Finding Baby Names with the Internet
As with everything else, the Internet is a great place to start. Although it may seem a bit impersonal, there is some great information in cyber space about naming babies, and about how to know when you’ve found the right one. You can find lists of baby names arranged alphabetically and by origin so that you at least have a starting point, and it is less expensive than going out and buying shelves-worth of books. If you insist upon binded paper as your resource, however, I’ve listed a few very popular baby naming books at the bottom of this article.
Helpful Websites
This is one of the most helpful sites on the web for finding great baby names. It allows you to make your own list of possibilities, which you can share with your spouse and family members. It also has lists of celebrity names, Tolkein names, Shakespeare names and even Spooky names. It lists the top ten baby names for 2003, 2004 and 2005, which might be helpful if you are searching for a common name, or even if you want to avoid them. They also offer a due date calculator and links to helpful shopping sites such as a print company that makes custom birth announcements.
This site is geared more toward finding ethnic and historically significant names for your child. For each name, it says whether it was meant for a boy or a girl; the origin of the name; the meaning of the name; and possible variations of the name (i.e. gender reversals). It has excellent search capabilities that allow you to search for names by the word itself, by the first letter of the name, or by the origin, giving you ways to cross-reference your search.
This is a more simple version of babynamesworld.com. It has quite a few pop-up ads, so be careful of those, but it is also an excellent search engine for baby names. You can choose whether you want to search for boy or girl names or by origin. It also lists whether the name is male or female, where it originated, and what it means in whatever language it comes from. This is a great place to start for a simple, easy-to-use search engine.
For an expectant mother, I recommend parenthood.com for all of your questions and needs. In addition to informative articles about pregnancy, conception, parenting and your community, it also offers an excellent resource for baby names. Here, you can run a two-way search for baby names; you can type in a meaning and the site will give you names, or you can type in a name and the site will give you meanings. You can also search by beginning and end letters or origin. For example, when I typed in my name, I learned that Kay has three main variations: Kaya, Kayanna and Kayana.
Tips For Choosing Names
1. Beware of Initials
When choosing names, be sure to put the full name together and make sure that the initials don’t spell something inappropriate. This has shocked many a parent as they sign the birth certificate, and that isn’t a shock you want to experience when your infant has just been born. You might find a name that you love, but if the initials are undesirable, you may want to choose another.
2. Beware of Friends & Family
You might be the type of person who craves feedback from friends and family, but be careful about soliciting advice from others about your baby’s name. You will never find a name upon which everyone agrees, and it is much more important that you and your husband are fond of the name. It is okay to run names by friends and family to gauge their reactions, but in the end, it should be you who makes the decision.
3. Consider the Meaning
Although this will probably not hang over your head – or your child’s head, for that matter – you might take the time to research the meanings of names before choosing. If, later in life, your child were to discover that he or she was given a name with a negative connotation, it might cause friction. It will give you peace of mind to know that your child has a positive, healthy name.
4. Stay Away from Trends
If you fall in love with a name that is currently popular, then I’m not going to tell you not to use it. But remember that when your child attends school, he or she will be in large classrooms with other children who might have the same name. Don’t go overboard in trying to find a name that no other child would have, but consider the current trends before deciding on a name.
5. Gender Referral
It has become a trend to name boys with girls’ names and girls with boys’ names; you should decide how you feel about that right away. Some parents aren’t concerned with gender identification, while others insist that their child have an entirely masculine or feminine name. Make that decision before you start cruising names so that there isn’t any confusion.
Baby Naming Books
The Baby Name Wizard : A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby by Laura Wattenberg
This book explores the trends in baby names over the last 100 years and discusses the reasons for the growing popularity of once unusual names. Wattenburg uses computer-generated models to show the progression of various names over the last century, and is a great tool for stumped parents to peruse.
50,001 Best Baby Names
This is a more generalized collection of names and origins, listed alphabetically. It lists the most popular names of every decade, ethnic names, names that inspire undesirable nicknames, and all of Hollywood’s latest baby names.
Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana : What To Name Your Baby Now by Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Satran
This book is 400 pages of amusing, informative commentary on baby names and how to choose them. It goes more in-depth than any book I have ever seen about the specific nature of names, including sociological connotations, old-fashioned names, and mythological names. It is a great resource for the confused potential parent.
