It's a Double Name, Y'all

It's about tradition. It's about family. It's about being proud and southern. It's about heritage.

It's a double name, y'all.

I always wanted to name a son Harris, until Bryan and I got engaged. I wasn't so wild about Harris Hardman. But I had always wanted to honor my dad, and allow his name to continue on - he did have three girls, after all!

Lucky for me, Bryan was named in a really cool way, using the middle names of his two grandfathers - George Bryan Wilkes and Billy Thompson Hardman. I loved this idea and jumped on it as soon as we got married, and Lee was named after his two grandfathers - Ernest Lee Harris and William Thomas Hardman.

But what to do for a girl? We had picked out four names during our previous pregnancy, but we wanted to honor our moms this time around. I have always loved the name Wilkes, which is my mother-in-law's maiden name. But my mom's maiden name is Norowski - not sure how I felt about that combo!!

Enter southern heritage and our comfort with using the double name. My mother was Katherine Marie, and I seriously considered Mary Wilkes. Then my sister suggested we use Katherine as the first name, and call her Katie Wilkes. Done!

The suggestion was not made unselfishly, however, as my sister's name is also Katherine, and she wanted her own namesake. And so, a few days after KW was born, a new tradition was begun...

The Katherine Sandwich!