Choosing a name
Categories: Newborns, Pregnancy & birth, Resources
Picking a name for a new baby is not as easy as it might seem. Sure, some people have it easy -- their first born son is always named Humphrey or daughters' names always start with M -- and some people have the name picked out even before they hit puberty. But for the rest of us, it can be a nerve-wracking, marriage-wrecking experience.My wife gave birth last Monday afternoon to a baby boy (9 pounds, 4 ounces; 20.25 inches) and we still didn't have a name for him. I was supposed to pick the name, but none of the ones I picked -- River, Tuolumne, Alder -- passed the mother-in-law test. (If she didn't like the name, she wasn't going to take care of it.) Even my son changed his recommendation from Firebaby to William Shakespeare Sinasohn (which has a nice ring to it, but my wife had issues with the name William.)
Girl's names are actually easier, I think -- had he been a girl, this one would have been named Tenaya. Finding the right boy's name, though, was a real challenge. I wanted something unusual and representative of my love for nature and the Sierras in particular (my first son was supposed to be named Redwood, but that got over-ruled too.) My rule of thumb is that if you can think of a famous person or more than one non-famous person with the name, then it was out (unless the famous person was someone really cool.)
So I spent a lot of time on-line looking for the right name, and I thought others might be interested in the resources I used. First off was the Name Voyager which I relied on heavily to check popularity. Even if you're not worried about how popular your kid's name is, it's still pretty darn cool. You start typing a name and you see the popularity of all the matching names over time.
Next up is Nymbler, "your personal baby name assistant". With Nymbler, you put in some names you like or are interested in and the program uses those as inspiration to recommend other names. You can mark names as favorites or block the ones you don't like. Clicking on a suggested name gives you information about the name's background and popularity and offers other names that sound similar or have a similar background.
Lastly, I spent a fair bit of time at the iVillage site, using their QuickFind tool. It lets you search for names by their meanings. They also have lists of names associated with famous people or places broken down by categories like Musicians, World Leaders, and Lakes and Rivers. Also very helpful are their message boards where a lot of people who are really into names hang out.
If you know of any other resources, feel free to share them in the comments.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Amy 5-09-2008 @ 9:48AM
My litmus test for names, if you can't say, "Dr. Firstname Lastname, please come to the ER stat!" with a straight face, it's out. Also, if you can't say, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States, Firstname Lastname," it won't work, either. Or, "Nobel Prize winning Physicist, Firstname Lastname's research will revolutionize science as we know it," works, too.
However, if a name sounds like a stripper (I know a family who has a girl named Satin Sheets, for God's sake - first name Satin, last name Sheets), or a pimp, or anyone who you might try to buy drugs from, the name is out.
I know a woman named Tinea - but it's pronounced Tenaya. You're aware that Tinea is the fungus that causes ringworm infection, right? Yeah, neither were her parents. I'm just saying, in case you have another girl someday... May not be the best choice... Kids being cruel and all...
Congratulations on the birth of your son!
Amy @ http://prettybabies.blogspot.com
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Christina 5-09-2008 @ 10:12AM
I agree with Amy. I like unusual and even some common names but then I think would I elect so & so as president? Not that I except my kids to be a physician or president of the US but I mean Apple? It is really hard for me to take that name seriously. Even more common names seem to be hard to take seriously.
I heard a report on NPR recently that names can actually determine your child's level of success to some degree (or so the study said...) Basically at one point after George Washington was president there were something like 20 congressional delegates name George Washington something or another. That there people reached some level of success because people identified with the name as someone successful in life.
For me and I like to think I am very open minded it makes it harder to take someone with a certain type of name seriously. In college there were twin brothers born to hippy parents that worked in our library. The one boy was Sunshine and the other Rainbow. I could just never look past their unusual names. They were very nice intelligent boys but it was hard to take them seriously.
I am not saying go with names you do not like because you think it will make your child more successful or accepted for that matter but perhaps finding a name that is slightly mainstream is okay too!
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Meagan 5-09-2008 @ 12:22PM
She didn't like Alder? I can see not liking River, just because, hey River Tam's a GIRL but Alder's pretty popular these days. I think it's presumptuous for a grandparent to claim a say in naming a kid anyway. She already got to name your wife.
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caitlin 5-09-2008 @ 1:53PM
I've also considered River to be more of a boy's name since I have a couple of friends named after River Phoenix.
Anyway, congrats on the arrival of your little one, Roger. I know you and the rest of your family must be thrilled to finally meet him. Sometimes it's just really hard to know which names will fit until you actually meet your baby. We ended up changing the middle name we had planned for our son after he was born, because he just didn't seem like a "Paul Ian". We ended up changing his middle name to my grandfather's name, because it seemed like a better fit.
Meagan 5-09-2008 @ 2:23PM
I know a kid named after River Phoenix as well and realize it is a boy's name as well... what I meant was more that people are more sensitive about boy's names that are also girl's names than the other way around, so it wasn't really surprising to me that the MIL had a problem with it. All of the names Roger mentioned are perfectly decent names.
Jill 5-09-2008 @ 12:28PM
You go to a local playground, yell the intended name loudly, then count the number of children who come. More than one? Avoid, Avoid, Avoid!
Do we get to know what name you chose?
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Kat 5-09-2008 @ 2:00PM
I don't think grandparent's should get much say in picking names....but thats just my opinion.
So what's the name?? You can't leave us hanging like that!
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Michelle 5-09-2008 @ 3:37PM
Congratulations!
9 lbs 4 oz? OUCH!
Now your daughter has 2 boys to boss around!
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ninainindia 5-09-2008 @ 10:26PM
Congrats! Now I'm very curious about the name.
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PGS 5-10-2008 @ 9:07PM
I know boys named Otter and Cedar, both teenagers. I think Cedar fits your criteria, I also have a friend who loves Yosemite, makes annual trips there and all. Her son's middle name is Merced.
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Maxie 5-11-2008 @ 12:44PM
I work in Human Resources, so I have an additional criteria.
Would this name make my co-workers and I wonder while reviewing applications:
"Who would DO that to a child?"
"Good gracious, can you imagine having to live with this name?"
"Oh, my word, I hope that she got this name through marriage!!"
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