The Great Baby Name Debate -

Home
>
Parenting
>
The Great Baby Name Debate

The Great Baby Name Debate

Winifred or Willow? Thomas or Troy? The name you choose for your child will last a lifetime. Whether you're looking for something original that will stand out from the crowd or a traditional name that people will instantly recognize, choosing a name for your new baby is a huge responsibility.

It goes without saying that you as the parents must like the name. Names that hold bad associations for you are out (Jeremy was a bore at school, you can't stand Bella in the Tweenies), and if you consider your own name uninteresting, you may wish to choose something more exotic - or vice versa.

Think carefully about combinations of first name and surname. Are they compatible? You may like a mixture of an unusual first name with a more familiar surname (Zara Phillips), but be careful about rhyming the two names - Mark Clarke won't thank you for it. Beware initials that could cause hilarity to your child's future friends - Ethan Thomas or Peter Oliver Ogilvie won't be joining in the giggles! Trying to be clever can also cause grief - Poppy Fields or Summer Winters may sound cute at the time, but can eventually grate on everyone's nerves!

If she's called Grace, will she turn out to be butter-fingered? Will Maximus grow into a Mr. Puniverse? Is Jordan a boy or a girl? What will Elizabeth grow up as? Lizzie? Beth? Liza? And as for Ashleigh, Ashley, Ashlee, Ashlea and Ashlie - all in circulation at the moment - how is anyone supposed to find a name that is both special and appropriate?

Fortunately, sources of inspiration can be found everywhere. You can avoid the throng of Chloes, Emilys, Jacobs and Jacks topping the baby name charts for the past few years, and choose from a huge variety of names collected in specialist books and on the Internet. Some parents prefer biblical names - Rebecca, Abigail, Joshua, Samuel and Joseph are all very popular at the moment. Names inspired by nature include Blossom, Lily or Skye and even Tiger for boys. Place names (Paris, Lamorna), colours (Coral, Ebony), astronomy, music, and sport - all provide a wealth of ideas and choice.

Naming twins presents its own set of challenges. You may wish to link the names in some way using the same first letter (Jack and Jill?) or a theme such as Liberty and Faith, or even similar names like Leo and Eleonora. However, you might end up having two very independent children who don't wish to be connected by name as well as birthday. A less obvious connection involves using different names with similar meanings such as Columba and Jemima (both meaning dove), or Jonathan and Matthew (gift of God).

For those of us who still haven't decided even when the stork delivers, the arrival of your newborn may give you all the inspiration you need! Christmas babies often appear as Noel or Noelle, Natalie or Natasha, nighttime births produce star inspired names such as Stella, Esther or Sterling, and for thankful parents after a difficult birth, Nathaniel (gift of God), Abigail (father's joy) or Miranda (wonderful) might fit the bill.

So whether you plump for Clifford or Condor, Harriet or Harmony, have fun choosing that special name - and with careful thought, your child will grow up bearing a name you can all be proud of!

Claire Kolarova is a busy mother, teacher and webmaster of http://www.littlekidsgamesonline.com, where you can also find baby shower game ideas and resources.

In The News:

