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[name_m]Balthazar[/name_m] is back, people!
I’ve been looking for a name to honor my Uncle [name_u]Danny[/name_u], who I was very close to before he passed, despite the fact that I was only three at the time. Using a family name is really out-of-the-box for me, but in this one case I really wanted to try. Unfortunately, the name [name_m]Daniel[/name_m] is not really usable for us despite the positive association with my uncle. So I was looking for something that connected to his name without being the same.
I was reading the story of [name_m]Daniel[/name_m] and researching the name on Behind the Name. The Biblical [name_m]Daniel[/name_m] had two names: his Hebrew name, [name_m]Daniel[/name_m], and a Persian name: Belteshassar, aka [name_m]Balthazar[/name_m]. As soon as I found this connection, I went straight to Hubby with it, fully expecting him to take like two weeks to think about it and maybe say no, or middle-only. But in one of his trademark shocking plot twists, Husband said yes! He couldn’t remember his reason for vetoing the name in the first place, and he said the connection to my uncle really crystallized things for him, so that he could totally see us having a son named [name_m]Balthazar[/name_m]. I’m shocked, but definitely not complaining!!
I shared this on my [name_m]Daniel[/name_m] thread, but one of the meanings of [name_m]Balthazar[/name_m] is “God’s protection,” which is also significant. Because of my uncle’s motorcycle accident and his involvement in motocross, my grandma attends racing events to pass out copies of his story and pray over the bikers before they ride. We also have a family ritual of flashing the peace sign or thumbs up at passing bikers and saying, “God bless the biker and his bike.” Some of the racers in my grandma’s area know the story of my uncle so well that they teasingly call him the red-haired patron saint of motocross, so I feel like the meaning is yet another way that this name sort of connects to his spirit.
We’ll probably go with [name_m]Balthazar[/name_m] [name_m]Wolf[/name_m], because now that I’ve found this awesome name with a crazy behind-the-scenes family connection, I can’t see using it as a middle. So that leaves me with [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] to worry about. [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] [name_m]Tobias[/name_m]? Or keep looking?
Thank you guys so so much! ([name_f]Sarah[/name_f], I’ll write a real response to your reply in a bit!)
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Oh Sessh, I am so glad that you found something so meaningful! And. So. Awesome. [name_m]Balthazar[/name_m] [name_m]Wolf[/name_m] is basically the most amazing name I’ve ever heard. I love the strong Z in there to make the full effect feel so powerful. I’m picturing a dark, strong, natural-born leader with glowing yellow eyes… Well ok, you know who I mean. But seriously, I think that is a great choice both as a meaningful first name and as a perfect fit for your [name_m]Wolf[/name_m] combo. I adore it. I would seriously love to tell people that was my name. I’m going to be walking around swooning over this all day… [name_m]Way[/name_m] to go husband!
So happy for you. =]
Yay! [name_m]Balthazar[/name_m] [name_m]Wolf[/name_m] is just brilliant! [name_f]Glad[/name_f] hubby loved it too; very happy for you!
I’ll mull over a few names for [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] overnight - though I thought I might give a special mention to a long-time love of mine: the name [name_m]Bacchus[/name_m] :x There’s no ‘flow’ there, with [name_m]Caspian[/name_m], but I had to get it out of my system, lol. Wdyt?
As much as I’d love to use it, with the last name [name_u]Marsh[/name_u], it becomes a well-known place in Australia 
[name_m]Just[/name_m] not sure about that one :S
Again, Congratulations!
