How to Pick the Right Name for Your Baby

With celebrities, like Gwyneth Paltrow selecting Apple for her daughter, to David Duchovny and Tea Leoni naming their son Kyd, some non-celebrity mothers have opted to do the same.

Let's face it, some celebrity names actually are unique in a good way. Nicole Richie and Joel Madden named their daughter Harlow. This particular names initially struck me a "another weird celebrity name" but I actually love it now.

Same can be said about Demi Moore and Bruce Willis' decision to name either three daughters Rumor, Scout and Tallulah. I am a fan of the book "To Kill a Mockingbird" so Scout was not all that weird for me. Tallulah did not strike me a weird either, because I had heard that name before and we have a county named that in my state, so it was not uncommon to me. However, the name Rumor is a weird first name. Could any of us non-celebrities get away with a name like this in the real world- both in school and as a working adult? Since Rumor's parents are who they are, her first name has probably never been an issue.

One thing to consider when selecting what you will name your baby is the baby. Think about down the road when he or she is starting to attend school or as an adult in the working environment. Imagine your child at his or her first day at kindergarten. Is their name so unusual that teasing will be sure to happen. Even with the normal names of Michael, John, Elizabeth and Jennifer - children will find a way to tease kids, but why make it easier by picking a type of fruit for your child's first name.

Imagine that your job is to interview potential candidates for a job. If you were reviewing resumes to set up an interview with a possibly new hire, and you have a few applications- one is named Apple, one named John, one named Blanket (as in Prince Michael Jackson II) and one named Moxie Crimefighter (as Penn Jillette and his wife chose to name their daughter). If you could only select one or two people to interview, regardless of their qualifications, realistically, would John not be in that list?

I have a few friends who work in Human Resources. Some of them have said how when a resume comes across their desk and the name on the resume is bizarre, they admit to sometimes passing judgment and not proceeding any further in reviewing the applicants' qualification. Although they should give equal time reviewing all applications, regardless of the name, it does not always happen. Unfortunately this happens.

I tend to love the names that are common, but not oversaturated. My first name was a popular name the year I was born. I attended a small school - only 25 kids in my third grade class. Because my name was popular, I had two other girls in my class with the same first name. The three of us all had different variations of the spelling of our name, but it was the same first name.

When I selected my son's first name, I had a few picked out. I wanted to select a name that was not unusual or hard to spell. Who wants to have to spell out their name over and over again because people are not familiar with it? It is bad enough that some last names require you to spell it out in order for someone to be able to spell it - why make it even harder with an out of the ordinary first name.

While celebrities can name their kids anything, chances are your children, as well as mine, are going to have to work for a living. Why give them disadvantages from the get go?