Posted on 04/16/2011 11:46:10 PM PDT by TheDingoAteMyBaby
There are few things more thrilling in life than having your first baby. But newbie baby namers are prone to making some mistakes that more experienced name choosers are able to avoid.
If you're choosing a baby name for the first time, don't make one of these seven common mistakes:
1. Believing that the names that were popular -- and creative -- when you were a kid still have the same status.
Name tastes have changed radically over the last decade or two. Goodbye, Jessica and Josh, hello Layla and Serenity, Landon and Tristan -- all top 100 names.
2. Thinking that the playground rules are the same as they were back in the day.
Kids no longer get teased for having names that are unique, androgynous, exotic or hard to pronounce or spell. Rather, name diversity is celebrated.
3. Letting your parents have too much say in the baby's name.
Baby names can undoubtedly be a fun topic of family conversation. But the person who changes the diapers at 3 a.m. gets to name the baby.
4. Clinging too tightly to the name you always swore you'd give your first child.
A lot of people -- let's face it: girls -- spend their childhoods coming up with fanciful names they want to give their children. But if that name you always loved has suddenly become uber-popular or clashes with your new last name, let it go.
5. Caring too much about how cool the name choice makes you look.
Sure, pregnancy is cooler than it used to be, with cuter clothes and celebrity role models. But putting a name's cool factor above all else won't make little Bronx's life very easy.
6. Not considering subsequent children's names.
First-time namers are likely to think about, well, their first child's name, but if you name Baby No. 1 Tallulah, then you pretty much rule out Lula, Lila, Delilah, Sula, Tally and maybe even Louis for subsequent children.
7. Not realizing that there's going to be a real live baby ... and child ... and, eventually, grownup on the other end of the naming decision.
We get it that it can seem like your pregnancy is all about you. Sometimes, it can almost come as a shock when an actual baby emerges in the delivery room, instantly asserting her own needs and personality. Try to keep that little (and eventually big) person in mind when you choose the name she'll live with forever.
When we named our kids we decided to skip the trendiness; aside from one very popular Biblical name, I have never met a kid among all the Nevaehs, Bishops, and Pipers with the same name as one of mine.
I call them “Ouija Board” names. Seem like a bunch of random letters to me.
It could have been worse.
She could have been called Suk won Jo
I once had a CSR named Panda Cox. She married a Brown.
Dated girls named "Bright", "Charity", "Erma"....
This is true. Unfortunately too many families decide to perpetuate the names Booger, Bubba, and Tater
Someone mentioned the name Junior.
I am proud to bear the moniker. I come from a long line of Juniors. It’s kind of a badge of honor in my family to be called Junior
I call my little brother Junior Jr. LoL
We named our daughter Kehaulani- and we live in West Texas. I’ve not heard any reports of other kids making fun of her name. The family calls her “KK” (which is also her initials).
The teachers and kids all call her “Kayalanee”. We think it’s a beautiful name, she likes it, and we never have to explain which Kehaulani we are looking for!
If we’d had a boy, we were planning on naming him after his grandfathers- “Clark Alvie”. :)
Those aren’t names, they’re nicknames. Those “rednecks” likely have a very historic family name with three surnames, like Carter Randolph Wrenn or something.
Antigone Porphyrios Betsy-Wayne Ng
A common mistake is to sound out the whole namefirst, middle and lastand never consider that people are not usually going to say the middle name when they say the name. It’s good to consider the initials, too, and any possible nicknames or shortened versions of the name.
I would avoid “Jeeves.”
Mle?
My wife and I view with great amusement the names given babies in our area printed in the local rag every week. For a while it seemed there was an endless amount of babies named Kayden, or Ayden, or Caden, or Bailee, Baylee, Kaylee,etc. In short, all the supposedly liberated new parent baby-namers followed the herd. We both like traditional names. They never go out of style.
Was her last name Mockingbird?
A friend whose kids are are the same age(s) as mine, named them with it in mind: what will his name look like on a law firm letterhead.
I recently went skiing and I can’t believe the name the parents gave to their kid, they put his name on his skis, his name was ‘Rental’. - Steve Martin
I had a girlfriend in high school whose last name was Dicker. I don’t recall anyone using it as a straight line.
I thought mine was 'Jesus Christ.' Then one day my dad said, "Dammit, get in here." and I said, "No Dad, I'm Jesus Christ!"
And before I forget, I knew a man named
Forney Huckeba
Of course, everyone referred to him as “Horny”
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