How the hell do you name a baby?

[Ashz]

We didn't find out the sex until the birth so we had to come up with boy and girl names. First we nailed down the middle names. Girl it was a middle name of Anna after my grandmother, Boy it was Steven, after her father. Then the battle was on for first names. I wanted Ash for a boy. No dice. We decided on Avery. There boy name done. That took two days. Girl first name, I had a dream and my grandmother was in it and referred to our daughter as Jocelyn. Done.

We did do the ruling out episode of names and that helped. But we actually came to the names fairly painlessly. And on the day she was born SWMBO asked what it was and I told her it was Jocelyn. I was grinning ear to ear behind my hospital mask.

 

[david_42]

Take a look at "most common names" lists for the current year, and pick something else. But don't name your kid after a car, shampoo, or anything you'd find in a supermarket*. Family names are good: no IIs, 4ths, etc. though unless money is involved. Names that have diminutive forms are better than ones that don't, Robert vs Bob. Gives the kid some slack.

*Unless a family member works in one.

 

[JetSmooth]

My wife and I just went through this all. Logan Alexander W. will be born in May. I too pushed for Thor or Odin for middle names. But, I got a good deal in the end. Wolverine as a first name, my name for a middle, and the initials are LAW.

Ooooooh. That's good! My mother's maiden name is Texley, which is Norwegian (Teksle, is the original spelling). I really wanted his Middle name to be Texley so I could call him "Tex".

 

[menschmaschine]

The ancestry thing is a good idea. Maybe do the ancestry.com thing to see some old timey names in your family history. My brother did this and we confirmed the rumor in our family that we are related to Abraham Lincoln. One of his great-great grandfathers is our 8X-great grandfather.

Baby naming can be difficult. As the time gets nearer, something will surface that you think is cool. I don't prescribe to the notion of waiting to see your baby. It's definitely the most amazing experience of life, but if we had waited, our daughter would probably be named Purple Slime instead of Elsa... a fine German name from my ancestry.

 

[wildwest450]

Are you Asian? If so just throw a handful of silverware on the floor.

 

[Shooter]

Take a look at "most common names" lists for the current year, and pick something else. But don't name your kid after a car, shampoo, or anything you'd find in a supermarket*. Family names are good: no IIs, 4ths, etc. though unless money is involved. Names that have diminutive forms are better than ones that don't, Robert vs Bob. Gives the kid some slack.

*Unless a family member works in one.

Blasphemy, my son's first name was literally taken from a brand of hot dogs. I was inspired while watching a certain hot dog eating competition one Fourth of July. Plus, his name is already the diminutive form of a longer name, but has a common third abbreviated option.

I wanted to continue the trend and name baby number two Oscar, but, for some reason, my wife wasn't big on that idea. Go figure!

 

[broadbill]

Blasphemy, my son's first name was literally taken from a brand of hot dogs. I was inspired while watching a certain hot dog eating competition one Fourth of July. Plus, his name is already the diminutive form of a longer name, but has a common third abbreviated option.

I wanted to continue the trend and name baby number two Oscar, but, for some reason, my wife wasn't big on that idea. Go figure!

I agree...the problem is that if you dig far enough, you are going to come across something you don't like about the name, about somebody you didn't like who had the name, a product that uses the name, something derogatory that rhymes with the name, etc. Sooner or later you have to say enough is enough...

 

[pksmitty]

I wanted to name our daughter Mary Chris Smith, (say it out loud), but SWMBO would have none of that!

Whatever name you pick, go out on the front porch and yell it as loud as you can 10 times. That is exactly what you will be doing for the next 18 years!

 

[lady_brewer]

There was a kid in my school named Richard Head... no joke... also his dad was named Richard Head. Are these people for real?

Family names are good, at least for middle names in my opinion.

I have the issue that I work in a place with 400 other people, I look at client's accounts and see the weird things they name their kids, I have an education degree and have seen what kids can come up with from names... I have no idea how I will come up with childrens' names when the time comes. I do think that veto power is pretty important.

Also... FYI: don't spread your name around in the real world when you decide on it. People have a tendency to "steal" them (or come upon it on their own, but your wife won't care which is the reality) - you kid will end up with a cousin or playdate that has the name they were meant to have.

And 8 months is plenty of time. I wouldn't be worrying about it yet if I were you (or if I was her), but then again to each their own...

and congrats!

 

[Jim Karr]

Before Chelsea Renee was born, SWMBO and I went through all the books. I was listening to a Joni Mitchell album and the song "Chelsea Morning" was playing. We had discussed Felicia Louise as a possible name, but at that moment I remembered a really hot chick from high school named Renee.

I asked, "How about Chelsea Renee?" Her response was,"Better than Felicia Louise!"

We discussed baby number two, and I, hoping for a boy this time, offered two possibilities of the the same names.

"Do you like Benjamin Andrew better, or Andrew Benjamin?"

Delivery room visit number two became Benjamin Andrew Karr.

Cool process, eh?

 

[LVBen]

I wanted Ash for a boy. No dice. We decided on Avery. There boy name done.

Ash? and Avery? for a boy???
I'm glad you had a girl, 'cause that would be mean to give your boy a girl name.

 

[Conodor]

another thing about unique names, when my daugther was born we named her Katelyn, it wasn't that common then. she could never find anything with her name on it. she was always bumbed out.

the name and spelling is more common now, but her young years she was always looking at pensils, pens and those license plates for bycyles. once in a while she would find it, we would have to buy it...

