March 28, 2024

4 Tips For Picking Baby Names

Are you not having any luck finding the ideal name for your baby?  If so, then you are not alone.  Whether you are stressing out over “Sarah” versus “Sara” or fighting over various names with your partner, selecting a name for your baby can be a frustrating but still fun process.  One set of parents named their daughter Havana, not after the city but their favourite restaurant where they happened to go on their first date.  Then their son was named Cairo because they always wanted to visit Egypt and were planning on taking him there on his 16th birthday.  The couple is currently expecting their third child and are considering the following tips to come up with the perfect name for their baby.

Tips For Picking Baby Names

Keep It in The Family

One traditional way of narrowing your choices down is choosing an individual in your family who is very special to you as well as someone who embodies all of the characteristics that you would like your child to have.  It is very common in some cultures for the full name of the grandfather, father, grandmother, mother, etc to be used for a new child.  One way for your spouse and you to come to an agreement may be to choose your baby’s first name from your side of the family and the middle name from your spouse’s side of the family or vice versa.

International Flair

One way of adding a sense of interest and identity is to give your baby a name that is rooted within your personal history.  For example, if you have Scandinavian roots you could go with Kelsey or Finn. If you have French ancestry you could use Claude or Claudine.  The African name Juji means “heaps of love.”  You also don’t need to limit yourself to just your culture.  These days many parents are finding interesting and beautiful baby names from many different historical and ethnic origins.  For example, Suri Cruise’s first name is Persian for “red rose.”  If you want something a little more conventional but with a slightly more exotic spelling this list from VoucherCloud is a great one.

It’s All About Location

To find your baby’s name, look to the world atlas the way David and Victoria Beckham did when naming their son Brooklyn.  The hipster Texas town of Austin can make a very cool name for either a girl or boy.  Do you love you annual western ski trips?  Try Aspen, Vail or Jackson.  Make sure you choose a name that is easy to spell if it is based on a location.

Read A Great Book   

Like Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, you can name your child after a character from one of your favorite books.  The couple named their daughter Scout after the girl in the novel To Kill A Mockingbird.  Many popular names are derived from characters out of bestselling books like Scarlett, Sawyer, Eloise and Madeline. Here is a good list of baby names from children’s books from Baby Center.

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Amila Gamage Wickramarachchi

Amila Gamage Wickramarachchi is the founder of this blog. She shares her parenting and lifestyle experiences of raising a child in Singapore.

View all posts by Amila Gamage Wickramarachchi →

2 thoughts on “4 Tips For Picking Baby Names

  1. I like the idea of choosing name for your child that goes along with your ancestral roots. That way, you are keeping some of those roots alive. Plus, other national names can be interesting and are different from the norm of your country. That way not every child will have that same name!

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