Baby Names: The Art of Choosing A Name
CHOOSING A BABY NAME
Choosing a baby name is a very personal and precious undertaking for new parents. It's amazing how the mere mention of a name conjures up an image.
It might be memories from the first boy you ever kissed, the boss from hell in your first job or the name of your first school friend. Names have so many different meanings for different people and it's impossible to please everyone with your baby name choice.
When you find out you are pregnant you instantly start thinking about names. You've usually had the conversation many times before with friends, "well, if I had a baby girl, I would call her ...". When you are pregnant many hours are spent surfing websites to see where your chosen names rank or simply to view the top lists to see what's popular or find more unusual names. When I was pregnant someone once said to me, if you have a name you like keep saying it over and over again as this is what you do when you're a parent!
FACTORS TO CONSIDER
There are many factors to consider when choosing a baby name. Do you want your baby to have a traditional name such as Elizabeth, which has stood the test of time or are you considering a more modern name such as Evie which is emerging up through the baby name rankings? Is your preference for a popular name such as Emma or are you wanting to stand out from the crowd by choosing a more unusual baby name such as Ellianna? T
There are many books and websites which list an array of baby names and meanings for you to consider. Whilst it is a time consuming exercise to read through all the names and meanings it is often an enjoyable one which conjures up many images as you read through the names. Research shows expectant Mums spend more time on the internet researching baby girl names than baby boy names.
BABY NAMES AND MEANINGS
Baby names and their meanings often have social, historical or biblical connotations. Parents-to-be also have to consider if a family tradition is going to be continued or whether they would prefer a name which suits the current trends. The majority of baby names are undoubtedly religious inspired such as Matthew or John, but other name categories becoming more popular take their inspiration from precious stones, such as Jade or flowers, such as Lily.
Our inspiration for the name Molly came from an old vintage morris minor car we used to own. I remember when she was born a friend said, "you can't call her that, you used to have a car with the same name!"
It's funny, when I was pregnant first time around with Molly we only had this girls name chosen. Our choices for boys were undecided so we were glad she was a girl. Second time around the situation was reversed, our boy's names were solid and our baby girl names wavered. Fortunately, second time around we had a boy.
With each pregnancy I always kept the names I had a closely guarded secret. I didn't really want the names I had chosen to be scrutinised just yet by others. Any name a Mom-to-be might suggests before the birth of a baby is sure to conjure up an image with someone and everyone always has their own opinion. "No, you can't possibly call them Smedley. I once worked for a guy with that name and he was such a chauvanist, he had no respect at all for women!
Names are a very personal thing and I have heard horror stories of other Mums thinking their name had been 'stolen' by a friend or family member as they called their child the same name. After hearing stories such as these imagine my concern when at 8 months pregnant with my first born, my best friend called me up and told me the happy news she was 3 months pregnant and insisted she wanted to tell me the names they had already chosen. I was absolutely delighted at her news as this meant our two babies would be close in age but I was adament I didn't want her to tell me her choice of names. I just didn't want to know them. My baby was going to be the first one born and what if, on the off chance we had chosen the same names! It just would have been such an awkward situation. What happens if they were the same, she might have accused me of stealing her baby name even though myself and my husband already had it on our list! However, she insisted on reciting her list of names and when she reached the end I breathed a huge sigh of relief as thankfully, our baby name choices were different.
If names are kept a closely guarded secret until the birth of your baby, then pregnant mums can avoid uncessessary stressful encounters. It's funny, everyone always has an opinion on names before your baby is born and then as soon as the little one arrives, attention turns to them and people's thoughts and opinions fade into insignificance as they cuddle and caress your new baby. Whatever baby name you choose and however long it takes you to finally agree on a baby name, you will choose one which is right for you and your baby. Enjoy the experience of choosing a name, it's an important one as it's a lifetime decision and one of the first things you do as you start your journey into parenthood.
To view our full range of baby shower invitations click here or alternatively check out our baby gender article to know if you will be choosing a name for a boy or girl.
