What's in a name?

As many of you know, we're keeping the baby's name a secret until he's born. We thought it would be more fun if there's some element of surprise about his name.

But we have some guidelines.

We're following Jewish tradition by naming the baby after a relative who is deceased. The first letter of the baby's name must match the first letter of the deceased relative's name, but it can't be the same name. We're naming the baby after Michael's father, Allen. So, the name will start with A.

Michael also has his own rules:

• The name must be more than one syllable. With a one-syllable last name of Lev, we need a longer first name to balance it out.
  
• The name can't be shortened to a nickname that's one syllable, such as Abraham to Abe.
  
• The name can't end in L. Otherwise, it runs into the last name. For example, Michael Lev could sound like Micalev.

His middle name will be Tully and his last name will be Lev.

We've been calling him ATL, Baby A or Kid A (after the Radiohead album). Grandma Judy calls him Angelito.

People have been guessing the name for months, but very few know our first choice. Now that the birth is close, we wanted to see if you could guess the name. Take our online poll to the right. Yes, our first-choice name and some backups are on the list.

-Sarah