Most Important Decision of a Lifetime - What to Name Your Baby

Home
>
Babies & Toddler
>
Most Important Decision of a Lifetime - What to Name Your Baby

Most Important Decision of a Lifetime - What to Name Your Baby

Most people don't know the meaning of their name, but most names do have meanings. You should at least find out the meanings of your favorite choices before giving one of them to your child. The meaning of your child's name probably won't greatly affect his or her life, but may help you to make a decision between your favorites.

Many names are shortened to nicknames during childhood, or other stages of life, so be sure to think about what shortened forms of your child's name may be. Also consider that names we might think are cute for a child could be embarrassing later in life, before giving your child a nickname as their legal name. For instance - shortening Samantha to Sam or Sammy while your daughter is young may be fine, but will she mind having to put Sam on her business cards or college application later in life if its her legal name?

No one likes having their name constantly misspelled or mispronounced, so keep this in mind before choosing a unique pronunciation or spelling of a common name. Remember that your child will spend his or her lifetime explaining to others how the name is really spelled or pronounced.

Unisex names, like Chris, Robin or Terry, may make it easier for you to choose your child's name before you know their sex, but others argue that it can be unfair and psychologically harmful to a child, especially to boys who may feel more insulted when presumed to be girls, than girls do when they're mistaken for boys.

Namesakes, or exact reproductions of a person's name, even if followed by II or Jr., are quite often confusing to everyone involved. Worse yet, the child never gets the satisfaction of having a clear identity or name of his own. Although namesakes can be complimentary to the original owner of the name, consider the impact to your child, and how you plan to differentiate between the people who share the name before you choose to name your child after someone else.

Remember, the name you choose for your child will be a lifetime decision, so take your time and enjoy the process!

About The Author

S. Denise Hoyle serves as the webmaster of both http://nurseryroomprojects.com and http://fertility-facts.com. To find the meanings and origins of thousands of popular names, take a look at our lists of boy's names and girl's names at http://nurseryroomprojects.com/baby_names.htm

In The News:

Yahoo! News: Top Stories

Democrats criticize Obama's proposed tax cuts (AP)

AP - President-elect Barack Obama's proposed tax cuts ran into opposition Thursday from senators in his own party who said they wouldn't do much to stimulate the economy or create jobs. Senators from both parties agreed that Congress should do something to stimulate the economy. But Democratic senators emerging from a private meeting of the Senate Finance Committee criticized business and individual tax cuts in Obama's stimulus plan.

UN Security Council calls for immediate Gaza truce (AP)

AP - The U.N. Security Council called for an "immediate" and "durable" cease-fire in Gaza in a resolution Thursday night even as fighting between Israel and Hamas raged with early morning airstrikes killing seven Palestinians and pushing the death toll to about 760 in the near two-week conflict.

Mini Dynasty: Tebow leads Gators past Oklahoma (AP)

AP - The game defied expectations. Tim Tebow fulfilled them. He rescued No. 1 Florida, running through and throwing over No. 2 Oklahoma for a 24-14 victory Thursday night that gave the Gators their second BCS championship in three years.

Key panel recommends impeaching Ill. governor (AP)

AP - A key panel unanimously recommended impeachment for Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Thursday, setting up a vote that could make him the first governor to face such fate in Illinois' sordid political history. Blagojevich should lose his job for abusing power, mismanaging government and committing possible criminal acts, including federal allegations he tried to sell off a U.S. Senate seat, the special committee concluded.

Job losses stack up as recession deepens (AP)

AP - Trying to survive a deepening recession, employers are cutting their work forces to the bone, leaving more Americans unemployed and with dim prospects of finding a new job any time soon.

Oversight panel wants better answers from Treasury (AP)

AP - Less than a month after its first report, a congressional panel overseeing the Treasury Department's $700 billion financial bailout is demanding more answers.

Critics' final answer: `Slumdog' wins 5 awards (AP)

AP - The critics have spoken, and "Slumdog Millionaire" is their final answer.

Cheney: CIA did nothing illegal in interrogations (AP)

AP - Vice President Dick Cheney said Thursday that he sees no reason for President George W. Bush to pre-emptively pardon anyone at the CIA involved in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists. "I don't have any reason to believe that anybody in the agency did anything illegal," he said.

Petraeus: Afghan, Pakistan problems are really one (AP)

AP - U.S. policy to win in Afghanistan must recognize the poor nation's limitations and its neighborhood, especially its intertwined relationship with U.S. terrorism-fighting ally Pakistan, the top U.S. military commander in the region said Thursday.

Prosecutors: Madoff was ready to send out $173M (AP)

AP - Prosecutors said Thursday that investigators found 100 signed checks worth $173 million in Bernard Madoff's office desk that he was ready to send out to his closest family and friends at the time of his arrest last month in what is alleged to be largest financial fraud in history.

U.N. calls for immediate Gaza truce (Reuters)

Reuters - Israel pushed ahead with its offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday, ignoring a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire to the 14-day-old conflict.

World waits on jobs data as recession weighs (Reuters)

Reuters - U.S. employers probably cut the most jobs in at least 34 years last month as the global economic crisis gathered pace and moves by policy makers took time to filter through to struggling companies.

Citi backs measure to help avoid foreclosures (Reuters)

Reuters - Financial giant Citigroup Inc will support a proposal in Congress to rewrite U.S. bankruptcy law to help troubled mortgage borrowers avoid foreclosure, Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said on Thursday.

Panel steps up criticism of Treasury over TARP: report (Reuters)

Reuters - A report being released on Friday alleges that the U.S. Treasury has failed to reveal its strategy for stabilizing the financial system, not answered questions asked by a government watchdog, and has done nothing to help struggling homeowners, the Wall Street Journal said.

Illinois panel recommends governor's impeachment (Reuters)

Reuters - A legislative committee on Thursday recommended the impeachment of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, citing widespread abuse of power including allegations he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.

Obama team amending financial rescue package: report (Reuters)

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama's economic team is urgently overhauling the $700 billion financial rescue package to broaden its scope beyond Wall Street, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

Qaeda Pakistan leader believed dead: U.S. official (Reuters)

Reuters - Al Qaeda's operations chief in Pakistan and a top aide are believed to be dead, a U.S. counterterrorism official said on Thursday, in what appeared to be the latest results of a campaign targeting the militant group's leadership.

Accused swindler Madoff "warm and charming": report (Reuters)

Reuters - Some friends of accused swindler Bernard Madoff considered him a "warm and charming" man, and one of his alleged victims praised him just before his death in 2005, Fox Business Network reported on Thursday.

Gaza toll mounts as UN Security Council urges immediate truce (AFP)

AFP - Israel carried out new deadly air raids on the Gaza Strip on Friday as the UN Security Council called for an immediate ceasefire to end the two-week-old conflict in the Palestinian enclave.

Progress in resolving gas row as Russia agrees to monitors (AFP)

AFP - Hopes for a quick resumption of Russian gas supplies to Europe were rising Friday after Russia agreed on the terms for the deployment of monitors in Ukraine.

Most Important Decision of a Lifetime - What to Name Your Baby

Babies & Toddler Babies & Toddler