[name_f]Sarah[/name_f] – Okay, here’s the real response finally 
I’m sorry about the popularity thing with [name_m]Ethan[/name_m]! I think as a middle though, especially one of two middles, he’ll be okay, especially since [name_m]Ragnar[/name_m] isn’t even on the charts. My trouble with using [name_m]Ethan[/name_m] as a middle is the same as your trouble using it as a first, haha – too many repeating an/en/on endings. You and my hubby are definitely alike in the sound similarities department. When we were looking at middles for [name_u]River[/name_u], he vetoed [name_f]Isolde[/name_f] because he was like, “The [name_u]River[/name_u] is old. Yeah, not happening.” There have been a bunch of others but I can’t think of examples off the top of my head. To the names! I have heard of [name_m]Benaiah[/name_m], but never considered it. I’m not sure how it flows with [name_m]Caspian[/name_m], since we’re not looking for a [name_m]Wolf[/name_m] name anymore. [name_m]Theophilus[/name_m] is TOTALLY FAB, but unfortunately our friend has dibs. Two little Theophiluses…Theophili?? in our group would be way too much. [name_m]Zebulon[/name_m] is cool, but I don’t like it as much as [name_u]Zion[/name_u] or [name_m]Solomon[/name_m], and –on ending rules it out for [name_m]Caspian[/name_m]. I [name_f]LOVE[/name_f] [name_m]Naphtali[/name_m]!! I tried that one out on Hubby way back in the beginning, but it was vetoed…maybe he’ll come around now that he’s been subject to so many of my out there choices Issachar will not make it past Hubby. It’s too bad about the meaning of [name_m]Ishmael[/name_m], because it’s a beautiful name. [name_u]Sinai[/name_u] is awesome, but I’m not sure Hubby will agree. We’ll have to see! I do think [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] is more familiar to the general public after the [name_f]Narnia[/name_f] movies (we just pretend the [name_f]Dawn[/name_f] Treader never happened….otherwise I’d be crushed that they ruined my favorite book in the series and turned it all into this weird villainous green mist…things were going so well with the first two adaptations!). I’m not in love with [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] [name_m]Tobias[/name_m], but I might just give it to him if I can’t find anything he likes more, since he so graciously reconsidered [name_m]Balthazar[/name_m]!
[name_f]Amy[/name_f] – Hooray, I’m so glad you love it! You described exactly the way I feel about this name, haha. I couldn’t have said it better. I’m thrilled that he changed his mind!!
[name_f]Aveline[/name_f] – Thank you!! I look forward to your [name_m]Cas[/name_m] ideas 
[name_m]Bacchus[/name_m] is totally bad@ss, but he’ll never fly in this crowd. Our families are basically the modern equivalent of Prohibitionists, so naming our kid after the god of wine would totally flip them out. Plus Hubs is totally going to make some debauchery crack, I just know it. I’d actually love to meet a little [name_m]Bacchus[/name_m] though, and if you want to use it, go ahead! If you’re worried about the place name, there’s also [name_m]Dionysus[/name_m] and Silenus if you’re going for association over sound.
I seem to remember way back when I was first looking at [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] combos that Husband liked [name_m]Eli[/name_m]. I’m going to check with him to see if that is still the case, and if so, whether he likes it better than [name_m]Tobias[/name_m]. I could totally get behind [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] [name_m]Eli[/name_m], especially now that I’m still on [name_u]Cloud[/name_u] 9 from [name_m]Balthazar[/name_m] and feeling generous towards some of the names I crossed off in the past.
Oh, Sesshie, [name_m]Balthazar[/name_m] [name_m]Wolf[/name_m] is quite exquisite! I feel the same way [name_f]Amy[/name_f] does, she described it very well indeed. I actually like [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] [name_m]Eli[/name_m] a lot too, it’s very sweet and romantic. So congrats, it looks like you can start making those ten babes now!
(on a side note, you thought the adaptation of [name_m]Prince[/name_m] [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] was good?)
Thank you, Otter! I love the flow of [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] [name_m]Eli[/name_m], and having looked up the meaning, I find that I like it even more.
I don’t mean to say the [name_m]Prince[/name_m] [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] movie was as good as The [name_m]Lion[/name_m], the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which stayed very very true to the book. But for all the changes that were made, it still managed to stay close to the feeling of the book, so while they took some dramatic license, they didn’t completely gut the original story (UNLIKE the third movie. Shudder…) I think the additions of [name_f]Susan[/name_f]/[name_m]Caspian[/name_m]'s romance and especially the scene with [name_m]Edmund[/name_m] overcoming the White Witch provided really good character development in places where the original story wouldn’t have translated quite as well to the screen. However, I was extremely displeased with the rivalry between [name_m]Peter[/name_m] and [name_m]Caspian[/name_m], as well as [name_m]Caspian[/name_m]'s participation in the summoning of [name_u]Jadis[/name_u], so points off for those.
