When our daughter was born, we needed to pick a name. Ruth and I were huge fans of the Waltons TV show. We had nicknamed our son John Boy, after the main character on the show. I thought we might name our daughter Mary Ellen, after the oldest daughter. I especially liked this name because Ellen is Ruth’s middle name, but Ruth does not particularly like her middle name.
I definitely wanted to name my daughter after my wife. If Ellen could not be used, then I had to find a way to use Ruth. I finally decided Rebekah Ruth was a great sounding combination. Rebekah is the Old Testament spelling; Rebecca the New Testament. I thought the former would be an interesting conversation starter. Unfortunately, few people ever spell Rebekah’s name right on the first try.
Now here’s the bizarre thing. On the same day Rebekah was born, and in the same hospital, another girl was also born. She was the daughter of a local Minister of Music. We had never met. Believe it or not, they named their daughter Rebekah Ruth. Incredible.
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