'll actually name the kid.  I think Robin's mentioned Matilda, which she likes because it's French.  And Patrick hates because, well, it's Matilda and I can't blame him there.  I think his exact words were something to the effect of, "Kids beat up other kids named Matilda."  Then again, Patrick hasn't really contributed anything useful to the name pool either.  He wants to name her Dale because Dale Earnhart is his favorite stock car driver.  That's right, Patrick Drake, the brilliant (and insanely hot) neurosurgeon, is a NASCAR fan.  Gag me.  I think my opinion of him dropped a bit.  But at least he's still pretty.  So, there's that, I guess.  All kidding aside, I seriously hope this poor kid winds up with something better than Dale or Matilda for a name.  She does have to live with it, after all.  Maybe I'll be dropping some hints about Madeline Mackenzie from now on.  Subtly, of course!

At the very least, the name Matilda presents the opportunity to use Mattie as a nickname.  And that would go right along with the tendency of the Scorpio-Jones' to give their girls masculine names.  I mean, with Robin, Maxie and Georgie, a name like Mattie would fit right in with such a non gender specific family.  And now that I think of it, not only do they just have masculine sounding names, but they were all named after men.  Robin after Robert (her father), Maxie after Maximillian (her great-grandfather), and Georgie after George (Felicia's uncle).  Even I was named after a man.  Alison is a derivative of Alan, my father.  And when people shorten it, they usually call me Al, which it pretty masculine, never Ali (with the exception of Luke of course.  But he only calls me Ali Q because it sounds like Suzie Q.  And sometimes he does refer to me as Al).  

And those don't even include my school friends many of which have masculine names like Brighton, Logan, Easton, Kingsley, and Emory.  Their names are also usually family related.

And while I thinking about it, many of the kids I know back home are named after people their parents want to honor/memorialize.  Let's see there's...

-Harlan Jane Jacks:  Also named after a man!  I know I've already mentioned Harlan so I won't go into the details of her name.

-Alison Bard Quartermaine:  That's me.  I guess my parents were just honoring themselves with my name.  My first, Alison after my father, and middle, Bard, for my mother's maiden name.  To be fair, my parents had decided that my mother would pick my first name and my father would choose my middle name.  So I suppose they were honoring each other, which is sweet.  

-Maria Maximilliana Jones:  I know I've already talked about Robin, Maxie and Georgie being named after other people, but actually, Maxie's first and middle names were someone else's first.  Her full name is Maria (pronounced like the singer, Mariah Carey) Maximilliana Jones.  Maria is her great-grandmother.  

-Lucas Lorenzo Spencer, Jr and Lucas Jones:  Two people are named after Luke.  His son, Lucky aka Lucas Lorenzo Spencer, Jr, and Lucas Jones, his nephew.  

-Lesley Lu Spencer:  Speaking of the Spencers, Lulu's full name is Lesley Lu.  Lesley after Laura's mother and Lu after a friend of Luke and Laura's.  

-Lila Rae Alcazar:  My niece Lila was named after both her grandmothers.  

-Morgan Stone Quartermaine:  My nephew's first name is Grandmother's maiden name and Stone after Stone Cates, a patient of my father's and, more importantly a friend of my father, AJ and myself.

-Spencer Alexi Nicholovich Cassadine:  Yes, that is the kid's name.  Nikolas' family, the Cassadines, didn't get along too well with Luke, so naming his son Spencer was his way of putting the past behind them.  I think Luke was really honored.  Alexi is the masculine version of Alexis, Nikolas' aunt, with whom he is very close.  And Nicholovich is from the Russian tradition of having your child's middle name result fromt the father's name.  So, Nicholovich is for Nikolas and the suffix "-vich" is the male suffix.  If Spencer had been a girl, then it would have been Nicholoevna, with "-evna" being the female equivilent.  Nikolas explained this all to me after Spencer was born because I didn't understand why he would torture the poor kid with such a name.  But now that I know why, I kind of like it.

-Alan Quartermaine, Jr.:  My brother AJ.  I guess my dad has two people named after him too!  Both just happen to be his own kids!  

-Kristina Lansing:  Alexis' daughter is named after her sister who died several years ago.

So, see, Madeline Mackenzie Drake would fit right in!  Robin and Patrick could let me name their kid.  I mean, Maxie named Georgie when we were kids.  Seriously!  Tony took Maxie and I to visit Felicia and Georgie (then she was just known as "the baby") in the hospital after the birth and Tony, Felicia and Maria were trying to think of family names.  They kept rattling off some women in their family and Maria mentioned the wife of an Uncle George.  Maxie perked up and suggested they name the baby George.  Naturally, Felicia told Maxie that George was a boy's name whereupon Maxie pointed out that her name was a boy's too, but they called her Maxie and they could call the new baby Georgie.  And, thus, Georgie had a name!  Cute story, eh?  Gives me hope for little Madeline Mackenzie.  But I won't hold my breath.