Babyname Do's and Don'ts...
When it comes to naming babies
we have too much choice! It means there are a lot of opportunities to give your
baby a great name that suits her perfectly… but plenty of opportunities to get
it wrong too.
With this in mind we’ve drawn up a list of do’s and don’ts for
you to consider when naming your baby…
Do…
- Wait to meet your baby before
you name him. If he comes out with shocking red hair, Rufus might be an option;
but if he cries day and night will you
still want to call him Happy?
- Write a list of names you like
all the way through your pregnancy – being pregnant makes you forgetful!
- Remember to ?write the name you like down with your
proposed middle name and surname. Always check the initials don’t spell
something like ASS…
- Sit in your local playground
for a while and listen to the names being called. If you hear your favorite
name a lot you may want to re-think your list, as your child will probably end
up in school with a bunch of these kids.
- Think about the impact a name
will have on your child. Imagine their resumé landing on a desk one day and
what their prospective employer will think if you named her after Britney
Spears…
- Factor in your family name.
Rhyming a first name and a surname, Daisy Lacey or Jayden Grayden for example
might not be a great idea. If you have a long family name, a short first name
might suit better and vice versa.
- Try to be original when it
comes to repeating names – David Davies just looks like you didn’t cast the net
very wide on your name search.
- Look into your family tree to
see which intresting family names come up.
Don’t…
- Tell people what you plan to
call your baby. That way you won’t have to hear their opinion on it, and always
know they didn’t like the name (this especially goes for telling your
parents!).
- Think you have sole right to a
name. If someone you know calls their baby the name you’d chosen for yours,
accept and move on. Unless you choose the strangest name you can come up with,
they’re rarely exclusive.
- Be tempted to spell a classic
name in an unusual way to be different – your child will spend her whole life
being misspelled and mispronounced.
- Be fooled by celebrity crazes
where names are concerned. The celebrity may go out of fashion and your child
may resent you for it.
- Let others change your opinion
about a name if you really like it. It’s your child and this is one of the fun
things you get to do yourself.
- Be too trendy. All names go in
and out of fashion but classic names will probably still be cool in 50 years,
whereas trendy names might just sound silly.
Still stuck? See our babynamer for a database of thousands of names, and read naming your baby and the dangers of naming your child.
The information in this feature is intended for
educational purposes only. If you have any concerns about your health, the
health of your child or the health of someone you know, please consult with a
doctor or other healthcare professional.
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Last Modified: 29/08/2007
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