Choosing a Name for Your Baby

Naming a baby can be hard for some parents. It isn't always easy to come up with that perfect name for another human being, one they will likely use for a lifetime. It's hard to know what will suit them without meeting them or learning their personality. The good thing is that most babies end up growing into their name, as they get older it's hard to imagine calling them anything other then what you chose at birth.

Here are some ideas to consider before making a choice to name your little one:

Giving your son the name of your beloved husband may seem like a thoughtful and cute idea but there is also a downfall. Having a junior can be confusing. Even when you use a nickname such as "little..." or "big..." it will likely still be annoying and possibly frustrating for all who know both child and parent. As your baby gets older they may very well be unhappy with their name and sad they don't have their own separate identity. The chosen name may also not suit them especially if is quite dated and has been used for many generations. Another thing to consider is that it is very possible to mix up parent and child when it comes to phone calls, bills, credit reports within families with duplicate names.

What gender comes to mind when the name is read or said aloud? Some names have a strong association towards either sex depending on the situation. While there are many names that truly are unisex there are others that tend to lean in one particular direction and are interpreted as being either a "boy" or "girl" name. There are of course some positives and negatives to choosing a name that is unisex so consider all aspects when going thru the naming process. Unfortunately for those having boys the choices are more limited. Many names that were traditionally male names have switched over to the girl camp and may never fully recover. It seems like the more and more little girls are given "boy" names the quickly they lose their masculinity that they may have once had. This is one of the reasons why you will find almost twice as many girls' names as boys' names when you flip thru a baby naming book.