We're down to three names: Leah, Mary, and Kate.

Shelly and I had a few conversations a little while ago, and we both agreed that while the eight names we had on our list are all wonderful, we both kind of realized that it was going to be either Leah, Mary, or Kate. I say "a few conversations," because it seems like this development dawned on us slowly, each of us gradually realizing that such-and-such a name was not going to make the cut. Leah, Mary, and Kate were the top three names in our quantified list that I described recently, and they were the clear-cut favorites.

Also, interestingly, we both find ourselves referring to them not in alphabetical order, as we have tried to do throughout this process, but in order of the points they got in that quanitification exercise: Leah, then Mary, then Kate. I think this has somewhat subconsciously led us to the conclusion that this might be the final placing.

Ellie is still doing her thing with Kate, urging us over and over to choose that name, and refusing to believe that there are other possibilities out there. Usually she's been kind of demanding, but Shelly just told me that today she said softly, "Mama, when you and Daddy decide on the baby's name, could you please pick Kate? I really want her to be named Kate." Shelly said that when she puts it like that, she's really hard to refuse. And overall, Ellie has actually kind of warmed me up to the idea, contrary to what I had expected. I like Kate because it sounds different from Ellie and Annie - it's got a couple of hard consonants and a bright vowel, and it's short and sharp. But its disadvantages are that it is very similar to Ellie and Annie in that the given name, Katherine, would be different from what we actually call her, and there's always the looming possibility that the name will lapse into Katie, which is just another -ie name to add to the list. One evening, I realized during a conversation with Shelly that I kind of want this child's name to be different from my other two daughters' names, and with the Katherine and Katie angles, I'm beginning to feel that Kate just may not make the grade.

Mary has been a name that I've been thinking about for a long time, and frankly I'm surprised that I've been as persuasive about it with Shelly as I have been. I like its old-fashioned bona fides, and I like its simplicity and plainness (just like Jane). It also is the only one of the three names left on the list that has any meaning, as the name would definitely evoke for me the mother of Jesus, even if my daughter isn't directly and explicitly "named after" her. But in the way of disadvantages, Mary is very similar to the sounds of Ellie and Annie, even if it does end with a -y instead of an -ie. I just have a hard time picturing myself saying, "These are my daughters: Ellie, Annie, and Mary." And to the extent we have solicited feedback, the attitudes of other people about Mary have been decidedly lukewarm. My mom has come out and said she in fact doesn't like it, because it's so common and plain. (Of course, for our daughter's generation, it won't be nearly so common as the name of our new neice Isabelle.) I don't think anyone has said that, among the final three, Mary is their favorite. Not that popular opinion should rule the day, but it does say something that this name is not inspiring much praise.

Leah, on the other hand, has received almost universal high marks from people we've asked. Some have said they prefer Kate, but all agree that Leah is a wonderful, beautiful name. It has the advantage of being a given name that we will actually use in day-to-day life, it doesn't have any -ie forms, and it's somewhat different in form from my other girls' names (though I have half-joked to Shelly that Leah is just Ellie with the syllables reversed). Shelly has commented more than once that she likes how it's different from our other girls' names but still fits with them stylistically. And I must admit that the name doesn't really have any distinct disadvantages other than the fact that I haven't been in love with it for a very long time like I was with Annie and am with Jane and Mary. Of course, I wasn't in love with Ellie, either, but now I can't imagine my girl being called anything else.

It's come to the point that the other day Shelly - kind of out of the blue, as we weren't having a conversation about it - indicated that she's ready to cast her vote for Leah.

That was a shrewd move by Shelly if she really wants that name, because it gives Leah a decided advantage. Shelly's statement has caused me to start really imagining my daughter with the name Leah in a way I haven't done before. Shelly pointed out, rightly, that we both really like all three of the names, and whichever one we choose is going to be great, and we'll love it and we'll love the girl it's attached to. We just need to decide, she said. And she chose Leah.

I haven't cast my vote yet, but I don't think I'm going to choose Kate (sorry, Ellie). But perhaps even more tellingly, I don't think I'm going to go to the trouble of fighting for Mary. I really like all of these names. And so does Shelly.

It really is getting to the point where we just have to pick one. So should we pick Kate (Ellie's first choice), Mary (mine) or Leah (Shelly's)?