The Task of Naming Your Baby

Everyone wants their baby to be unique. It is understandable that you want your baby's name to reflect your interests, your values, your religion or your heritage. However, there are some things that you need to think about before naming your baby.

Trends come and go. And, although you might think that you are the first to start the trend, it is quite unlikely that you actually did. I knew a woman who said that she named her child "KYLEE," because she thought that it was not that common. However, a quick check with the Social Security administration would have given her more accurate information. By the time her child entered first grade, there were three children that she knew with that name.... ... and they were all in her school. You must ask your self, will you like the name, even if it goes out of style? Will you still like the name if it grows in popularity? Some parents use an alternate spelling. "Katelyn" is such a popular name in the USA. However, there are at least twelve different ways to spell this name. Be careful; however, not to make the spelling too difficult. This will lead to many mispronunciations which will ultimately lead to the child's embarrassment. If you are spelling your child's name according to a particular culture, then, it is easier to explain. But, the justification: "My parents just wanted to be different," rarely impresses the child, his/her peers or the teacher.

Be careful when you name your child after movie and/or television characters. Remember that they won't always be popular and your child might have to explain this to *everyone* that he/she meets. Besides, people might not know or understand why your child is named such a name. While this movie, television show, etc might be important to you, it might not have the same importance to your child.

Think of your last name. While a girl might very well change her last name, "John Johnson," or "Teresa Tracy," will be challenging for some people.

Make use of middle names. In some cultures middle names are plentiful. In others, they are rare. In America, they are a way to give your child a quite common first name, but make his/her name unique by the middle name. "John" is quite the common name. If you put a middle name such as "Amiel," "Lazlo," "Diego," "Kylor," or Maxwell," it can make the name less common. Of course, in the above examples, cultures were being intertwined , also.

Remember that the child will have peers. There might be names that you think are quite cute, yet they have led to a multitude of teasing. Also, remember that peers are prone to shortening a first name, even when you don't like it. You might love the name Alexander and never want anyone to call your child Alex. But, the chances of people shortening his name are great, despite your protest.

Sometimes it is important for parents to preserve a specific culture by naming their child a popular name from that culture. This should be the accepted norm for people who adopt a child from a culture other than the one in which they live. There are some names that are common to many cultures. Sites like:

www.babyname.com

www.babynameworld.com

And many others can help you find a good name for your child. There are many names, thus, I am sure that you will find a few that you will like. Also, you could put two names together. I know some parents who adopted their daughters from China. One daughter is named "Ellamei," and the other is named "Haili." "Mei" and "Li," are Chinese names for girls.

Make a list of acceptable first and middle names. That will make it easy for you to mix and match the names and decide on your favorite.

Enjoy your baby and the new name that you have chosen for him/her. This is one of the first of many decisions that you will make. Also, remember that most children don't like their name growing up. So, if your child find his/her name either too common or too odd, remember, he will probably grow out of it. Don't worry. You can always find someone who has made worse naming mistakes than you have.