Fun, interesting, a political statement, a statement of the times, a celebrity’s name? Baby’s names sometimes resemble statements rather than names. How do you choose your baby’s name? You think about it. You remember those in your family; you consider naming the baby after a relative. Sometimes you have a name that you have liked all your life and that is your choice. But how important is a baby’s name?

We go through weeks or months of trying to decide on the best name for that beautiful baby, but sometimes you do not think of the most important thing about the name. People rarely stop to think how that baby is going to feel while he or she lives with that name, that legacy. How is this baby, this toddler this growing person going to feel with that name tag on him or her for his entire life? This is probably the most important thing you should or could think of when choosing baby names.

We have all heard the stories. You hear a name and think , what was that person thinking when they named that child that? Some names are funny, silly, and lots are very memorable. So you have waited all your life to name your baby. Now the time has come. I make these suggestions:

• Choose a name that is easy to spell. That child will have to spell that name over and over throughout his or her school years and so will the classmates and the teacher.
• Choose a name carefully. Do not just decide on one name and then say, that job is done!
• If you are tempted to name a child something that is clearly not a name, like tree, door, or windowjack, think again. You do not want to saddle this child with a name like that for the child’s life. Have some sense. So many times, adults choose names that have meaning to them, and that is it. You need to consider how a child would feel if they had that particular name.
• Let the child be an individual. So many times, we want to name them after the father or mother. And that is so warm and tender and sentimental. But since I have grown, and experienced life, I have learned that giving a child his or her own space, his or her own name, is a much better decision. Everyone needs to be an individual. If you must name a child after someone, then use the middle name for that purpose but give the child his/her first name that is entirely his or her own name. It might not make much sense to you know, but in later years you will be glad that you did this.

Naming a child is a process. Make it a positive process, and use your mature judgment. And then after you finally decide on a good name, picture that child in first grade. Picture the teacher calling that child to the blackboard by his name. And then ask yourself, is this what I want for my child? Remember the song, A Boy Named Sue, the song that Johnny Cash wrote about a boy named Sue. That was a funny song, and it had a lesson, but that was a song, not real life. Before you name your child Sue, make sure that child is a girl! Have compassion on the child that you are naming. Use your good sense. And make the mature decision. Give that child a name that your child will love.

Looking at books of baby names will help spark your imagination, but even with these books, you should opt for ordinary names rather than object names. Things that have life, such as sky, brook, river are very natural names. When naming children with these names, you need to decide whether you want to give your child a name that is not gender-related. Take everything into consideration when choosing baby names. Yes, any and all of those can be boys’ or girls’ names. Think about how your child will feel while growing up with these kinds of names. Yes, depending on the spirit of the child, they will love the name or not like it at all. But then, who really knows what anyone will grow up to be like. All I am saying is starting with somewhat traditional names and saving the creative names for middle names might be a better option. This gives children and teens a choice in the matter. A teen might decide that she likes the name Sky, and if that is their middle name, they will use it. Yet if they can’t stand the name Sky, the teen will just use their first name. Sounds easy. It is.

All I am saying is be considerate of your child’s possible feelings.

That is the only way to name a child.

The author of this article has had many works published in the USA. She has traveled extensively throughout the East Coast and through the South while observing people and writing about life and everything that is in it. You can reach the author by sending a private or public message through this website:

http://www.opendiary.com/entryview.asp?authorcode=D750826&entry=10002