The Great Name Debate

The name of our son, whose arrival is imminent, has been decided: Esp*n Joshua Buhl.The only problem is that one small detail that we cannot agree on: the last vowel in his first name. I'm pushing for Espen, but Christian is adamant about Espyn.

I first encountered the name Espen in graduate school. A fellow classmate, married to a Norwegian, named her son this. The name struck me, and I've liked it ever since. I like how it's unusual, but not totally unheard of (at least, not unheard of in Scandinavian countries). For me, it evokes the trendiness of names like Ethan and Aiden while maintaining originality.

It also brings to mind the word aspen, a tree (and a city) found in the western United States, which will always carry special significance for me since I spent the first several years of my marriage beyond the continental divide. The meaning, "bear of God," seems pretty cool, too. I didn't think much about the similarity to the sports network ESPN until Christian told me that's what all his coworkers mentioned when they heard it. Granted, Christian works on a college football video game, so a sports link is unavoidable.

My reasons for wanting to keep the original spelling, Espen:

1. Names with alternate spellings have always bothered me.
2. The name Espen is already fairly unusual. Why make it more so by changing the spelling?
3. The "-yn" ending is often found on feminine names.
4. Googling espen yields actual men with this name. Googling espyn yields girl's myspace pages and the like.

Christian's reasons, as far as I can discern, for wanting to use the alternate spelling, Espyn:

1. For Christian, the more unusual and unique, the better (hence the name of our daughter, Eowyn).
2. Using "-yn" links it to Eowyn's name, which Christian thinks would be cool.

When I was shopping for wooden letters to paint and hang in Esp*n's room, Wal-mart had only one "E" available. They've been sold out ever since (that was a month and a half ago). Christian takes this as a sign of fate. As for me, I don't want to name our son based on Wal-mart's inventory, or because we're too lazy to buy another "E" and paint it.

We're both standing our ground on this. But the moment is fast approaching when we must finally decide.