On April 26 we welcomed our third child into this wondrous world of ours. She’s healthy and tenacious and generally stupendous! We love her dearly. Naming her was a journey, and though some may contend that a rose by any other name is still a rose, it took us the entire 9 months to name this little nugget and at one point it was looking like her name was going to be “April May”.

The night before she was set to arrive by c-section we went out for dinner and the entire 3 hour long conversation centered on names. We recruited the aid of our server, the kitchen staff, and our fellow dinners. By the time we headed home, we had decided on 2 names, though we couldn’t decide on which was first and which was middle. Just a few hours later we were holding her and we knew.

This is the story of her name:

All of the birds got together to decide who would be king of the birds. They had a competition to see who could fly the highest. One by one the smaller birds dropped out until only the eagle remained. Exhausted, the eagle declared himself the winner when he heard a clear voice above him cry out, “I am king”. The small Wren had hidden herself amidst the eagle’s feathers and had soared even higher.

The tiny birds rejoiced and the big birds were angry. So the birds decided to have another competition to see who could swoop the lowest. Whoever won, would be king. The other birds swooped and dipped, but Wren found a mouse hole and climbed down into it. From below them, the birds heard her cry out, “I am king”.

The Wren reigned as a wise and thoughtful ruler. And so Wren came to mean “ruler” in Gaelic, Celtic, and British folklore.

*adapted from Little Brown Wren

In a nod to our Welsh roots, “Elowen” is the Welsh word for “Elm”. Elowyn celebrates the strength of the Elm Tree, which will bend, but not break.

Wren is our smallest child – our little bird. And so our precious daughter, may you be a wise leader who can learn and grow and flex, but never break!

If we ever have a 4th child, we may just have to name them “Kid 4”.