Wayne county public schools
Inspired name
A Kewanee couple had a son Monday and gave the boy a middle name they hope will encourage him to live up to the man from whom it came: Barack.
“That name will inspire him to challenge himself through life,” said Washington Griffin of his newborn son, Kaanan Barack Griffin.
Kaanan was born at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center on Monday, which was Martin Luther King Jr. Day and just one day before President Barack Obama took the oath of office to become the country’s first black president.
Griffin said he chose the name because it will be a source of pride and strength for the boy as he grows older.
“By giving him that name, he should want to be as good as the president,” Griffin said. “With a powerful name like that, it would send a message to him.”
The name also was chosen because of similarities shared between Obama and the newborn, including the fact they both have white mothers and black fathers, Griffin said.
“That name stands out. It means something,” he added. “It should uplift him. I want him to become something in life.”
Griffin said he chose the child’s first name based on biblical passages.
The boy’s mother, Raelynne Neirynck, said the name choices were all Griffin’s, and she was a bit hesitant at first.
“Once Washington told me his reasoning, I was fine with it,” Neirynck said Wednesday from St. Francis.
“I think it will be something he’ll remember,” she said.
And Griffin agrees.
“Whenever he hears the name ‘Barack,’ he can see himself,” Griffin said, adding that the president’s first name means “blessed.”
Numerous Internet accounts of babies and even streets and schools being named after the 44th president have surfaced since Obama captured the country’s attention between his campaign and inauguration.
Griffin said he also hopes the name will help guide his son to do positive things in life, much like Obama.
“Most kids that grow up choose a path. I want him to choose the correct path.”
Kevin Sampier can be reached at 346-5300 or ksampier@pjstar.com.
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