Now, some eighteen years later, Ashley is still one of the most popular baby girl names. (Some things just never die!) Also in the top ten are the names “Madison”, “Samantha”, “Emma”, “Emily”, “Alexis”, “Abigail”, “Hannah”, “Sarah” (again spelled a million ways!) and “Olivia”.
There are many reasons way parents choose a name. First, it is the most important thing a parent can give to a child; his identity. Some get serious with naming their children; they incorporate first or second names from each side of the family and combine them to make a new name for a new baby and some parents are comedians. You know that anyone who names their child Luther had to be drinking!
The phrase “it’s all in a name” has proven real in the past. Aren’t’ all cheerleaders named “Ashley”, “Brooke”, or “Haley”? The different ways of spelling names really does require a large amount of creativity. Did you know that the name Cadin has at least twenty-nine other known spellings? This includes spellings used to name boys and girls. That’s another thing; if your name is “Kelly”, doesn’t that always mean that you are a girl? What about the marriage license announcements in the Sunday papers? You’re not the only one who thinks they’ve missed voting on an important issue when the two people getting married are “Sherry and Judy”.
Thinking ahead about the most popular baby girl names does have other advantages you can help give your daughter. People actually get and don’t get jobs simply because of their names. Can you really have a doctor who’s last name is Failor? (Pronounced failure) What about the banker whose name is “Owen Monie” or the real estate agent “Robin Emblind”. These are areas of concern that don’t really surface until later in life. Of course, “Paige Turner” would make a wonderful librarian or writer. You get the picture-right? There are some rare instances where the holy sacrament of marriage can actually play a part in the oddity of someone’s name. Girls are the only ones of concern here—for right now anyway. If this is foreseen as a problem or, if the woman decides that her maiden name is “just far too important in this town to drop completely”, then the hyphenated version is widely accepted as a suitable compromise.
Although you may have picked one of the popular baby girl names, kids are cruel and can really make fun of any name in the world now. Don’t worry about naming your child, or not naming your child, the way you wish due to fears that may lie years down the road, or may not exist at all except in your head. After all, if you want to name your daughter Wendy, by all means, go ahead…just hope she doesn’t fall in love with and marry Mr. Windblows. (Wendy Windblows=where the wind blows!:))