And then there were two...

The results from the round of four. Drum roll please....

1)Jackson handles 2)Dylan easily. In all honesty, Jackson has been the one name that both Mindy and I have both really liked throughout this process. This is the problem with Jackson: two couples whom we are very close with (one in Texas and one in Cali) have recently had baby boys whom they named Jack. Mindy and I have tried long and hard to find a name that we both like as much as Jackson that isn't as similar to Jack. It seems we might have to give up on this quest. My only promise to both Jack parentals is that we vow never to refer to our child as Jack. If he has a nickname, it will be J. Or Stryker. That is the best compromise I can think of.

As for matchup number two... we have our first minor upset. That's right, 2) Cameron defeats 1) Jordan. My excitement with Cameron was steadily growing until I had a conversation with a buddy of mine from California (a gregarious dilettante who shall remain nameless). So I shared with this young man, who shockingly is not a reader of our blog, about the premise behind the Tournament o' Names and the potential name options. Well, he really seemed to love the name Cameron and went on and on about how much he liked that name and how great the nickname Cam was, etc. A few sentences into his praise, I thought I might be detecting the occasional female pronoun. Hmmm. Then came this fateful sentence, "If you have a nickname like Cam, you are just bound to be a cool chick." Like a slap across the face! Okay, let's ignore the fact that one of the co-best men in my wedding doesn't know the gender of my firstborn (I weep as I type now) and focus on the message. When I found out that we were having a boy, the only criteria I had was I wanted a name that was masculine and not androgynous. I had convinced myself that Cameron was pretty much just a guy's name until Scott Ellis Blake (I've given up on the whole anonymity thing and want to completely shame him in public now) rocked my world. Now I have some serious thinking to do again. Damn it all.

Anyway, here are your finalists....

1) Jackson (J) vs. 2) Cameron (Cam)

Voice your opinion now or forever hold your peace. And you are right, Aaron (my other co-best man, who I know is aware of the gender of our child, and has obviously justified my decision to have him stand closer to the altar at our wedding), the name will probably end up being something entirely different then everything discussed on this blog. But every vote counts. Yes we can!!!