Where “Xavier” Came From

Quite a few people have been asking us how we came to pick Ben’s middle name “Xavier,” so I’ll share the story today.

When Jill & I were picking names while she was pregnant, as I’m sure most parents-to-be do, we threw out all kinds of name combinations from silly to serious. We actually picked the name Ben fairly early on, so we had been calling him Ben for almost as long as I can remember Jill being pregnant. But we were always trying out different name combinations along the way just for the fun of it.

I always kind of liked the name Max, but the full version of Maxwell, or Maximilian just doesn’t sound right or fit with today’s generation. But one afternoon after watching one of my favorite movies (Gladiator), I immediately realized that "Maximus" was a great strong first name and a better long version for Max than those others. Ok, maybe it’s a little too strong, but hey, I wanted a tough kid. As I was considering Maximus, Xavier just popped into my head and seemed like a perfect middle name to go with it  - “Max X!”  How cool is that!  So “Maximus Xavier” became one of my early top picks.   Ok, so I was only half serious about the name, but I could just imagine Jill & I on the sidelines of one of his soccer games 7 years into the future yelling out onto the field when he’s running up for a goal – “GO MAX X!! COM’ON! GO MAX X!” Then we could get all the people in the stands to cross their forearms over their heads when he scores the goal and chant “Max X! Max X!” Yeah, I know, fathers-to-be have all kinds of screwing dreams for their kids. But hey, you’ve got to admit that it would be cool.  But...
Jill didn’t go for it. Nope, not at all.
Maximus was just a little too far out there for her. OK, I understand and I agree, but because she didn’t like it so much, it became a bit of a running joke to keep talking about the name.  As I mentioned, we settled on Benjamin pretty early on as his first name, but when I got turned down for Maximus I couldn’t resist adding the Xavier as Ben’s middle name. After all, “Ben X” is a pretty cool name too… I can still hear the chants, and we could still do the crossed forearms when he scores a goal…   Nice.  But we still didn't take it entirely serious.
We actually never selected an official middle name for Ben until after he was born. In fact just a day or two before Ben was born, the top choice for middle name changed to Zachary!  When we were in the labor & delivery room we gave our list of middle name options to all the nurses and doctors and asked for their preference. We got all different responses, but right after Ben was born and he was laying there on Jill with that thick head of hair and looking all around, everyone in the room just said, “Xavier. He looks like an Xavier.” Thus, Benjamin Xavier Rudyk was made official on the birth certificate the next morning.
So what do you think? Does Ben look like an Xavier?  Benjamin Xavier, that is...

OK, you can start the chants now,  "BEN X!  BEN X!  BEN X!"