I had forgotten all about telling you how we chose Griffin’s name. It seems like I do that a lot lately…the forgetting part. I think I have already told you, but choosing our boys names has been really hard. We have a huge list of girls names that we like, but our list of boys names has always been pretty short. But the Lord keeps blessing us with little boys, so little boy names are what we must choose! Maybe someday we will get to choose from the girls list again. 🙂
The meaning of the name we choose for our kids is really important to us. You can read about Levi’s name here. I don’t think I have ever written about how we chose Cora’s name…maybe someday. With Griffin’s name we really struggled with the whole meaning of the name thing. Every name that we liked, (which wasn’t very many names to begin with) we didn’t so much like the meaning of the name. And Griffin’s name was the worst when it came to meaning!
Do you want to hear some of the meanings of the name Griffin?
*hooked nose
*fierce creature with the foreparts of an eagle and the hindquarters of a lion
*reddish
*mythological beast
*strong lord
Nice, right!? Such deep, significant meanings.
We kept coming back to Griffin as our favorite boy name, but I just couldn’t commit 100% because of the meaning. Joel assured me that no one but us would know all off those meanings when they heard the name Griffin. I tried to trust him. Guess what? As soon as my brother came to the hospital to meet Griffin he asked if I knew that Griffin was a half eagle, half lion. Thanks for boosting my confidence in the name I just chose for my son!
Anyway, we obviously chose the name Griffin (creepy crazy meanings and all), but decided to go off of the “strong” lord meaning. We would create our own meaning for Griffin and ignore all the other ones. We chose this verse from Jeremiah for Griffin:
The Farmers - We too struggled with the crazy meaning of our sons name and had to focus on the positive meanings. I love the birth announcement.
Toni :O) - Love that story-such a nice strong name! Love how Levi says it too, adorable! Would love go hear how you chose Cora’s sweet name, I always thought it was a family name.
Janine - Griffin is a great name. I love that Griffin can have such a strong religious meaning. But don’t get so down on the mythological creature of half eagle/half lion. I have always thought that the Griffin was majestic and powerful. A symbol of strength, intelligence and courage. I have also heard it described as a guardian. All of those are good qualities.
That birth announcement picture is simply precious.
Anonymous - Please tell us about how you named Cora.
Diana - I like the lion/ eagle definition, it makes me think of the book of Revelation and the creatures surrounding the throne of God…. near to God, worshipping Him, saying “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.” That sounds like a pretty great aspiration for your son, near to the Father, worshiping Him. 🙂
Nirupama - beautiful name and naming story. We sought out deep meanings for our children’s names as well and picked Avinash for a similar reason. It means indestructible (as in, indestructible as Shiva), and we loved that it was about strength in God. It has served him well so far 🙂 Blessings for little Griffin too.
Lindsey - We have a 15 month old Levi and are having another boy. We are the same as you guys with the list of girls names- we have so many! But when it comes to boys names, we are pretty lost. 🙂 We considered naming our son Oliver until we discovered it means, “elf army.” Ha! I am so blessed by your blog!
Annie - What a beautiful birth announcement! I love it! When you are ready, I too would love to hear how you decided on sweet Cora’s name.
Laura Ann - Been following forever, rarely comment but love your blog. You have the cutest kids ever, seriously! I love Griffin’s name and entertained it before my son, Gavin was born. Thank you for sharing your life with us.
Beth in CO - Love your name story. I too have a Griffin, though we were not into the meaning of the name as much with him – he is #4, so it was interesting to hear all the different meanings. 🙂 Love your blog! You make me think about things that I do not think I normally would. Bless you and your wonderful family!
Susan - Your boys are so sweet Jess! We were talking about the meaning of a name in church one Sunday around Christmas. The name Mary means “rebellious”, and look how the Lord used her! I think it’s wonderful that you picked a verse for each of your boys, and made your own meaning for his name.
merlin - 1/2 lion, 1/2 eagle….how much more symolic of God does one need for meaning? Griffin is the best of God’s creation, kings of earth and sky, protector and defender, fused into one manly, godly name. I’m glad you love it. And the Levi endorsement is the best.
