When I found out I was pregnant I was terrified because I knew I would be raising this baby alone. I was also embarrassed because I was 27 and going for my masters so I should have known better… When my dad found out he was more gentle than my mom and said “if it’s a boy you should name him Michael.” That’s my dad’s name of course.
My last name is Italian so I wanted something to go with it. I loved the Italian names like Giovanni, Gianni, Luca, Marco, and Mateo. I also knew you had to be a certain type of person to pull some of those off and I didn’t know my son’s personality, yet. The other names would have behind Americanized and lose the charm. I wanted a Luca not a Luke.
I wanted him to have a unique name where he would be the only one in his class without being a totally bizarro name no one could spell or read. His name needed to be familiar yet unique. It also had to be something that the kids couldn’t make fun of or find a potty word to rhyme with it.
I tried to imagine him as a grown man. I imagined his personality and what women would look for in a man. I decided that he needed a strong, sexy name. It’s odd, I know, but I wanted him to have an edge as a man. I imagine the girls saying “ooh, here comes Dante.”
Submitted by Rebecca M.
