Samuel Paul Seitz

We are proud to announce the birth of Samuel Paul Seitz, born at 7 lb.13 oz. and 20.5 inches long.

The labor was fairly rough, but Emily did great. Emily is hoping to blog some with her free time, and no doubt will have more to say on this.

About the name...

We actually chose "Samuel" some time ago. It was one of several names we were tossing around. At 20 weeks, when we found out he was a he we started trying this out. Emily fairly quickly began calling him Samuel and insisted that this was indeed his name. I like it for a range of reasons:

1. It's part of the Davidic narrative, which included Jonathan and David, and so it seems appropriate to have a Samuel in the family. I also like that Samuel was a good son, much loved, humble and faithful, and a prophet.



2. We are big fans of many Samuels, including: Samuel Clemens, Samuel Adams (a Congregationalist), and at PTS there are Samuel Miller and Samuel Moffet. I've written some about Samuel Mills (who was part of the Haystack group, was the main friend of the Hawiian convert I've studied, and was involved in the Amistad case), and the first Chinese figure I treat in my dissertation was effectionally known as "Saam" (the Mandarin is probably Rong Sande; the Cantonese was Yong Sam-Tak).



3. Samuel is a very popular name. It's in the top 25 this year, and has been in the top 20-40 for the last 15 years. Especially in Christian circles, there may be another Sam or two around, but it shouldn't be an excessive number.



4. It's easily alterable, if the little one wants.

We've had some funny experiences with the name. Mom guessed it on her first try, perhaps because there's a Sam in their congregation. Grandma Seitz also got it with just one hint, and, after being told it was the name of a Biblical book, Emily's dad guessed it.

The middle name was a bit more of a challenge. We liked pairing monosyllabic names with Samuel, and were thinking along the lines of John, Mark, Luke, or Paul. Emily liked the family connection to Paul (which is the name of my uncle and grandfather). I was born on the feast day for Peter and Paul, and I've always liked that the institutionalist Peter was paired with the wandering Paul; in recent history, the date has been important in the ecumenical movement where it has sometimes been used as the occasion for the meeting of Catholic and Orthodox churches. Paul is less popular, but still familiar to many people. My father has always been a big fan of Paul, and Paul wrote the earliest works in the Greek Bible.