Choosing a Meaningful Baby Name

One of the hardest decisions you will make when having a baby is what to name the child. It's a choice that is wrought with responsibility. The name you choose for your baby will be with them through childhood, high school dances, college applications and into job interviews. How do you choose a meaningful name for your baby?

Here are a few tips to make choosing a little easier:

1) Define your Meaning
What's meaningful to one person isn't necessarily meaningful to another, so first define meaningful for yourself (and your partner, if necessary). Use that as a basis for making a list of potential baby names.

2) Think to the Future

Having a cute name might be, well, cute when you are 3 or 4, but what about when your baby is an adult? Don't choose a name for your baby that won't fit into a professional environment as an adult. And if you want your baby's name to be Timmy or a Donny, use a longer version as the official name (ie - Timothy for Timmy and Donald for Donny) and use the cutesy version as a nickname.

3) Consider the past

One nice thing you can do is choose a family name for your baby. Naming baby after a parent, grandparent or favorite aunt or uncle gives the baby a name with a wonderful, meaningful history. Some people even choose to use a family last name as a first name for their baby.

4) Check out the books

There are dozens of baby naming books out there and some are better than others. Check out your local library to try out a few without shelling out the big bucks to own them. If you find one that is something you and your significant other really like, then by all means invest in a copy.

When looking through the books, always check the meaning of the name. If you find a meaning that piques your interest then that name might be a great name to choose for your new baby.