Perry's Name

We took a long time to think about what Perry's name would be when the adoption was finalized.

We prayed a lot about changing his name. Just like with Kyler, we were conflicted about changing a child's first name. We worried a bit more because Perry had some delays and we didn't want to confuse him. In the end, we did feel that it would be right to change his first name.

We had a lot of conversations as a family about what that name would be. The boys had lots of suggestions. We threw around a lot of names. E vetoed most of them. Perry was one of the first names I brought up that Eric liked. But our boys weren't the biggest fans at first--they would lovingly tease and sing "Peeerrry" from Phineas and Ferb.

During that time period in which we were trying to decide if Perry should really be his name, we felt like the name "Perry" kept popping up around us. For example, I was talking to my parents one day and heard that they went on a short trip to Salt Lake City. While they were walking around temple square, they were stopped by Elder L. Tom Perry who struck up a conversation with them about the birds in the area. This, coupled with other similar instances, kept the name Perry fresh in my head.

Then we decided to try out the name on him. As a two year old coming into our home, he didn't respond to his given name. As time went on, this improved, but he definitely responded better when we used his nickname--Damo. As a three year old, he still wasn't always consistent in responding to his name. One day I called his name, "Damian". He didn't look up. I said it again. No response. So I tried "Perry"  and he looked right up. On a separate day at the park, Eric had a similar experience getting his attention.

We felt a reassurance that his first name should be Perry. We decided to make Damian, the name his birth parents gave him, his middle name.

He became Perry Damian Allred.