I have a niece on the way in October, and before today the parents did a pretty good job keeping her planned name under wraps.

For months the rest of the family has speculated and asked enough questions to get a few clues. We knew the girl’s name had an e in it, and that either her first name or middle name was a family name. I later learned that her name was popular in the 1920s, though not near the top of the list now.

My brother and sister-in-law are in town this weekend visiting the family and doing some things they may not have time to do for a while (see: baby, newborn). We went into D.C. to take in some museums, which my brother hasn’t done in a few years and the sister-in-law hasn’t been here since a trip in the eight grade.

One of our stops was at the American Indian Museum, which featured a section of modern art with an installation made entirely of clothing. One of those pieces was red footie pajamas, to which Bethany said “Oh, we should get some of those for (baby’s name).” She immediately covered her mouth and hoped I didn’t notice…but I did.

So I know her first name now. Later at dinner I also learned a few hints about her middle name–it’s a family name from my family, also has an e and apparently can be found at a library. We’ll work on that one, though if I just hang around them enough they’ll probably just tell me.