The meaning behind Sam's names was hugely important to us on so many levels. I can almost write a novel about why Sam is Sam!

Firstly... Our surname starts with M. Both DH and I had completely independently come up with the idea to name our boy Samuel and choose a middle name starting with A so that his initials would be the same as his nickname.

Secondly... The meaning of Samuel is "asked for". A biblical name, where Samuel was the son of a barren woman. The verse itself goes something like (completely from memory): in due time she gave birth to a son, calling him Samuel saying "I asked the Lord for him". Given our history of infertility and struggles to conceive it seemed fitting.

Sam's middle name is Angus. After we had agreed on Samuel it became a matter of choosing a middle name that we liked the sound of and had a meaning that meant something. After a particularly horrendous day of kicking me around before he was born it nearly became Aiden meaning "little fiery one", but we went with Angus - "chosen" and/or "possesses strength". That embryo was the one chosen as looking the best and the strongest and was therefore implanted. I have three different medical conditions which can lead to miscarriage so any baby of mine has a struggle right from the start, and that embryo, that child that is now Sam... it possessed strength!

To be honest - I'd never really thought much about the meanings of names given to children until one day I realised that the meanings of my names (my user name) reflected my journey through life.

BW