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi%3Ff%3D/c/a/2008/10/09/EDLO13EDO9.DTLcid=1254438696ei=kKnvSLOiHqGO6AOFv8S5Bwusg=AFQjCNGu9SMURni6XdJUgniU9nvjfgdiuwWho claims the family policy agenda?/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fSan Francisco Chronicle,nbsp; USAnbsp;-/font nobr15 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1High rates of poverty, divorce, single parenthood and social isolation exaggerate the typical strains of bparenting/b. As a result, the United States has one b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.charlescitypress.com/articles/2008/10/10/news/news09.txtcid=0ei=kKnvSLOiHqGO6AOFv8S5Bwusg=AFQjCNH_GYWjnQPv3PL7one-IdJ54H4IDgbParenting/b video series begins this Sunday/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fCharles City Press,nbsp; United Statesnbsp;-/font nobr1 hour ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1A great bparenting/b resource is being offered to interested families in Charles City. The first five segments of the video series, “Shepherding a Child’s b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20081010/ARTICLES/810101018/1008/SPORTS%3FTitle%3DGive_mom_some_parenting_bookscid=0ei=kKnvSLOiHqGO6AOFv8S5Bwusg=AFQjCNE28eeORGOW8UwVdhjTMhSXtSrckAGive mom some bparenting/b books/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fBlueRidgeNow.com,nbsp;NCnbsp;-/font nobr8 minutes ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1If you are friends with Mom and see Lindsay only in her company, we recommend you find some bparenting/b books and give them to Mom as a Christmas gift, b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html%3Fid%3D7fbc9b87-5851-4062-b62a-3ed817b03342cid=1254838181ei=kKnvSLOiHqGO6AOFv8S5Bwusg=AFQjCNEZrZyq-Va2X173gVL-X6sT2IKTzQimg src=http://news.google.com/news?imgefp=OcvMj0_nK5sJimgurl=a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/4bffca32-8393-4582-a216-f2db7777bafd/fordfocus06.jpg%3Fsize%3Dl width=80 height=80 alt= border=1brfont size=-2Vancouver Sun/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.greatdad.com/tertiary/274/3201/new-car-technology-to-aid-parenting-skills.htmlcid=1254838181ei=kKnvSLOiHqGO6AOFv8S5Bwusg=AFQjCNGjhOBMcfMRVXvTpfBMiUbLvs8OeANew car technology to aid bparenting/b skills/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fGreat Dad,nbsp;Californianbsp;-/font nobrOct 8, 2008/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1There’s also a low-fuel warning which kicks in at 75 miles to empty - in case your children ignore your wise bparenting/b advice and spend more time reveling b.../b/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.minotdailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/519728.html%3Fnav%3D5004cid=1254838181ei=kKnvSLOiHqGO6AOFv8S5Bwusg=AFQjCNFlRKmsPZI8Ui35lOSUnNfE13ht0gbParenting/b and technology — is it protection or control?/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrMinot Daily News/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/007890.htmlcid=1254838181ei=kKnvSLOiHqGO6AOFv8S5Bwusg=AFQjCNHZvSLyEOJ7-gEHe7Q2Ia99GBqYmAMyKey Turns Your Ford Focus into Your Mom/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrPC World/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/3147296/Parents-to-control-how-fast-children-drive.htmlcid=1254838181ei=kKnvSLOiHqGO6AOFv8S5Bwusg=AFQjCNGFhC-oyimq2kJAEq167doTmVZZ0QbParents/b to control how fast children drive/a font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTelegraph.co.uk/nobr/font/fontbrfont size=-1 class=pa href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/car-tech/ford-launches-mykey-parental-controls-for-cars-474055cid=1254838181ei=kKnvSLOiHqGO6AOFv8S5Bwusg=AFQjCNEnwsYv3ldplpY1bvNRK1JVWEBY6gnobrTechRadar.com/nobr/anbsp;- a href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/young-at-the-wheel-and-at-risk/%3Fhpcid=1254838181ei=kKnvSLOiHqGO6AOFv8S5Bwusg=AFQjCNGPzKbtXr_TqMlFIRtyAUEhIqh_mwnobrNew York Times/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?sourceid=navclientie=ISO-8859-1rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-22,GGLG:enncl=1254838181hl=ennobrall 905 news articles/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1584242/a_parenting_odyssey_shouldering_grief_welcoming_joy/cid=0ei=kKnvSLOiHqGO6AOFv8S5Bwusg=AFQjCNGFNv5jVbhimCfGcrs5ZD6QzZHNyAA bParenting/b Odyssey: Shouldering Grief, Welcoming Joy/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fRedOrbit,nbsp;TXnbsp;-/font nobr10 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1Before we could grow accustomed to being the bparents/b of a daughter, we learned that we would lose her. Imagine the highest and lowest moment of your life b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border=0 width= valign=top cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7trtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbrdiv style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1/divdiv class=lha href=http://www.citywebshopper.net/articles/includes/redirect.php?url=http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1584241/parenting_and_professing_in_cancers_shadow/cid=0ei=kKnvSLOiHqGO6AOFv8S5Bwusg=AFQjCNEpHrbWurR1TrflqjapEQZL-cljaAbParenting/b and Professing in Cancer#39;s Shadow/abrfont size=-1font color=#6f6f6fRedOrbit,nbsp;TXnbsp;-/font nobr10 hours ago/nobr/fontbrfont size=-1I always felt tension between doing my brain job (teaching) and doing my heart job (bparenting/b). This tension between bparenting/b and professing has been b.../b/font/div/font/td/tr/table

parenting - Google News