Rachel Kate Bigler.
Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? But then again, I’m kinda biased…
Anyways, instead of telling you plainly what my name means, I’m going to take you on the wild ride that is the naming process of not just one, but THREE babies at the same time. Wow, right? Bless my dear parents.
My mom and dad wanted to include all of the sides of their families in the names of their triplets (my mom says that was a dumb idea). My mom’s two sides were the Stewarts (my grandfather) and the McDaniels (my grandmother), and my dad’s two sides were the Cody’s (my other grandmother) and the Biglers (my other grandfather). Claire Savannah Bigler was decided first, and her middle name came from my great great grandmother’s middle name (Mom says that’s how far she had to go down the line to get a name she could use!).
Confused yet? Here’s a curveball for you: John and Rachel were not the original names of the other two babies.
Next it was decided that the boy was to be named William Dale Bigler. William from my dad, my grandfather, my uncle, and many more from both sides of the family, and Dale from my mom’s father’s name (who died when my mom was nine). So the Stewarts, Biglers, and McDaniels were all covered. I was originally Elianna Sue Bigler. Isn’t that just so southern? Unfortunately, those two names only covered the McDaniel side again. So what of the Cody’s?
Turns out that problem never needed to be solved, because two weeks before I was born, my dad’s grandfather, John Bigler died (right before 9/11). My parents decided to honor him, and so now the boy was to be named John. Then, it seemed fitting to name him after both of his grandfathers on my dad’s side (covering both the Cody’s and the Biglers). So John Max Bigler was finalized.
John Max and Claire Savannah covered the Cody’s, McDaniels, and Biglers. My middle name comes from my cousin and my great-great aunt on mom’s side. Most of all, according to my mom, Kathleen, I was named after her, but more indirectly, because Kate was her nickname as a child. All the bases were covered! Yay!
When my mom was in the hospital two weeks before I was born, my name was finally decided. There’s no way for me to describe it except in her own words:
We were struggling with your name. Elianna just didn’t seem to fit this squirmy child turning circles at the bottom of my stomach… we had Kate as a middle name, that was for certain… I remember saying, “What about Rachel?” It just seemed right. It was a good Biblical name, and it just fit… Rachel Kate Bigler. That was it!
My name literally means “Lamb of God”. Kate also means “Pure”. I love my name and I can’t see myself with any other. Sorry if you were confused about that all… I find it really interesting!
Rachel's Reflections 