Maria - I love this…how stinkin cute is Levi…GRI-FIn! Your kids are so adorable…and great choice on the name!
Allen and Debby Graber - I was going to comment just what Diana said. Love that! I was looking at James’ blog today. Those rice paddies and that dog look just like Japan!! Made me so homesick! I LOVE his photos. Wish there was a place for us to comment on his blog. Thanks for subbing last week, by the way!!
Deborah - I had a girl’s name picked out forever: Mallory Mae. Just loved it! Finally got pregnant with a girl and looked up the meaning of the name: “bitter unlucky.” Uh oh. We ended up naming our little girl Cora Mae, but we call her Corrie. (We were inspired by Corrie ten Boom). It would be nice to hear how you chose your Cora’s name.
Tonya - We, too, had a hard time choosing our boy name and the girl name was a cinch to pick!
I love the meaning and verse you’ve chosen for Griffin! Our son’s middle name is Aaron after Moses’ brother who, along w/Hur, held up Moses’ arms during the battle between the Isrealites and Amalakites. We wanted our son to also have a legacy of lifting others up when they can’t continue on to carry out the plans the Lord has laid out. So, his name is Eli Aaron…and he’s proving to live up to his name so far as a darling almost 8 year old!
Anonymous - You are so blessed with your wonderful children. I love reading your blog!
Jo - We’ve always been interested in the meaning of our kids’ names, too.
After losing our oldest daughter, Joy, to stillbirth, we named her younger sister Jerusha Hope.
Jerusha can mean possession or inheritance (which EVERYONE seemed to know). We chose to go with “inheritance” of “hope.”
We also have an Isaac (laughter) and a Nathaniel (gift of God).
goaliegrl202 - love griffin’s name as a whole especially with levi and cora!
do you mind saying what the other name choices were?
Happiness Is... - I love that Levi had a part in his name! It is hard to find a name that you like, sounds good with your last name AND has rich meaning. But I agree that a name’s meaning is also partially what you make it. He’s precious!
Tricia - I have always thought the naming process would be the hardest. You nailed it perfectly, with all your children!
Jacke - This comment has been removed by the author.
Jacke - Cora is a beautiful name. Along with you I wait the day I get to have a little girl. I was blessed with 3 boys, the last 2 I swore they were girls and they were to be named Cora Jo. Instead I got John, Isaac, and Josiah. But I love how Levi says his brother’s name, so cute! There is nothing like brotherly love.
God Bless You!
the breedens - I know what you mean about the older sibling influencing the name. We just loved how it sounded when Nyla would say “Hazel”. I just wanted to hear that sweetness again and again!
Ruth - I live in Williamsburg, Virginia and the College of William and Mary has a mascot by the name of …Meet the Griffin.
William & Mary’s Griffin is a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head of an eagle. The coat of arms of King William and Queen Mary was adorned with lions, and the lion’s body of our mascot evokes our historic royal founding and early history. The eagle’s head of the Griffin suggests the national symbol of the United States and represents the presidents, leaders, and productive citizens whom William & Mary has trained for centuries
The above is copied from their website. Of course, I am not computer savy enough to know how to send you a picture of Griffin but if you google William and Mary mascot, you will see it. I thought you might be interested in the information after reading your blog about the meaning of the name and your brother’s comments. Ruth
Jody - Just tell him he’s named after Archie Griffin. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be named after the only two-time Heisman winner?? That’s who we named our black lab, Archie, after.
pharmacy - levy and griffin looks so cute! thanks for the photos sweety!
A - We are expecting our first child soon, a boy. We have gone back and forth on the name Griffin. My grandpa’s name was James and has been the front runner for middle names. I ran across this blog after googling the name Griffin. I think it may be a sign…our last name is McClanahan 🙂 Hope all is well!
Jess Reply:
December 9th, 2015 at 11:48 pm
That is so crazy! I figured I would never come across another Griffin McClenahan…but that is pretty close. Congrats! Being a mom is the best!!
Jess - That is so crazy! I figured I would never come across another Griffin McClenahan…but that is pretty close. Congrats! Being a mom is the best!!