Choosing a boy or girl’s baby name is a bit of a fine art – but the actual process of choosing a baby name is not something easily taught. Individual taste, impact of the surname when said with the baby name, current trends, names already used by friends/family and geographical location – all of these factors (and more) play a part in the choice. But we all want to choose the best baby name for our child – how to get it right?
Here are some tips on making the process a little easier – as for the final decision, well that is down to you.
Have a plentiful supply – buy yourself some good baby name books. You can use them in the future or even give to friends – they won’t go to waste. There are plenty of good titles out there. Here are a few to get you started: The Penguin Book of Baby Names, The Name Book (10,000 names!), A Dictionary of Baby Names (Oxford Paperback Reference)
Beware of fads – there are lots of books out there on ‘cool’ boy baby names, or books on ‘hot’ or ‘not’ girls names. But think how these names will sound in ten years time!
Do the professor test – this is my wife’s favourite. She likes to sound a baby name with the title of ‘Professor’ and our family name. Suddenly options such as Professor Tinkerbell Galvin for a baby girl’s name sound very wrong.
Don’t try to be too original – sometime there is wisdom in crowds. Take a look at baby name charts to see how popular your outline choices are (see below for links). SiteYou’ll often be surprised how high up the chart your ‘inspired’ choice will be – but don’t be put off. Equally, if a name is not in the top 100 there’s probably a good reason.
Think regional – if you have strong cultural roots, take a look at names from your area. Irish baby names, Welsh baby names, Scottish baby names, French baby names…..something enduring with a special connection to you and your ancestry can work very well.
School yard rules – don’t go crazy with the name – imagine your young child going to school and getting called names – don’t burden them with something that will get them in trouble in the school yard!
She who must be obeyed…will be! – if you are like me and are a Dad trying to choose a baby name and you feel strongly about name choice – remember that your wife will have strong feelings on the decision too. Try not to get too attached to special names because inevitably you won’t agree on all names, and you may experience what happened with our first born where our good friends announced their child’s name a few months before ours arrived and we learned they had also come across the unique and ‘rare’ name that we had secretly chosen! So the final piece of advice must be:
Always have a back up.
Happy Naming!
Graham
Free Resources:
National Statistics Baby Names (UK Site)
Popular Baby Names – Social Security Administration (US)
Babynames.co.uk – random baby name chooser (in case you are really stuck!)
Books:
The Penguin Book of Baby Names
The Name Book (10,000 names!)
A Dictionary of Baby Names (Oxford Paperback Reference)
The Celtic Baby Names Book
