Whats in a name?

My Name, as some of may know, is Lewis Richard Ackroyd.

Now, using the art of deduction you will determine that my second name ‘Ackroyd’ has been passed down from me by my parents. This was indeed the surname of my dad Stephen. My middle name of Richard was taken from my Granddad on my father’s side and the name Lewis is derived from a close family friend at the time of my birth. After a little research I find the following (most common) meanings:

Lewis - \le-wis\ as a boy's name is pronounced LOO-iss. It is of English origin. Anglicization of Louis (Old German, French) "renowned fighter”.

Richard - \r(i)-cha-rd\ as a boy's name is pronounced RICH-erd. It is of Old German origin, and the meaning of Richard is "powerful leader".

Ackroyd - \ack-royd\ It translates as "The dweller by the clearing in the oak tree", from the Olde English pre 7th century "ac" meaning oak and "rod", or the later royd, being a clearing or possibly even a farm. 

As with the majority of men, I am not a fan of commitment. When we first started looking at buying our own place the thought of having such a large commitment as a large debt over 25 years seemed crazy to me, but after realising there was no other way I got used to idea. My next ‘commitment’ stumbling block is that I will have 50% say in what name a human being will have for their whole life. That as a concept amazes me. I understand people can now change their name by deed poll to pretty much whatever they want, but they have to have a name to start with and I will help choose that name.

Luckily, we have plenty of time to decide what the name should be and we won’t know for sure until we know if it’s a boy or a girl, but we still need a shortlist!

Where does your name come from or how did you choose the name(s) for you children?