Justin and Amber

• Link and I are playing on Justin's computer. He just fell asleep listening to the Hyrule Field Main Theme and Karariko Village. #

Months ago, two parents set out on a quest to find the perfect name for their newborn son.

Idea’s started being tossed around. Justin Jr. was quickly axed, as was about 100 other names that were thrown out. For a bit, it seemed like all hope was lost. Then one day, while playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the 3DS, Justin suggested the idea of naming the kid Link (after the main character of the video game).

It sounded cool, but Amber wanted the future heir to have a “full name”. She suggested to name the child Lincoln, but call him Link on an average day. She also mentioned that Lincoln was her favorite president, and thus this was an acceptable name.

Justin found this compromise to be worth, and decided that “Link/Lincoln” would be the leading candidate for this future child.

It was soon after this that the hunt for a worthy middle name began.

Another list was formed. Ideas of giving him a middle name of one of the parents, or grandparents were suggested… “Justin” was again quickly eliminated (not sure why).

The list was narrowed down to 3 going into what would soon become Lincoln’s birthday:

• Clarence – After Justin’s Grandpa
• Xavier – After professor X of the Xmen. This has originally been a contender as a first name but had been eliminated by Lincoln.
• Edward – After Amber’s Grandpa

Sitting the hospital room, we began studying everything about the names. We investigated their meaning. We tested the sound of the name against both Link and Lincoln. We weighed in recent events (such as Royal Weddings). We weighed the usability of the name as a first name. We weighed the uniqueness of the name.

Every aspect was considered, and yet, no middle name could be found.

Amber grew weary of the task of finding a middle name, and tasked Justin saying, “Justin, the fate of his middle name is in your hands.” (or something like that).

Justin pondered and pondered. He didn’t want to play favorites with family names… He did long for the kid to have one of the “nerdiest/geekiest/coolest” names in history… But it was the uniqueness factor as well as the combined meaning of the first and last name combined that really settled it for him (in one variation you get “Victorious Savior”, and in the other “The new house by the lake/pool”)…

And in the moment following his (rather scary but exciting) birth… Justin decided… His name shall be:

Lincoln Xavier Gehring

And so it was written.