Baby Names

Religious parents often choose a biblical name, creative parents may go for something more unique, while conservative parents tend toward something popular but safe. Celebrities, on the other hand - seem to have a trend of their own - toward the bazaar!

According to Baby Center's Polls, early 1900's baby names were simple, with John being the number one baby name for a boy and Mary being the number one name for a girl. These popular baby names held that number 1 position for the next 20 years. Robert finally unseated John as the most popular baby name for a boy in the 1930's polls, but Mary continued to hold fast to her number 1 position for the next 20 years! It wasn't until the 1950's that Mary is finally unseated as the nation's most popular baby name for a girl, and replaced by Linda. The same year, we see the old favorite John makes his reappearance to the number 1 spot as most popular baby name for a boy. By the 1960's, the name Mary was once again the number 1 choice for a girl, but David had overtaken John for the number 1 baby boy's name in the country. By the 1970's the name Michael dominated the top slot for boys and Jennifer occupied the number one position as the most popular baby name for girls. These names continued to hold their number 1 positions until the 1980 poll. Michael continued his reign as the number 1 choice of name for a baby boy, but Jennifer was overtaken by Jessica as the number 1 choice for girls in the 1990 statistics. In 2000, Michael continued to hold as number 1 for baby boys and Hannah took the number one slot for most popular baby girl's name. In the latest 2005 poll, the number one name for baby girls in the country is Emma, and Aidan is occupying the number 1 position of most popular baby boy's name. These statistics were complied by the Baby Center, from information gathered from it's over 300,000 members.

Who can forget the names of Frank Zappa's children? With his second wife, Gail Sloatman, Zappa had four children. Their names demonstrate Zappa's devotion to eccentricity. The children are named Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Rodan, and Diva. Cher, along with Gregg Allman, proved that a color can be a fitting name as well when they named their son, Elijah Blue. Stars Julia Roberts named her twins Phinnaeus and Hazel. Courteney Cox and David Arquette gave their daughter the name Coco Riley. Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin came up with one of the most talked about names of all time when they named their baby daughter, Apple Blythe Alison. Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards seem to have some trouble defining the meaning of the letter J in their daughter, Sam J.'s name. Kate Hudson and Chris Robinson named their son Ryder Russell. Joely Fisher and Christopher Duddy named their little daughter True Harlow. The Madonna kissing, married - nope! annulled - married again- Brittney Spears and Kevin Federline named their chubby cheeked baby boy Sean Preston. And one of the strangest (and longest) names went to the son of model/actress Heidi Klum and singer Seal when they named their son Henry Gunther Ademola Dashtu Samuel. Also receiving some criticism and much press of late, Carys Zeta, the name given to the daughter of actor Michael Douglas and actress Catherine Zeta Jones. But far, one of the strangest names to come down the red carpet, Pilot Inspektor, the name given to the son of actor Jason Lee and Beth Riesgraf.

According to a recent Baby Zone Poll, the 20 Coolest Baby Names of 2006 (so far!) are:

Coolest Baby Names for 2006
Girls - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Boys
Amelie - - - - - - - - - - - Emerson
Dahlia - - - - - - - - - - - - Gabriel
Fiona - - - - - - - - - - - - - Heath
Jozy - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Henry
June - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Ian
Maarit - - - - - - - - - - - - Leander
Mae - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Malcolm
Emma - - - - - - - - - - - - -Stefan
Shanti - - - - - - - - - - - - - Oliver
Talise - - - - - - - - - - - - -Preston

You have many options when it comes to the number of names you choose for your baby. It is very common for a baby to be given three names, however, this is not mandatory. You may choose a first and last name; a first and last name and only a middle initial; initials for both first and middle names; or several middle names. Keep in mind, though, that several middle names will cause space problems for your child any time he or she fills out a form. Choosing a popular name increases the likelihood that there will be other children in your child's school with the same name. This may make him or her not feel as unique. However, a child with a popular name may be perceived better by peers than a child with a unique, hard to spell, or hard to pronounce name.