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Keep the following in mind:
- Names are permanent. While they can be legally changed but family and friends will always know the real name. Practice saying it out loud, shouting it across the room or yelling it in frustration. If another mom called her child by that name, what would you think?
- What else does the name mean? When I was considering Elestrin for my second daughter, I looked it up online only to find it's the name of a topical medication used for menopause. Google the name!
- Pop culture names? Be careful with these. If you decide you severely dislike the pop culture reference in the future, will it be a problem?
- If you are going to name your children in a theme, make sure you can agree on enough names in that theme to match the amount of children you hope to have. The Duggars children all have J names. With 19 children, it's a good thing they didn't decide to go with X names. My husband and I decided on Celtic names. His son was named Connor and after our first child was named Morgan (the name I decided on in high school), we decided to stick with Celtic names. We struggled to agree on Alastrin and we joked when pregnant again, that if it were a girl, her name would be baby because we couldn't possibly agree on ANOTHER Celtic girls name. Luckily Liam turned out to be a boy.
- How easy to tease is it? Kids can make fun of ANY name but don't make it easy for them. Think of the first name, the middle name, both together and any of those together with the last name. Ask a few kids between 7-10 to think of a way to tease someone with that name.
You can look for name ideas at Baby Name Train.
Thanks for the follow! Returning the favor :)
ReplyDeleteNames ARE permanent! Both the hubby and I have basic names -- Amy and David. When we started picking out names for our daughters, my husband wanted something simple. And he absolutely refused to spell the names weird. I wanted to spell Haley (our second) different but he didn't want people constantly spelling her name wrong! lol
ReplyDeleteI'm a new follower and Like you on FB!! Visiting from Thirsty for Comments!
Excellent post. I think a lot of people around these parts don't think of some of those things. @Amy I, like your husband am a big believer in common spellings. I think it is better to feel like you didn't quite reach you creative naming potential than to have your child go through their whole life with people misspelling their name.
ReplyDeleteOh goodness, I definitely agree with number one and five. There are tons of parents who I think believe they are being cute, but I don't think they consider what it will be like for that child growing up.
ReplyDeleteHey girl! Thanks for the follow and the comment!! I'm following you back!
ReplyDeleteI have heard some really horrible names and often feel so bad for those kids. I agree you need to really take your time thinking about, saying and using the name over and over again. I think the names we picked for our children are perfect and fit them perfectly. Aidan, Logan and Addison.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great post!
I am a new follower from Pitch It To Me! :)
My last name is Burger. My poor little girls have heard it all! Alexa hopping today.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I argues, I mean thought long and hard about each of our babies names!
ReplyDeleteWe have Ethan Emmitt and Carlee!
I'm stopping by on the Alexa hop - I already follow you! Have a great weekend! :)
ReplyDelete~Erika
Musings From a SAHM
Names are very permanent!! My brother in law was named 'Jeremy' when he was born, but his grandmother started calling him 'Pete', so he legally changed his name...needless to say, everyone still calls him Jeremy.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the spelling thing. Most of the time it doesn't look "creative" or "unique", it looks like you were a little drunk when you were filling out the birth certificate. I know a girl that happened to. Her legal name is Cherly (instead of Cheryl).
ReplyDeleteMy maiden name was Coffey. I took lots of crap.
ReplyDeleteHopped over from the Alexa Hop. Please visit me at http://theoldblockhouse.blogspot.com/2011/05/lets-go-to-movies.html
Great thoughts everyone thanks. I can identify with the last name thing. Mine is Garber and was always changed to Gerber (as in baby food) or Garbage. Unfortunately you can't change your last name but you can make sure the first name with the last name doesn't make it worse.
ReplyDeleteAs for spellings, I think a little variety is fine but it can get crazy. I had a Meaghann once. I think Megan and Meghan are enough. Sheesh.
Picking baby names is such a daunting task! It was pretty easy with my daughter, but boy names were so, SO hard!
ReplyDeleteStopping by from the Alexa hop - I am a new follower!
http://momvantage.net
All good things to think about. I didn't go too crazy with my kids names. My only them was to have their names end in -er which was actually harder for girls names than you would think.
ReplyDeleteStopping by from the Alexa hop. I'm a new follower.
Oh boy, don't get me started on this topic. LOL. We disagreed on all of our kids' names: we have three. The main thing I insisted on is one of their names (first or middle) had to start with "J". At least the hubby granted that part. Found you on the Alexa hop.
