How about Vaness! or Vanesse! or VanCurt instead of Vancouver. Taravan or VanTara
Donovan, Savannah, Vantanna, VanHalen (where they listening to anything in particular at the time? VanElton John.
I would like to warn against too goofy of a name. I had two older brothers that my father wanted desperately to name Todd because Todd Rundgren was big at the time. Our last name is just one letter off (think Dolph). On the third try and two crossed off names on birth certificates for my luckier brothers, I was named Todd.
Now, 30 years later, I do not go a day when people ask me if I have been banging on my drum or if I know how to jam on guitar. What seems like a good idea may be something a person has to live with for the next 100 years.
Normal names are OK, like Vanessa or Ivan but, Vanessa Volkswagen or Vanessa the souvenir may not be good come high school.
Good luck with the kid,
No, this was not written by Todd Rundgren
I wish more people realized that there is no limit to the the number of names (middle names) that you can give your child. Everyone seems to think that since the birth certificate has only one box for a middle name, you can only fill it in with one name. WRONG!
The solution to most parents’ baby-naming conflicts is to simply give the child additional names. This has the additional benefit of allowing the child to easily change his name by simply using another of his already-legal names.
Interesting note: Prince Charles has the names “Charles Philip Arthur George.” When Princess Diana was saying her wedding vows, Diana accidentally reversed the order of Charles’s names, saying Philip Charles Arthur George. However, the marriage was legal nonetheless. 
If, however, Tara and Curtis insist on having the “van” name be the child’s common name or nickname, there are various solutions:
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Don’t reveal the source of the name until the child is too old to be embarrassed by it. (Say you just happened to like the name.) Then you have the opportunity to dramatically reveal the “family secret” at the child’s 18th birthday, high school graduation or some other suitable occasion.
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You don’t necessarily have to tell the child he was CONCEIVED in the van. Just say that the van trip was when the two of you fell in love, or finally cemented your relationship, or decided that you wanted to have children, or was simply a significant event in your lives.
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Above suggestion would carry more weight if you two have more than one child, and give all of them at least one name that contains the “van” reference. This also gives you the opportunity to take another van trip to start on the next baby!
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See if you like any of the many surnames beginning with Van: VanBuren, Vandercamp, etc. See a long list of such names at
http://www.linkpendium.com/genealogy/USA/sur/surc-V/surc-Van/
If you don’t like any of these surnames as the child’s middle or first name, consider changing your own family surname to a “Van” surname.
Of course, the real best solution is to use a name that won’t inspire people to ask how they got that name. Vanessa or Savannah or Evan or Vance or the like are common enough that no one but the insiders have to know the reference. Name the kid something unusual like Vanagon as some have suggested and there will be nonstop questions.
Please call back to CarTalk to let us know what you decide.
Best wishes for a happy, healthy child!
Interesting note re actress Margaux Hemingway:
When she learned that she was named for the wine, Ch?teau Margaux, which her parents were drinking the night she was conceived, she changed the original spelling from ‘Margot’ to ‘Margaux’ to match. They spelled it Margot. Later in her life, after no longer drinking alcohol, she returned to spelling her name Margot.
Vandalia is also a town in Western New York
I named my daughter a name that is also her Great Grandmother’s name, means the same in her ethnic origins and is the name of a flower. But my real inspiration for her name was to remember a very good friend of mine. So maybe you could find a name like that. But if you’re uncomfortable with the whold thing then just name her what you want to.
For a girl: Sienna or Ivanna
For a boy: Ferdinand (original inventor of the VW Bug and van)
Do NOT use van in the baby’s name! The child does NOT want to be reminded of his/her conception for his/her entire life. I’m a parent of teenagers and they do not want to think of their parents, ahem, being intimate.
What about a name like Vance William…VW for short. Names for girls could be
Vaneesha, Vanna, E(I)vanna.
Evander Westpahlia?
savannah, evangeline, evan are great names.
westfalia could provide a nice middle name - west or westie… even alia.
and if you can find two names that work, the VW initials are pretty cool…
(i know of a baby girl named Vaughn Wednesday, affectionately known as V-Dub)
but i think that takes a serious VW enthusiast!
congrats on the baby, whatever her/his name!
and i forgot to mention, in the long run,
NAME THE BABY WHAT YOU WANT TO NAME HER/HIM!!!
you don’t want to give them a name that you’ll regret…
so despite allllllllll this advice you’re getting,
chose a name that’s special and meaningful to you!
Everyone’s forgetting one of the most prolific “van” names of all time: Jean Claude van Damme! That baby will be kicking butt and taking names.
If it’s a girl… Jeanette Claudette van Dammette.
If it was a Westfalia…what about West for a boy or Lia for a girl?
I agree with Tara that using van, while funny now, will lose its humor over the years. I think it was the journey that is significant so what about a name like Malana? This is a (Hawaiian origin) name that means “to move along together.”
Good luck Tara and Curtis!
Since Tara isn’t sold on using VAN, how about naming him or her CANADA? Didn’t she say they drove across Canada?
If it’s a boy, how about Vince William (VW) or for a girl, Valerie Wanda?
Middle name - V
Hold the “a” sound in “van” and you could go with “Vaughn.”
Was the van a VW? If so, why not Valerie Willow or Vincent William for the initials VW? OR, I have a young cousing with a son named Vanderleigh who they call Van.