Inside Fatherhood

The joys of baby naming, part deux

by Bill on August 28th, 2007

In a previous post I mentioned that I had thrown out a long shot suggestion to my wife as to what we should name our unborn son. I provided this brief clue:

“It was the name of the baker in the Godfather who was bringing flowers to Vito Corleone in the hospital when Michael met him on the stairs.“

While I received a few emails with guesses, nobody hit it on the nose. So the answer as to what the suggested name was (and a nugget of Godfather trivia) is… Enzo. Enzo the baker, with respect to the GF trilogy.

When I first proposed the name to my wife, I floated it out there fully expecting it to be rejected. Which it was, even though I backed it up by reminding her that Enzo Angiolini is the name of a quality women’s shoe maker, and Enzo Ferrari is of course the namesake of an unparalleled performance automobile. My original intent was to throw the name out as a diversionary tactic so that when I found one to which I was more endeared, she would be more accepting of the alternative.
However, as I think more on the name, it is actually beginning to grow on me. It’s very distinctive. Seriously, how many people do you know named Enzo? And as far as naming a kid after a character from the Godfather, he’s probably the one. I don’t want to name my child after nefarious fictional characters like Vito or Luca or Moe… and certainly not Fredo *spit*. No, Enzo the baker was a stand up guy. Why do I think this, you may ask?

First, he was a baker; an honorable profession, and who doesn’t like baked goods? He works hard for his money and makes tasty treats in the process. While I will try to teach my child that a balanced diet is not based solely on carbohydrates, I do want him to have a solid work ethic.

Second, he showed up at the hospital to check in on the Don and he brought flowers. Nice, very nice. That’s just good manners and I certainly want my child to have manners.

Third, when he encounters Michael Corleone outside the hospital, Micheal plainly states “You better get out of here, Enzo. There’s gonna be trouble.” But does Enzo leave? No, he stays and provides a few minutes buffer from the encroaching hit men sent to whack Don Vito. That’s a man with courage and conviction, two things I would like to instill in my son.

Long story short, I have no clue what my wife and I will end up naming our child. However the idea of a unique and off-center name with some loosely virtuous associations is becoming more and more appealing.

Share This

Related Stories

Anthony Kiedis reveals newborn’s name
Honey, let’s name him ‘Wrath Gordon’
Baby NameVoyager
The joys of baby naming
Milk Tea Recipe

POSTED IN: General, Parenting