We Have a Name!

We have finally settled on a name for our little boy! We couldn't agree on anything for the longest time. Naming our first 2 children was relatively easy. We always knew we would name our firstborn son Gerritt to honor my American father Gerry. Gerritt's middle name Jinwon was meant to honor my husband's father. Then when our daughter came along, we named her Sophia because her name was feminine & sounded so beautiful. Sophia's middle name Christine was chosen after my American mother Chris. We started thinking about names for our second son pretty early on, however, it was harder than we expected. Name Jacob came to us only about a week ago.

Jacob is currently one of the most popular boys' name in the US, & we liked it because it sounded strong & masculine. It is of Hebrew origin, & the meaning of Jacob is "he who supplants," or takes by the heel.
There is a meaningful biblical story that goes along with this name. According to the Bible, Jacob was the son of Isaac & Rebecca & the grandson of Abraham. He was the 2nd born of a set of twins & he came out holding onto his brother's Esau's heel. Later, he talked Esau into trading his firstborn inheritance for a bowl of soup & tricked his father into giving him the blessing reserved for the firstborn.


I am going to pretend that werewolf Jacob Black from one of my favorite book series Twilight didn't influence me at all...

Despite this story of ambitious trickery, Jacob was chosen by God for greatness. Notable moments in his life include reconciling with his brother, dreaming about a stairway between heaven & earth (commonly referred to as "Jacob's Ladder"), wrestling with the angel of God until he received God's blessing, & receiving the new name Israel from God (which means "God prevails"). Jacob was also the father of the 12 sons from whom the 12 tribes of Israel descended (read Genesis 25-35 to learn the story of Jacob).
We are still pondering our son's middle name, but I am so relieved we already chose a purposeful & worthwhile first name!