Choosing out a baby name!

Choosing out your child's name can be both an exciting, but stressful time. There are many tips and tricks to working out your child's name.

Heres some tips and tricks to get you through:

Step One- Discussing names with your partner. Firstly, sit down with your partner (if their is one) and work out what names you both like. Do you like Traditional or Unique names? Does either of you have a particular name you've wanted to name the child since you were 7? Does one of you want a grandparent, best friend or other relatives name involved? Discuss what you like and don't like and mention anything you want.
Remember: This is not just your child, or their child. Its both your child. You should make a decision you both feel comfortable with. Don't be rude about names your partner likes, people can get really touchy if they like a certain name and are completely shot down. Listen to all suggestions with an open mind and be willing to compromise. Don't like a name your partner has suggested? Explain to them calmly and carefully why you don't like it, making sure you don't cause any personal offense. If a name of a family member or close friend is brought up, never, ever be rude about the name.

Step two- finding the perfect name.
Once you've sat down and discussed name, you can now go name hunting. Theres a million different ways to go about this, but heres a few ideas.
- Look back into your family tree. Are there any names you like there? Ask your parents what they were going to call you if you had been the opposite gender. You might find some nice little names which have special meaning to you.
- Choose a name from your ancestry. You may have ancestors who were French, German or Irish. Have a look at names from those cultures.
- If you want an old fashioned name, look at lists of popularity from olden times. Websites have lists like these. Such as: http://hometown.aol.com/elfnames/oldfashioned.html
- If you want a more unusual name, there are plenty of places to look. Look through your favorite books and movies for characters names, look through an Atlas for names of place, look at a paint or plant website for names of Colors or Plants. Even a street directory could give you ideas on names.
- If your looking for a more unique name, check it on websites such as:
http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/
To see how popular it is. This website is also good for checking if you're looking for a more trendy name.
A more accurate site which takes different spellings into consideration is
http://www.namenerds.com/uucn/
And go to the "Popularity Lists"
For unusual names,
http://www.celebrity-babies.com/
Is a good website to see what celebrities have named their kids.
-Websites such as http://www.babynamesworld.com/
Give a big list of names, where you can search for Names starting with "(certain letter/letters)", Names ending with "(certain letter/letters)" or Names containing "(certain letter/letters)" or names from certain origins, meanings or unisex names. There are plenty of other baby name websites out there so do a Google Search and find one you like.
- If you're looking for very accurate meanings, http://www.behindthename.com/has a very good reputation, and I'd recommend them.
-If website aren't your thing, there are many many baby name books out there. Go to your local bookstore or library and find one you like. My personal favorite at the moment is "The Big Book of Baby Names" by Marissa Charles. Which is a simple and easy book to use with great explanations on each name.
- Website such as: http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/index?sid=396547166
Yahoo Baby Names is a forum where you can ask questions on the names you are considering.
On www.babynames.com
You can make a list of the names you are considering and then get friends, family or people of forums such as Yahoo Answers to vote for which ones you like.

Step three: What to do once you have a list of names you like.
Make sure the names you have flow. Stylistic features such as Consonance and Alliteration are
big no-no's with names.
These explained:
Consonance: Consonance is when the same letter, or sounds are at the end of a name, For example, if the first name you've chosen in Brandon, a second name such as Jason or John or any other Middle or Last name ending in "N" will not flow well with a first name starting with "N".
So have a look what the ending sound in your name is. If it Carrera, steer clear from names ending "-a", if its Thomas, steer clear of names ending in "-s". Similarly, once you choose a first name, the middle name you choose can't have the same ending sound.
Alliteration: This is sounds at the start of the name. Pretty simple. Something like Jessica Joy or Thomas Tyler. The doubling up of sounds is just very tacky, and should be steered clear from.
Simlarly, the sound your middle or last name starts with, cannot be the same sound at the end of the first or middle name. For example, if your last name starts with a "C/K" sound such as Camden. You can't have the first name Jack. Becomes the the ending and starting "C/K" run into each other.

A good way of using sounds in a less obvious and tacky way is through Assonance. This is by using the middle sounds from one name for the starting sounds in the next name.
For example, a name such as Harvey, will flow well with middle names starting with "R" or "V" which will flow with the middle "R" and "V" sounds in Harvey. Something like Harvey Ross or Harvey Vincent.
Similarly, if your last name starts with an "M", like Morgan. First or middle names with an "M" sound in the middle will flow well with the starting "M" sound in Morgan such as Emily Morgan or Hamish Morgan.

NB: Remember, these are not hard and fast rules. They're just fairly accurate guidelines to follow.

Once you've chosen your names and put them in combinations, go over your names. Are there any names you could get rid of? Shorten it down. You can probably choose the special one out of there.

Step four: What to do when you can't choose.
If you've got a few options and can't choose, try writing down two lists of all of them and going over them with your partner and crossing out one name each one by one and by the end you'll have one left through process of elimination.

Websites listed before such as
http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/index?sid=396547166
and
www.babynames.com
Can help get people to vote or their feedback on the names.

Still can't choose? Wait until the little one enters the world and choose which name suits best.

Got any more suggestions on this article? Some comments on the blog? Want some advice naming your child? Email me at anni.ekate@yahoo.com.au