His Name

Tobin Ezra, 16 days old...
New Mom, in a comment left on the post Q & A, asked a very good question (actually, two)--the meaning of Tobin's name and our process for choosing it. I had been intending to write a post specifically about this, so I'm glad she asked that question and nudged me to do it now!

The easy part of his name to decide on was his middle name: Ezra. Ezra is my dad's middle name, and also the middle name of my brother Doug. In Jeff's family, the tradition is that the firstborn son carries the father's first name as his middle name--hence, Josiah Jeffrey. The second son gets the paternal grandfather's first name for his middle name--David Wallace, since Jeff's dad's name was Wallace. The third son, according to family tradition, gets the maternal grandfather's first name as his middle name...but we decided to change it a bit and give Tobin his grandpa's middle name instead.

The name "Ezra" is from the Hebrew; in fact, it is a very literal transliteration of the Hebrew word for "help"--the only difference is that, in English, we put the accent on the first syllable and, in Hebrew, it's put on the second syllable. The same Hebrew root word is used in Genesis 2:18 to describe the role of a woman for her man, and it is also used in Psalm 46:1 to describe God's role of being a helper for us. It's NOT a "lowly" word; and ever since I learned from one of my professors in college about that connection between God's role and a woman's role, I have taken even greater delight in functioning in that way for my husband.

When we thought about our 3rd son, we were thrilled to have him carry on this family name (which actually began with my great-grandfather, I believe)--and thrilled to have such a special, significant meaning for his middle name.

And now for Tobin...how in the world did we ever come up with that name??? :)

If you've been following along with this blog, you might remember this post, written back on September 11 when I was 21 weeks pregnant, in which I described the process of searching for a name. I also included a list of possible names that Jeff had sent to me one night after he searched the internet for possiblities...after he figured out that 1) we liked names that originated from Hebrew (even if they weren't technically in the Bible), 2) I favored names that ended in "n", and 3) I usually liked 2 syllable names. Jeff searched--and one of the names he found that night was Tobin. In that previous post, I mentioned that one of the names on that list stood out to me and I went to bed that night thinking that we had a name!!! That name was Tobin. The next day I discovered Jeff wasn't so sure...

For weeks Jeff vascillated on his choice of a name, and it finally came down to Tobin and a name beginning in B. I was rooting for Tobin, but trying to be a supreme example of a submissive wife...and I really would have been OK with the other name. But I was so happy when Jeff came home with Josiah and David one night and told me about a conversation they had in the car. When Jeff asked them which name they liked, David said immediately (and repeatedly, in the days to come), "I like Tobin. I like Toby." Well, "Toby" wasn't what we were after; but I wasn't surprised that he liked that name because one of the engines in the Thomas the Tank Engine series is named Toby. :) But his declaration that he liked Tobin did seem to sway Jeff's opinion somewhat (thank you, David!); and in my pregnancy journal for Week 30, I wrote this: "Nov. 12 - Jeff sent me an email from work on this Monday morning, saying, 'I think I have decided that Tobin is the name...can we make it a decision?' Oh, yes, we absolutely can!!!!! I love, love, love your name, little Tobin Ezra Fisher!!" :)

Tobin means "God is good." In Hebrew, the word for good is "tov," and since the "b" and "v" sounds are somewhat interchangeable when dealing with Hebrew and English, when I hear the name "Tobin," it immediately reminds me of the word for "good." The form of this name found in the Bible is "Tobiah" which is the Hebrew form--and literally means "God is good"--and the Greek form "Tobias" comes from that. "Tobin" is actually an Irish form of this name which made it even more special to me because, after Hebrew names, Irish ones are what I like best (maybe because of the good Irish blood on my mother's side!).

Besides the origin and the meaning of this name, I fell in love with it because it's different but not so weird that people will forever be asking how to pronounce or spell it. When my parents gave me an unusual name, I think they predestined me to like and seek out other unusual names. :) The fact that we don't actually know any other Tobins made me like the name even more.

One of the interesting things about the past two weeks is that as I look at Tobin, I occasionally think, "He could have been B-----" or another name. With both Josiah and David, there was never any question about what their names would be, so I never had that kind of thought with either of them. But with Tobin, I realize that for a while, his name really was up in the air, and it really could have been something else. But I am so very grateful and satisfied--unspeakably so--that his name is Tobin. He is a constant reminder of the goodness of God.