I came on here to comment a middle name for [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] which I thought might be quite nice, only to find that the new discovery [name_m]Balthazar[/name_m] (which is INCREDIBLE by the way, and sounds perfect with [name_m]Wolf[/name_m] and all your other lovely names) might be the one thing that rules it out… I thought [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] [name_m]Melchior[/name_m] sounded and looked fab, but I’m beginning to think I’ve seen it suggested here before… So sorry about that if it has, and also the [name_f]Magi[/name_f] thing might be a problem. But they were very wise and kinglike, so they’re not that bad role models really. Good luck!
Oh, and [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] [name_m]Eli[/name_m] is gorgeous!
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Oh, I like [name_m]Balthazar[/name_m] [name_m]Wolf[/name_m]! Congrats to you and hubby on agreeing on such a stunner! I like [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] [name_m]Eli[/name_m], too; it’s definitely better than [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] [name_m]Tobias[/name_m], though I like [name_m]Tobias[/name_m] better than [name_m]Eli[/name_m] when they’re alone.
As a side note, I’m with saracita on the [name_m]Prince[/name_m] [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] movie. Ugh. [name_m]Just[/name_m] ugh. [name_m]Ben[/name_m] [name_m]Barnes[/name_m] was too old for the part of [name_m]Caspian[/name_m], which apparently made [name_u]Andy[/name_u] Adamson or his writers think, “Aha! Romance!” His accent is distractingly patchy, too. AND I was disgusted that the whole triumphal procession at the end of the book, with Aslan and the children, [name_m]Bacchus[/name_m] and the Maenads, setting [name_f]Narnia[/name_f] free, is totally and completely removed. I don’t think [name_u]Andy[/name_u] would have known what to do with the weird, symbolic joy of that passage. The movie is just way too Hollywood. I thought the only good scene in it is the one where [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] is at the bridge with her dagger drawn, and the Telmarine army is on the other side. It looks like a totally uneven contest until [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] glances back and smiles. Her face in that scene does the perfect job conveying that even though she’s only one girl against an army, it doesn’t matter, because she has Aslan behind her.
I actually liked [name_f]Dawn[/name_f] Treader better (it’s my favorite book, too!), I was so disgusted with [name_m]Prince[/name_m] [name_m]Caspian[/name_m]. I only watched it because they swapped directors. The green mist plot is ridiculous, but I thought the other bits of the story actually were truer to the spirit of the book than [name_m]Prince[/name_m] [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] was to that book. [name_m]Eustace[/name_m] and Reepicheep were great. And I loved the end, where Reepicheep goes over the wave into Aslan’s country. For the record, [name_m]Ben[/name_m] [name_m]Barnes[/name_m] is a lot better as [name_m]Caspian[/name_m] in [name_f]Dawn[/name_f] Treader than in [name_m]Prince[/name_m] [name_m]Caspian[/name_m]. He’s closer to the right age for this story, and he lost the stupid accent, grew a bit of beard, and quit being an annoying distraction to the story ([name_f]Susan[/name_f] isn’t there, haha!)
Dear me, I seem to have written two whole movie reviews. I’m not opinionated either, of course! While I’m at it, I’ll just say they need to start over. Reboot the whole series. The child actors are too old to go on now, anyway. Which is a bit of a shame, really, because I don’t know where they’ll find a better [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] than [name_u]Georgie[/name_u] [name_m]Henley[/name_m].
I don’t have anything to add to this thread, but I’m loving some of the suggestions in here. I’m trying to freshen up my own list right now, and this has really helped. Thanks, Sessha!
Hurray for [name_m]Balthazar[/name_m] [name_m]Wolf[/name_m]! [name_f]One[/name_f] of the coolest names ever.