William Michael Hill

April 18, 2015

Easter morning, Bryan and I were driving to Roanoke, Alabama to visit his dad’s side of the family. While driving, Bryan mentioned that it would be a good time to discuss baby names because we had almost two hours to kill. We had already spoken about the name William Michael many times, and both really loved it, but we were worried because it almost came too easily! For some strange reason, we felt compelled to do more research and gnashing of teeth before determining the PERFECT name for our firstborn son. So, I googled several lists of baby names and read them aloud. While there were some we liked, nothing felt as right to us as William Michael. After a short while, I asked Bryan why we were fighting this when clearly this was a name full of meaning for both of us, and we both loved it. He concurred that he really wasn’t sure, and with that, our decision was made.

Our little man’s full name will be William Michael Hill, and we will call him Liam for short. We LOVE this name. William is a huge family name for Bryan on both his mom’s and his dad’s side. His father, who goes by Dusty, is William Thomas Hill III, and is named after his father (Tommy) who is named after his father (Bill) before that! So, there’s a long line of Williams on the Hill side that we want to honor by naming our son after them. Bryan’s grandfather on his Mom’s side is named William as well, and he goes by Bill. His uncle is also named William, and goes by Billy, and he has a cousin named Will on this side as well. Bryan really admires all of these great Williams in his family, and loves spending time with them. Each has a special place in his heart, and in mine as well as they have grown to become my family too over the years. Naming our son in their honor just fits perfectly. Plus, we love that by calling him Liam, he’ll have his own unique identity while sharing the tradition of the name William.

Being a Callahan of Irish descent, there are a whole lot of Michaels in my family! First and foremost, my dad is a Michael, and is the original man who had my whole heart until Bryan came along. My grandfather and his father before that were also Michaels- though my great grandfather changed his name from George Michael Callahan to George Washington Callahan when he came to the states so he sounded more American…. yea, we laugh about it too. My brother is Michael Patrick Callahan, though he goes by Patrick, and my brother in law is actually William Michael Baisley! We placed a special call to him on our car ride Easter morning to officially ask to steal his name! Thankfully he agreed since they don’t plan to pass his full name on to the baby they’re expecting (if it’s a boy). I always knew that I wanted Michael to be part of my first son’s name in honor of the special Michaels in my life, and I am so grateful that that dream is now our reality.

Bryan and I are very blessed to have so many special men in our lives who have sacrificed a lot to love and support us and get us where we are today, and it feels wonderful to have the opportunity to share their legacy with the next generation.

The name William means “warrior” while Michael means “humble”, so we love the idea that his name means “humble warrior”. Michael literally means “Who is like God?” which translates to humble, and I just love that! What an important lesson to have imbedded in your name- a reminder of how humble we are in comparison to our heavenly Father. There’s great meaning in all aspects of this name, for sure.

It also feels really great to be able to call Liam by name! Bryan walks in the door from work, hugs me, and pats my belly, saying “Hey Liam!” He rolls over in the morning to give him a good morning pat too. I, of course, talk to him throughout the day, and according to our app that explains weekly progress, he is actually able to start recognizing my voice now, so I am sure I’ll continue to talk to him and sing to him as we go on.

We hope Liam likes the name we have chosen for him, and that he will come to know and appreciate what a long line of great men from which he comes.