A middle name compromise

Karsten now has a middle name. Karsten Vaughn Anderer.

Just weeks before he was born, Danyiel and I were deadlocked on a name. She said all of the names I suggested (Karsten, Milos, Jaeger, Mattias) were too weird, so I decided to try to sway things in my favor with some psychology—I figured if I started suggesting REALLY outlandish names, the others might not seem so unusual. I proposed we name the baby "Baron Von Anderer." (Actually it was "Baron Johann Karl-Frederick von Anderer," if I recall.)

Evidently my scheme worked because she eventually decided "Karsten" wasn't so strange after all.

But a couple weeks later we stood in Labor & Delivery with no middle name that sounded good between "Karsten" and "Anderer." (What does, really?) I jokingly suggested "Von" again, but to my surprise Danyiel, tired and full of meds, said yes—as long as we spelled it "Vaughn."

I still can't believe I got away with it. I still chuckle every time I write it.