 

[RonRock]

I did not see it mentioned, although I may have missed it. One thing to keep in mind when picking a name is how will the name fit as a person ages. There are many names that sound great for a child but just don't fit an adult.

 

[Ashz]

Ash? and Avery? for a boy???
I'm glad you had a girl, 'cause that would be mean to give your boy a girl name.

Clearly you're not a golfer....

Not a fan of Evil dead then?

Avery is a unisex name.

 

[david_42]

Evelyn is a good name if you don't know the sex yet. Of course, if you're a guy named Evelyn, you really should be a Brit.

 

[GoldMiner]

Seven



8910

 

[bob1852]

my aunt works in a hospital and has some unique baby naming stories, including one couple wanting to name their kid "Shi'thead." Don't do that.

 

[stedtale]

Ash? and Avery? for a boy???
I'm glad you had a girl, 'cause that would be mean to give your boy a girl name.

yep, Asher (Ash) is a pretty old name....and a boy name

http://www.behindthename.com/name/asher

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

my aunt works in a hospital and has some unique baby naming stories, including one couple wanting to name their kid "Shi'thead." Don't do that.

Some jursidictions have written laws restricting absurd naming of children.

 

[FullDraw]

First one, we had to come up with boy and girl names, ended up having Ethan. Then #2 was a last minute scheduled C-section on St Patty's day. So we had 5 days to pick a name, came up with Brendan. It's not too Irish like Finnegan would have been and works for us. # 3 is on the way and we've decided that no mater what the name is, it better have a one syllable variation for yelling purposes. So we are going to test our yelling out the back door to see what names flow off our tongues the best.

 

[MikeFlynn74]

I swear to god on all things holy.... Do not name the kid Aiden, Brayden, Kayden, Jayden..................

We named ours Ezra, Elija, Ewan. Youd be suprised how many people have never hear of Ewan.

 

[bosunbrew]

We went with versions of our grandfathers' names. Jack, and Andre, became Jackson Andrew. Maybe you have a name in your family tree that will work?
Also, we didn't tell anyone what we were planning to name our son. We just said "we're not letting anyone know the name until he is born" or something else to change the subject. I really didn't want to hear some relative's or co-worker's opinion on what we planned to name our child.
My wife and I are really into music, so for a while my son's planned name was "drum solo", "banjo", "bridge" or "jimi". we spent a lot of time raising the bar on how ridiculous of a name we could come up with. "Senator" might be a good first name. I guess Bridge wouldn't be too bad of a middle name, maybe.

 

[menschmaschine]

Also, we didn't tell anyone what we were planning to name our son. We just said "we're not letting anyone know the name until he is born" or something else to change the subject. I really didn't want to hear some relative's or co-worker's opinion on what we planned to name our child.

+1. We did the same thing. But we still had people (that hardly knew us!) sincerely tell us what we should name the baby. I don't understand how some people think that's socially acceptable, but that's just me.

I've also heard or read that it's good not to make a name "official" too early in the pregnancy. If the name is out in the open and established, it can make it more difficult for the parents to move on if the unthinkable should happen.

 

[dataz722]

I've also heard or read that it's good not to make a name "official" too early in the pregnancy. If the name is out in the open and established, it can make it more difficult for the parents to move on if the unthinkable should happen.

I've never thought about that but it makes a ton of sense.

 

[HoppyDaze]

from the new names Ive been hearing these days; heres what you do. You find a name that no one else has you know because you have to be original ...you cant just name the kid something nice...it has to be different. Nevermind the fact that the kid has to live with it for his/her entire life...its about you and you showing your friends that you can come up with something that they couldn't. I think you should name it LaTurnkley. Thats original...he'll be the only one! How cool is that???

 

[Joker]

SWMBO named our first Cameron and I thought it was a nice enough name. The second was my choosing with her blessing. I have never know a Steve that I did not become very good friends with and the guy that introduced us was a Steve, and the rest is history as they say.

 

[82ABShizzle]

I wanted to name my kid "Boliver". Call him "Balls" for short. Seriously though, the ball-n-chain and I figured out every possible permutation of each prospective name with respect to playground skullduggery. Like Bill to Billdo. Of course Peter and Harry were automatically out.

 

[Jim Karr]

A family in my neighborhood (long before I was born) named every one of their kids after someone famous. Their last name was Watkins.
Admiral Dewey Watkins

Andrew Jackson Watkins

Prince Otto Watkins

They went by Dewey, AJ, and Otto.

 

[IrregularPulse]

we would just spout off names on car drives and One day I said "Oliver Preston" Has no history in either family. It just sounded good n my head. We then reversed it and named our boy Preston Oliver. It's so weird. I never in a million years would have imagined giving a kid the name Oliver. But I just think it fits. I still can't believe I named (even middle name) my kid Oliver.

When we were thinking of names, we'd try to make fun of them with a 3rd grade mentality to see what he'd be up against. I also used them all in the following sentences out loud, "NAME NAME, get over here!" and "NAME NAME, Knock it off!" They had to flow

 

[Bedlam]

I would heartily recommend that you NOT give the child a common name with an uncommon spelling. It sucks to go through life having to spell your name all the damn time, just because your parents just had to be creative, but not creative enough to be truly original.

It might be worthwhile to check out the chapter on names in the book Freakonomics. They do a whole bit about names, looking at birth data. They go into a great deal of details about how names get popular and unpopular. Very interesting!