When my daughter was born, I was a single parent. My soon-to-be stepdad was a big part of my life and actually took me to the hospital while I was in labor. I wanted to name her after my stepdad, but he asked me not to do that to her. I wanted to respect his wishes, but I still wanted to honor him for his support. I had chosen her middle name a long time before, after my 2 great-aunts, but her first name had to be special.
Twenty-four hours after her birth, I still hadn’t decided on her first name. I knew I had to get it right pretty soon, because we were going to go home the next day. My mom kept making suggestions for a name, but it wasn’t until she offered Ellise as my daughter’s name. It’s an anagram of my stepdad’s name, Leslie. We’ve never seen it spelled that way, although Elise and Elyse are both common now.
My daughter is almost 28 now, and she gave me a lot of grief about her name while she was growing up. But she also knows that her grandpa loves her, and she was named after him. I’m pretty sure that she doesn’t mind it so much anymore.
Submitted by Dawn B.
