Top Tips for Choosing Your Baby’s Name
While some decisions regarding the arrival of your baby seem to come quite naturally, others are more difficult to make. Most notably? Choosing a name for your little boy or girl. The name you choose for your baby will be with them for the rest of their life, so it’s no wonder parents struggle when it comes to naming their children. If you and your partner are struggling to find a name you both agree on, don’t panic. Take a look at these top tips for choosing your baby’s name in no time.
Avoid Trends
There are always certain names that are incredibly popular during different times. Lots of people choose their babies’ names based on popular movie stars or music artists when their little one is born. While this may seem like a great idea at the time, you could change your mind further down the road when trends start to shift.
It’s also important to avoid trends if you don’t want your baby having the same name as many of their soon to be classmates. Popular trends apart from naming your baby after a popular movie star or music artist include common names with unique misspellings. While this may feel fun and unique at the time, just remember your little one will be spelling that name out for the rest of their life.
Embrace Classic Names
Lots of people abandon the idea of naming their baby after a classic name due to the fear of it being outdated. This couldn’t be further from the truth! Each year classic names are recycled and make a great fit for babies around the globe. Instead of following the trends, why not be a trendsetter and use a classic name you love for your little boy or girl? It may become popular again in years to come!
Take a Look At Your Family Tree
When it comes to naming your child, it’s always great to have some sort of back story or meaning behind the name. What name could be better for your little one than a name of a member of your family? While the most common usage of names comes from parents or grandparents, why not go further down your family tree to see if there is a name you love from a great-great-great-grandfather? Naming your child after a member of your family is not only a great way to commemorate your loved one but also provide meaning to their name.
Think About Meanings
If you’re struggling to pick a name that works for your child, why not take a different approach and look up meanings instead? For example, if you google the name for “bringer of light”, you land on the name Lucas. This is a great way to name your child and shows that you really thought about the meaning behind it.
Names You Want to Avoid
A good exercise when picking out a name for your baby is listing out all the names that you aren’t a fan of. Whatever the reason, there are names that certain people just don’t like. This isn’t a problem! Make sure you and your partner write all of these names down so you don’t end up choosing one and being let down when your partner doesn’t want to use it.
Nicknames
Whether parents like it or not, nicknames are an inevitable part of your little one growing up. Whether you or your family start calling your child by a nickname or whether it’s placed on them by their classmates, lots of people have multiple names they go by in life. Think about the possible nicknames the name you love could be turned into. You may just find that you like the nickname just as much as their original name!
Think About The Initials
When it comes to naming children, the last thing you want to do is pick a first and middle name that don’t work well when it comes to initials. Make sure you write out the full initials when considering a name. You’ll want to avoid vulgar terms or anything else that could negatively affect your little one as they grow in life.
The Middle Name is Important Too!
If you keep umming and ahhing about your child’s first name, why not take the pressure off of you and your partner and focus on their middle name instead? Decide whether or not you want a middle name that sounds phonetically pleasing with the first or whether you’d like to honor a family member with the middle name. This is a great way to commemorate your beloved parents or grandparents. What greater gift could you give someone than naming your precious baby after them?
Say it Out Loud
Too often when couples try deciding on baby names they only look at how they’re written on paper. Make sure you’re actually saying each name out loud when trying to decide which one to give your child. Some names that don’t look great on paper may surprise you as being beautiful when you say them out loud and vice versa. This will also help you figure out whether or not a first name you like and your last name just don’t jive.
Google is Your Friend
If you’ve hit a wall and don’t know where else you can turn to - consult Google. There are tons of websites out there that have valuable resources for parents when trying to name their children. They contain information about the most popular baby names each year, the meanings behind baby names and more. This is a great way to get your brain juices flowing and may even help you identify a name you hadn’t thought of yet!
Don’t Stress Too Much
While it’s ideal to have a baby name picked out before you give birth, try not to stress too much. There are plenty of parents out there who still hadn’t picked out a baby name days after their little one arrived. This actually helped in some cases as they realized their child was better off with a different name after seeing them in the flesh. Take it easy and make sure to have fun with the process. Happy naming!