"What's In A Name?"

We have chosen to name our son Otto Cranston. Most people's reactions have been excited when we tell them. Although, I'm sure there are some who are thinking "That is so weird!". That's fine, everyone is entitled to their opinion and they have kept it to themselves. Others have asked how we ended up coming up with the name so I thought I'd elaborate on that. 

I'll start with Cranston because it actually has a family connection. As some of you know last year I started tracing Jef's family tree and ended up learning a lot. I ended up coming across family that Jef hasn't had contact with since his Dad passed in 1995. To get started on Ancestry.com I needed his parents information. His Dad's name was Theron Cranston, but he went by "Pete". I thought that was such a cool name when he told me years ago. Anytime I hear a unique name I make a mental note of future kids names. This is one that worked out. The name was also given to Jef's brother Michael as his middle name. Below is a picture of Jef as a baby and his parents and brother.


Pete, Etta, Michael & Baby Jef. So sweet!!

Otto will end up being the 4th person (that I know of) in the Cunningham line to have Cranston as a middle name. While researching the family tree I found that Pete had an Uncle named Robert Cranston. Below is a picture of Jef's Great Grandfather (John Columbus Melton Jay Van Cunningham), Grandfather (Milton Commodore) and Great Uncle (Robert Cranston). This family definitely has unique names.   

John , Commodore and Bob

Now on to Otto. Once I got to a stopping point with Jef's side of the family tree I decided to move to mine. Growing up I've always known that both sides of my family have come from Germany. My parent's wanted to give me a German name when I was born so that is why I am Erika with a "K" and not a "C". I wish I had some awesome family story or connection to Otto, but I don't. I've always thought it was really cool, but had never given it much thought. A couple years ago I was watching a documentary called Anne Frank Remembered. This is a story that I grew up learning about in school and at home. As a kid you know this is such an awful thing that happened, but to sit through the interviews and stories as an adult has a deeper impact on you (or me at least). The documentary goes through the Frank family's life and their friends and co-workers who did everything they could to help save them. Anne's father's name was Otto. Otto Frank was the only one out of the eight that went into hiding to survive the Nazi camps.