The Meaning Behind Ryser’s Name

The Birth of Ryser’s Name

One of the best parts of pregnancy is dreaming about what your baby will be like and picking out the perfect name with your spouse! I love hearing David tell this story about how we picked Ryser’s name and I thought it would be best for David to tell you himself…so here we go! David’s first guest blog post for AshleyTerk!

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Ashley was in Charlotte visiting her family when we found out she was pregnant. We were so excited about the incredible news of our soon to be baby that we knew we couldn’t keep it a secret and had to tell family asap! Since Ashley was already with her family I decided to drive down the next day and surprise her family. 

I was on my way up to Charlotte from Birmingham, doing everything I could to focus on the road, attempting to comprehend the news of the sweet child that would one day be born into my arms. Not able to take the joy one more second, I called Ash because I wanted to talk about our baby. I wanted to dream up a few good baby names. 

After spending several hours on the phone, a serious conversation turned into a goofy, name creation lab. Tree Tire Hodges was one name we came up with. McDonalds Subway Hodges was another. What we were doing was simply calling out what we saw. A weird, but funny game of eye spy. Driving though an urban city I call out “Sky-riser (Tall building) Hodges”. Ashley doesn’t laugh at my joke and instead says “Wait, how about just Riser”. I said “Hmmm I actually like it,” and we added it to our list of boy names.

When Ashley and I found out we were having a boy we immediately went to our list of boy names and started to narrow it down. We wanted to make sure his name had a meaning. When we got to the name Riser, we immediately thought of a leader and loved it. So, we changed the spelling and decided on our own meaning and what we want for his name to represent in his life. 

Ryser: a leader, an overcomer, a person who rises to the challenge, a person who does not give up in times of adversity.

Ashley and I are praying and believing that Ryser will be a leader, that he will be set apart, and that he will live a blessed life. The unfortunate part of life is that it is not perfect, and there are tough times ahead. They say you can measure a man not by how he falls down, but how he rises back up. This is the spirit we feel as though Ryser will have and this is what we believe his name will represent. “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;   I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1 NIV) 

Now, as far as his middle name, I know you are probably wondering where Sidney came from with that being a bit of a unique name for a boy. My mom’s father was William Sidney Hornsby. He and I were very, very close, and “Pa”, as we called him, made a huge impact on my life, and so many others. His first name is where I got my middle name, William. So, when thinking of a middle name, I could not help but to think of my Pa. I wanted to honor him by giving his middle name to my son. It was a super special opportunity for me and I am so thankful to Ashley for loving me enough to allow me to make this decision. 

As Ashley continued in her pregnancy and we got closer and closer to meeting our first born son, our proposed name held up through the family name judgment test…and the rest is history!

On September 6, 2018, my beautiful baby boy, Ryser Sidney Hodges, was born.  

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I hope that you loved this guest post from David! Do you want to hear more from him?! What was it like naming your first baby?! I would love to hear your stories. 🙂

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