I always imagined my parents put a lot of thought into naming me. On social media, baby showers, baby reveals, and pretty much anything baby related was always a huge thing. The act of celebrating a new child is of course a no-brainer, I don’t have to tell you that.

So, when I approached my mom, I had expectations. I wanted to know everything about her experience. I had imagined funny stories and anecdotes.

Looking back, I guess this expectation came from the fact that I am her firstborn. The first child is always treated differently. New parents don’t know how to raise a baby, so they are always more cautious and attentive. All of their attention is on the firstborn.

At least that’s what I thought.

My mom did not hesitate to quickly shoot my expectations down.

Our interaction went something like this:

“Hey Mom, I am writing a blog post and today’s prompt is asking where my name is from. Do you remember why you named me Holly?” I asked.

“Well, I was still unsure what to name you. Your father had thought of Victoria, but personally, I did not like it. Then, one day I was watching a movie with Holly Hunter and decided to name you Holly.” she replied monotonously

“That’s it? You decided to name me based on an actress? Well, what about Phoebe?”

“When I was pregnant with your sister, I remembered enjoying the TV show ‘Friends’, so I decided to name your sister after Phoebe.”

I was dumbfounded.

It is safe to assume that my family is clearly not on the creative side. 🤡