ReplyDeleteThis is an area of HUGE frustration for me. I work at a children's hospital and you wouldn't believe the names we see everyday. We are constantly asking co-workers if they have any idea how to pronounce a name but always end up being wrong. {i better stop myself before I get myself in trouble}
ReplyDeleteFollowing you back!!
All good points when choosing a child's name. Great post!
ReplyDeleteStopping by from the Alexa hop.
Sandy~ French Macaroons
Another important thing to remember are the initials. I know its not popular to have anything monogramed anymore, but still you don't want the initials to spell out anything you wouldn't want put on something.
ReplyDeleteLike my friend Robin was considering Patricia Marie. Which is a very nice name. But when you factor in that her last name starts with an S, it isn't so nice. She would grow up with the initials PMS. Not good for any little girl or growing woman.
Thankfully, she had a little boy!
I've always been interested in names and their meanings but in the end I didn't have kids, so the two names I finally decided on won't get used.
ReplyDeleteIt seems strange to me but I understand there are some people who have a hard time thinking of names, so if anyone wants to use my picks go ahead:
Boy = Douglas. After Tommy Douglas, the greatest Canadian! And it's a good solid name, neither super common, trendy, or weird. It won't get co-opted into a girl's name like Jamie, Dylan, etc. I think boys like that.
Girl = Lenore. After my favourite singer/songwriter, Leonard Cohen, and because it's a romantic, elegant Victorian name, but still easy to spell and pronounce. Lennie is a easy nickname for a girl who likes a more tomboyish name.
Hi there
ReplyDeleteJust returning the favour and following you back from the hop! And I voted for you on the fence too! Thanks for voting for me!
Hope you have a lovely week!
Jill @ Creating my way to Success
http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/
Maggie... I can imagine you must have a large amount of hard to pronounce names although I don't mind unusual names when they aren't too crazy.
ReplyDeleteWakela... SO true. Although sometimes it's gettied married that makes it worse. My mom's initials were BAM which is bad enough but when she got married, they became BAG.
Fiona... I like the name Lenore, very pretty. Sorry that you aren't able to use your names.
Jill... Thanks.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I'm following you back now...you're almost at 500! I'm so jealous!
ReplyDeleteNancy
http://thatsoundslikecrazy.blogspot.com
very useful post! i kinda wish my parents had spent more time on my name but oh well...i'm stuck with it now! lol
ReplyDeleteGuess we all want to change our names at some point, even if we like them ... and lately I want to change my blog name daily lol
ReplyDeleteGuest from the Alexa blog hop - hope you know how it all works ...
my take is to visit everyone ... and then when you are done - go and visit them all again :)
http://www.bywordofmouthmusings.com/2011/05/its-museless-and-not-amusing-but-it-is.html
I totally agree! I always feel bad for kids who are stuck with horrible names their entire life, all because mom and dad didn't think it through.
ReplyDeleteStopping by from the alexa hop!
http://ourjacobsenfamily.blogspot.com/2011/05/adorable-quiet-books.html
This is an interesting post. I think it's a good idea to think about how easy it is to tease a name, but all names are teasable! After all -- they all rhyme with crazy made up words. Ah well....
ReplyDeleteAnother thing to consider is how many kids will have the same name. Your child's lovely name may end up with an initial permanently attached to the end of it. ie your child's name then becomes: Emma R!
I wanted to choose not so common names with my kids. When I first seen the movie Liar Liar (before I was a teen) I wanted to name my daughter Audrey. To me, its a not so common name. Me, my brother, and my boyfriend, all have common names. Mine being Danielle and my brother's and boyfriends are both Chris. Very common. My BF was actually friends with a girl named Rainbow Morningstar! I went to school with a girl named Gimmie Hamm and she got teased a lot.
ReplyDeleteI'm a new follower from the Alexa Hop. I have a hop on my page as well if you'd like to link up, please do!
www.adeliciousobsession.com
Your list is almost exactly what we went through when we named our sons...
ReplyDeleteI wanted to pop by and let you know that you are the Thirsty for Comments blog of the week this week - please email me at heather@actingbalanced.com with your post for this week and I will amend the post with your current week submission
H.
Totally agree!! Before we named our kids to looked at their initials, possible nicknames, and all sorts of stuff to prevent our kids from being unneccesarily teased when they are older!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you wrote this post. Now all I have to do is share the link...lol. I'm so tired of children being saddled with nonsensical faddish names. A name calls to or points out the characteristics of the bearer...who wants to answer to a name that has no meaning, or as you mentioned above is a medicine?
ReplyDeleteGreat post!