8 Dante vs. 9 Kheiron; 8 Mateo vs. 9 Azul

The name bracket is coming along nicely. Ephraim wins 7-1 and Garrison shuts out Garvin, 8-0. The first shutout of the bracket!


Shiv: Looking at the match-ups, I am not sure how Azul got up so high in the International bracket. Maybe when we were seeding the names, it appealed more to me that day than now. Hmmm... I am having a hard time deciding which one to advocate for. Mateo is just a spin off of the familiar name, Matthew. Yes, we know many Matthews but how about Mateo? Kheiron is from Greek mythology: he was wounded accidentally by a poisoned arrow shot by Heracles and he was in such agony that he surrendered his immortality in order to die. Zeus placed him among the stars as the constellation Sagitarius. I am a Sagitarius!!!

Gar: Kheiron (also spelled Chiron) was the mythological centaur who was the wise mentor and teacher to heroes like Theseus, Achilles, Heracles, Jason, and Aeneas. Dante refers to the writer Dante Alighieri, writing of the Divine Comedy (Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso). While Dante is the more well-known of the two names and higher rank, I'd have to give the nod to Kheiron with points for originality. As for Mateo and Azul... well, "Azul" literally means "Blue". In this match, I think naming a boy "Blue" is maybe TOO original. I'll go with Mateo since there was a cool Filipino-Japanese dude I knew as a kid with the name.

Shiv: When I think about Azul, I think about Blue and then I think about the Blue song by Eiffel 65. I don't think I would want that as our son's theme song. Being blue and living in a blue world. Mateo would be the more sensible name choice in this bracket. As far as Dante, I am surprised that Garrett didn't hype up the name as much as he would. When I look at both names, I would prefer Dante because of the meaning, everlasting and enduring. I partner enduring with persevering, qualities that I would like in our son.

Gar: I'm not saying Dante is a bad name... just that Kheiron is a lot more awesome. The sound of "Kheiron Chan" just seems better than "Dante Chan". Besides, a common nickname for Dante is "Tay Tay". You want kids calling our son "Tay Tay"... it sounds a little bit too close to a nickname for the milk-making part of the female anatomy. Now, I'm not anti-breast. I'm OK with my son liking b00bs... I just don't want him to have a potential nickname that SOUNDS like a b00b.