The case for Chelsea

This is Chad! (fyi)

So Rachel has been pretty adamant about the name Brooklyn for a while and it's been a sort of one-sided story on the blog. I figured I'd come on here and defend my position on the name Chelsea to give an idea of where I'm coming from and hopefully get some supporters. First off, just look at the name:

Very dignified, very glittery. Just like a girl should be. It has lots of angles but just enough curves to keep it spicy. On top of a name that looks great in print, here are some other people who have been blessed with the name Chelsea. This is the sort of pedigree you want to have in a name:



Here is Rachel's longtime friend Chelsea Soria (now Walker). One of the most genuinely sweet people I have ever known, she's a very cute girl (am I allowed to say that?) who is also a fantastic hairdresser. I used to have her cut my hair back when I cared about styling it and Rachel still goes to her for haircuts. Personality, talent, cuteness, all thanks to the name Chelsea.



Chelsea Clinton. Last I heard about her she was campaigning for her mother somewhere in the mid-west. Nobody even LIKES her mother but there she was out in the Godforsaken mid-west getting up in front of thousands of people asking them to vote for her. She didn't do it because she thinks her mother would be a good president, nobody named Chelsea would be that ignorant, she did it because she loves her mother and would do anything for her. That's the kind of dedication you want in a child, right? She's also a Harvard graduate which is nice.



Okay this isn't a person, but it's still a testament to the name Chelsea. My 1996 Mustang was dubbed Chelsea by a good friend and Rachel loved that car when we were dating, she'd always ask to drive it around. It was great-looking, it was a lot of fun, and it was pretty powerful! All important qualities to look for in a child, and all qualities bestowed by the name Chelsea.



Hotel Chelsea in Manhattan. Another non-person but this is significant because it's considered to be a prominent incubator for artists, musicians and other people that make this world so unique. I am a horribly uncreative person so if naming her Chelsea would help her to overcome the deficit she'll probably be inheriting from me, she'll need all the help she can get.

I'd like to close with some simple (unbiased) facts. These are the reasons why this feud has gone on for so long.

- Here are the current names in our family:
Chad James
Rachel Christine
Micah Ryan

- Neither of us has been to Brooklyn, New York

- Rachel grew up with a Chelsea

- A group called Ratatat recorded their first album (and one of my all-time favorites) in an apartment in Brooklyn, New York

- To be clear, I don't want to name the baby Chelsea after anyone or anything in this post, these are just the things in my life that contribute to my mental image of the name and have shaped what the name has come to mean to me.

- Brooklyn was the 67th most popular baby name in 2006, Chelsea was the 192nd (Fun Fact: at one point Rachel told me the name Chelsea would be acceptable as long as it wasn't in the top 100 since she didn't want a name that was too common)

- Micah can say Chelsea, he gets a little tongue-twisted on Brooklyn

So there you have it. Those are the reasons why I support the name Chelsea and why you should too. It's a great, simple but elegant name with a wonderful and rich history of talent, love, strength and beauty. That's what we both want for our new baby girl and it's only fitting for her to get a great head start with the name Chelsea