How Annika Was Named:

Annika's name has a story behind it. We think because of the story, and the time it took, it will carry much more meaning.

We had such a hard time finding a fitting name that we didn't pick one until 5/15 - the day I was discharged from the hospital! We thought we had eight more weeks!

I did not start looking for names until month 6 or 7. I can't quite remember when, but it was quite late! I think it was in April. I had heard that babycenter.com was a great website, so I logged on and signed up to receive newsletter updates. While on the site I realized they had a baby name finder, that could be searched a number of ways. One was by origin of the name. I has always wanted a Scandinavian name, to give her part of her heritage since I am 1/2 Norwegian and 1/4 Swedish. I had already decided to use Ekre, my maiden name, as the middle name, possibly with an additional middle name. So I was on the search for a first name.

The search had Scandinavian and Swedish, but not Norwegian origins. So, I searched under Scandinavian and girls (Tim was to pick out a boy's name in case we had a boy and I was in charge of the girl's name). The very first name on the list was Annika. I clicked on the name to see what the meaning of the name was and it was "grace". The origin was Swedish. I loved the meaning of the name, and also the origin. I had never heard of the name Annika before, to my knowledge. (It turns out Tim had heard the name - she is a famous golfer. So you know he liked it since he likes golf.) I wasn't sure if I liked the sound of it or not. I thought it might sound too tough. This is as far as I got. I never looked at another name until I was hospitalized.

When I was told I needed to go to the hospital, I took the baby name book that Heather gave me with me. Every day I looked at the book (both before and after she was born). I read every girl's name, looking for names with Scandinavian origin. I think I got to T or U. I never did find a single name that I remotely liked in that book. I also looked on three baby name websites. I was to make a list of names I liked, and Tim also made a list. I never did find any names I liked better than Annika, or that sounded more like she looks. The only close was was Janine. But Annika didn't look like like a Janine. I didn't know if she looked like an Annika either, but the more I looked at her the more she did. And if it sounded tough, oh well, she is tough!

Then came Carina. Carina means "pure" and is also Swedish. Tim had this name on his list for first names. I immediately LOVED the name, even more than Annika, but she didn't look like a Carina to me. She looked like an Annika. Then, put together, it sounded just perfect. So that is what we chose. I didn't want to drop the name Ekre, so we gave her two middle names. She can choose which middle name, if any, she wants to use in the future.

We are just thrilled with the name we chose, and it fits her so well. I talk to her all the time and call her by her name almost every time I talk to her. I tell her "good job Annika" every time she eats and "Bye Annika Mama and Daddy love you" when I leave her at night. She is my little Annika Carina Ekre, my little precious angel! She will be answering to her name in no time!