Added: 10/07/2005 |
Baby Names Popular Today and AlwaysWhen the time came to decide on a name for my first child, I found myself with an interesting decision to make. Should I select a name from the baby names popular in society or choose something more unique and individual? A popular baby name would assure my son that he is easily recognized in school and have few if any problems relating to that name in the future. A more unique name, one not to be found among baby names popular at the time, may cause problems to begin with in school, but would provide my son with a more independent identity to cherish later in life. But which should I choose? I went through baby names top 100, which can be found in naming books and on various websites. I also later discovered that the Department of Social Security maintains a list of baby names popular in each year, dating all the way back to 1880, and spent time perusing that. In the end, my husband and I decided on a method tried and true throughout the decades. Our son has his father's first name, a common name which still maintains a unique spelling. His middle name is also a form of his grandfather's first name, something we chose for both honorary and aesthetic reasons.
We used the following ideas to reach our decision, and these same ideas may be helpful in reaching yours.
What traits did we want to emphasis about our child? We made a list of baby names popular for different meanings. Strength, generosity, individuality, leadership, sensitivity, these were just a few traits we determined we hoped our son would embody. From that list we selected baby names popular that we each liked. Then we moved back to baby names top 100 and selected four to five out of that top group that we each preferred simply for the way they sounded, or the way they were spelled.
We then created a list of family names that we would like to consider using, and the reasons we liked each one. We listed the relatives we would like to honor by having our son as their namesake, and even the odds of us having other children that might benefit from the use of their name. Baby names popular in our family were also considered. It was certainly not an easy task!
Once all our lists were complete, we each compiled our own by preference and sat down to discuss the similarities and differences to be found on each list. Trust me, there were plenty of each. Deleting any baby names popular with just one of us, but absolutely despised by the other, we narrowed our list to about ten to fifteen of our favorites. Selecting our mutual favorites from those, we had about five to ten to use in our final decision. Once our ultimate selection was made and agreed upon, it truly seemed as if the name had just been sitting out there waiting for us to choose it. It was as if there was really no other that would have fit so well.
For each family this time of decision will end with different results, and none of them should be considered wrong. A name is a parent's first gift to their child, whether it is a family name, a popular baby name, or something completely new and different. The journey to reaching that decision can be confusing and filled with questions, but even the journey itself is an experience to be treasured.
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