How Ryan Got Her Name

RYAN ELIZABETH RICHARDS

Unlike the story behind Reed's name (click here to read about that), Ryan's didn't come as easy to me. Going into the process of naming our second child, I had one main requirement: it must start with an R. 

I'm a little more than obsessed with the Kardashians and the brand they've built. I always knew that I wanted both of my kids' names to start with an R so they can create an RR empire together, like the KK empire Kris Jenner leads.

There actually wasn't much discussion about her name. Once we confirmed we were having a girl, we had a pretty short conversation until John got settled on the name Ryan. I was very hesitant about it until I consulted my sister and besties who all confirmed they loved it. Bonus: my Mom's maiden name is Ryan, which helped seal the deal for me.

I was hesitant to announce her name at first because most reactions have been along the lines of:

1. "Isn't that a boy's name?" Steph and Ayesha Curry did it, so I can too. 

2. "Do you have any other names picked out?" No.

3. "People are going to mistake her for a boy." In print, yes that will probably happen.  However, according to Fortune magazine, there's a major bias when it comes to hiring based on male vs. female names seen on resumes. I hope gender discrimination is long gone by the time she's in the job market, but if not, giving her a "boys" name is potentially going to help her career. 

4. Would you have named your son Ryan? No, probably not. We probably would have gone with Riley. 

I found this blog post written by a girl named Ryan and found it pretty entertaining. Sorry baby girl if we set you up for a lifetime of this: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/faq-girl-named-ryan

I'm pretty sure John and I have always agreed on our future daughter's middle name being Elizabeth. Elizabeth is my sister's and Grandma's middle name. Reed and my Grandpa share the middle name "Otto" as well. My Grandpa and Grandma are two people that John and I have always looked up to and are honored to be able to name our kids after them.

So far the only nickname she has is Cryin' Ryan. As Reed says, "Mommy, Ryan's cryin'!"