Luca is here! Our sweet baby boy arrived on April 17th after 3 quick hours of labor. He is an absolute dream and my heart has expanded in ways I didn’t think possible over the last few days. I will share more about his labor, Amalia’s first time meeting him, and our first weeks at home when we all get settled and a few hours of sleep, but in the meantime, here is the story of his name!
Luca Joseph is a name that didn’t simply come out of nowhere. It has a few cute stories behind it! So I thought I’d share those with you today.
First Name- Luca: For years, we had talked about naming our kids Amalia and Leo. We always assumed we would have one of each. My maternal grandfather was Leonard and I loved the idea of naming our son after him. But when I got pregnant last summer, Anel admitted that he wasn’t a fan of the name. At first, I was heartbroken but when we started talking about other names I became downright frustrated because we couldn’t agree on a single one.
We both kind of liked Luca, but couldn’t commit to it. Then on the day when we learned he was a boy, it just clicked for both of us. This was our little Luca. It felt right immediately!
Luca is also the perfect name for us because it’s an Italian name to represent my side of the family and, when spelled with a K (Luka), is a Bosnian name too. But the coolest part is that Anel grew up in Banja Luka, Bosnia, so his name also connected to his dada’s childhood.
Middle Name- Joseph: There are two parts to this story, one hilarious and one nostalgic. Let’s start with the funny one because it’s just so good. We have had a family joke for as long as I can remember that I’d have a son named “Joey Bag-a-Donuts” and have referred to the spare room in our house as “Joey’s Room” since the day we moved in! So we kind of had to incorporate that into his name.
Joseph (Giuseppe, actually), was also my great grandfather, and we recently found out that he shares a birthday with Anel which felt like a cool connection. Since our kids get Anel’s last name, he agreed to give each of them a middle name from my family.
Amalia’s middle name, Louise, is also my middle name, my aunt’s middle name, and the first name of two of my great-grandmothers (Louise and Louisa)!
Monogram- LJ: My sister’s first and middle initials (before she got married and changed her middle name) were LJ and people often called her that as a nickname. This was unintentional but I love that little nod to her too.
