The Name Game

One of the fun things about this adoption for us has been trying to choose a name for the baby. We don't have to have a name yet, but the kids have been very enthusiastic about bringing this discussion topic up on an almost daily basis. This is quite different than choosing a name for any of our other children. They were all so young when their siblings were born, they weren't able to give many productive ideas. In fact, Abby, our oldest, insisted that Elizabeth, our second, needed to be named Elmo. Even after she realized that the baby was a girl, she was still certain that Elmo would be the best name.
So, we've been pleasantly surprised that they've come up with some good ideas and some good arguments for or against the names that we've discussed. Much of the fuel for our discussions has come from our history curriculum for the year. We are currently studying Ancient History with Tapesty of Grace (which we LOVE!) Therefore, we have basically done a survey of the Old Testament. Now Ryan and I already lean toward Hebraic type names. We currently have an Abigail, an Elizabeth, and an Isaac (we also have a Lily, but that's not so Hebraic:)
We think we may have settled on a name, but we probably won't be certain until we actually have our referral and know what our son's Ethiopian name is.
However, I thought it would be fun to record some of the names we have discussed. So, I present to you a brief summary of our name discussions:

Jonah- everyone liked the sound of this name, but after studying him, we decided that the VeggieTales had it right when they said "Jonah was a prophet, but he never really got it!" We decided we want our baby to get it!
Xerxes- after reading Esther, the kids thought this one was a great idea. I just can't get into it. How do you explain the phonetics of that one to a Kindergartner?
Obed- This is Isaac's favorite, but we already get a lot of grief for having an A,E, and I, imagine if we added an O? Not to mention, Obed!?! Need I say more. I think he just loved the Adventures in Odyssey version of the story of Ruth. As Elizabeth says- it's soooo romantic!
Paul- Elizabeth's personal favorite, but I just don't like it, not sure why, but I don't.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego- Okay, for a split second someone did throw them out there- leading to some funny faces by their siblings.
Ezekiel- We like this one, but we nixed it for 2 reasons. First, I don't particularly like the name Zeke, and I'm sure he would get called that. And second, Ezekiel was a strange man of God. I know we're supposed to be set apart, but Ezekiel was weird.
Brown- Okay, Ryan suggested this in honor of his grandfather who passed away a few years ago- it was his middle name. I think it's a nice name, and I would love to honor Ryan's grandfather, but when I pointed out that we would be giving this name to our only brown baby, we decided that it might be stating the obvious.
I must admit that I'm hesitant to commit to a name because I'm enjoying our discussions so much.