Natalie

My daughter’s name is Natalie Allison. We were so excited then because Natalie Allison is our first baby. When we first knew that I was already pregnant, we got this feeling of eagerness to see her and touch her and caress her. We prayed for our baby to be healthy and for me to have a normal delivery. Of course, we would like to know if she will be a girl or a boy so I got my first ultrasound when the baby in my tummy was already four months old. As funny as it could be, my baby’s position was keeping us from seeing what gender he or she has. So my doctor decided to schedule a follow up ultrasound. Luckily, my next ultrasound was successful and we were able to know that she is a girl. My name is Bernadette and my husband’s name is Romel. Normally, with our culture, parents get the names for their babies by combining the father and mother’s name or by following the sound of father’s name or mother’s name. We also thought about it. So in our case, it could be Brenda or Bennett which sounded like my name, or could be Roselle which sounded like my husband’s name. My husband didn’t like the idea. He wanted to give our daughter a name that will make her proud when someone calls her. He wanted a name that sounded so feminine in nature yet will appear to have a strong personality. He recommended Natalie and I agreed. I knew Natalie Portman is his favorite actress and naming our daughter Natalie will make him happy. It was during my ninth month of pregnancy when I came across the name Allison. I was strolling in the mall as my doctor advised me to exercise and do a lot of walking as it would help me deliver my child with ease, when a book titled “Baby Names and their Meaning” caught my attention. I immediately checked the meaning of Natalie. In the book, it says “born on Christmas day”, which refers to the “birthday of Christ”. It was really timing because I was expecting to deliver my baby by the third or fourth week of December and Christ’ birthday is on December 25. I was glancing through other names in that book when I saw the name Allison which says “noble,” “exalted”. I got so fascinated with the combination of “Natalie Allison” so I called my husband and mentioned to him about what I discovered and he immediately approved. My daughter was born on December 17. It was not exactly Christmas day but the spirit was already there. And I know she will become noble as what her name says.