What’s in a Name: Atlas Wade

This is the third and final installment of this blog series. Part I and Part II for those who didn’t find them previously.

I knew at 6 weeks pregnant that I was pregnant with a boy. Maybe it was the masculine energy I felt from him, or the fact that none of the go-to names we had been sitting on for 5+ years felt right. We did not confirm our baby’s sex via ultrasound the same as Evangeline. We did however do a blood test to see what the baby’s sex was. We found out we were pregnant with a boy at 13 weeks into our pregnancy and it just confirmed what I had already known. We played around with a few names, but it seemed to always end in “veto”.

One night I was falling asleep and rubbing my bump the name “Atlas” popped into my head. I brushed it off since I felt I fell into the same category as the other names that Zach didn’t like. A few days later Zach and I were sitting on the sofa and he looked over at me and said “What about the name Atlas?” My jaw could not have dropped lower than it did. I told him that I had the same name in mind. We continued to look up the meaning, the Greek mythology etc. since we could not find his name in The Name Book as we did with our other babies’ names. We continued to do our research and my sister came up with the perfect scriptures of prayer over our precious baby boy.

ATLAS

Inherent Meaning: Enduring and Strength
Scriptures: Isiah 41:10
”So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Isiah 43:1
”…Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”

In Greek mythology Atlas was the leader of the Titan rebellion against the tyrant Zeus and after the end of the Titanomachy he was condemned to eternally hold up the constellations on his strong shoulders.

Given that the later part of our pregnancy (and our current state of the world) was / is during such a turbulent time we wanted a name that stood against tyranny. Our prayer for Atlas is that he always knows that he was born for such a time as this. That when faced with adversity, he not conform but instead change his surroundings. That he be unwavering in his convictions and also compassionate and merciful. That he have a soft and gentle strength.

On a side note - as I have mentioned previously, we utilized our wonderful chiropractors to aid in fertility “treatments” while trying to conceive Atlas. In anatomy the atlas (C1) is the most superior (first) cervical vertebrae of the spine and is located in the neck. It is named for Atlas of Greek mythology because, just as Atlas supported the globe, it supports the entire head. We found it funny after the fact that it has a connection to our beloved chiropractic care and a part of his journey into our arms.

WADE

Inherent Meaning: One Who Advances
Spiritual Connotation: Generous Spirit
Scripture: Matthew 10:8
”Give as freely as you have received!”

Wade is a family name on Zach’s side and his middle name as well. I have always loved his name, and we even considered using it for our son’s first name. It is the name I use when I need Zach’s attention and when he is being extra loving, which was my excuse for not using it for his first name. I wanted to keep that for Zach. We both felt it was a strong name and paired beautifully with Atlas. The fact that we got to use a family name again was the cherry on top.

Zach has one of the most generous spirits I have encountered. He is constantly looking for ways to bless others (even when we are not in the most comfortable position to do so) and it is something that I admire about him. We both thought it important that we continue to pray that our son is generous just as his daddy has set such a beautiful example.

The day we decided on his name we asked Evie to say it and it melted our hearts - we knew it was the right name for our baby. Since we took a blood test and there was the slightest possibility of our baby being a girl we again decided to keep our baby’s gender a secret as best as possible until birth. When I pulled our baby out of the water I saw who I had been talking to all these weeks, our beautiful baby boy. Our Atlas Wade.