Callum's Name

If you recall an earlier post, we were pretty specific in the kind of name we wanted for our son.  We wanted something traditional, but not common.  It took us a very long time to settle on something, but once we really started talking about names, we discovered that we'd both found the name Callum and we both liked it a lot.  At this point, we decided to go with it unless we had a major change of mind. 

Here's some history on the name.  The name Callum is of Scottish and Gaelic origin.  It is is pronounced KAL-um. It is a variant of Columba (Latin), meaning "dove".  It was a popular name among early Christians because the dove was a symbol of gentleness, purity, peace, and the Holy Spirit.  Saint Columba was an influential sixth-century Irish missionary who founded a monastery on the Scottish island of Iona. His contemporary, Saint Columban, also Irish, was a missionary in France, Switzerland, and Italy.

Callum is currently very popular in Europe, particularly Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England, but it's only just barely within the top 1000 in the US (at #976 right now).

We love the name for many reasons, especially because of the meaning and its association with peace and the holy spirit.  We think it goes really well with his middle name (also his daddy's name), Wyatt, which means guide.

Callum is also a family name.  Wyatt has a lot of Scottish on his mother's side of the family, and it turns out there were two Callums in his family tree, one as a first name and one as a middle name, so that makes the name extra special.

We are so glad to have a name for our son.  Roshambeaux was good while it lasted, but he needed a real name at some point.  We pray that through his life, he will grow be an instrument of peace just as his name means.