Picking the Perfect Baby Name
By Tawnya Gibson, staff writer

After the initial joy and anticipation of learning a new baby is on the way, reality sets in and many decisions will need to be made. Breast or bottle feed, disposable or cloth diapers, nursery decorating, toys, education, and parenting styles – the list seems nearly endless. However, one of the most important decisions any parent will make will be picking a name for the little bundle of joy.

Popularity
One of the most common places to start looking for a baby name is a list of most popular names, such as the one at the U.S. Social Security website, This site is able to give you a fairly accurate portrayal of what parents in the United States are naming their babies, although it is noted that each unique spelling of a name counts as a different name. You can see compiled lists from previous years, by sex and state or from across the country. For example, in 2003, the Top 10 most popular boy and girl names in the country were:

To narrow it down further, the Top Five in 2003 in the state of Utah were:

For comparison, here is 1999’s US Top 10:

As you can see, names haven't changed that much in the last five years. All of the boy names popular in 1999 were still popular in 2003, only in a slightly different order. For girls, the same is true, except the names, Sarah, Taylor and Jessica have been replaced with Emma, Olivia and Abigail.

On the Social Security website, you can also type in a specific name and see where it ranks now and track its popularity over time. When you type in “Ella” you see that in 1990, it was the 864 most popular girls name out of 1000. In 1995, it was number 688, in 2000, it was 268 and in 2003 it was number 44. Therefore, if you wanted something a little different for your daughter, Ella may not be as unique as it was 10 years ago and you may want to keep that in mind.

Popular child naming trends tend to be cyclical. For example, those names that were popular in the early part of the 1900’s are becoming more popular again. That may explain why there are more and more Emma, Ella, Olivia and Abigail’s around than were heard of in previous decades. If that trend holds, you may see a boom of Barbara, Linda, Carol, Joan, Ronald, Donald and Thomas’s in nurseries across the country, soon!

Countries Across the World
It is important to remember that not all countries in the world have such a lax attitude in naming children as is found in the U.S. For example, in Asian countries, no new characters can be made up without approval from the government. Therefore, parents have a preapproved list of characters in which to derive a name.

Lists of names are not unique to the Orient. Many countries in Europe have them as well. According to one American born sister in Geneva, Switzerland, Swiss born children are named using a government-approved list. Foreign born parents are granted some leeway, but natives are held strictly to the list.

Although naming children after family members is common in the U.S., it seems to be much more common in other cultures, such as in Italy. If your heritage is Italian, naming after family might be a nice way to honor a family member and your heritage at the same time.

“When we lived in Indonesia, it was a custom in [that] village...that the child’s Christian name was the father’s surname, and then the surname was often the mother’s or the father’s Christian name or it could be one of their own," Cindy Hulsey (Brisbane Australia) said. "So, to explain, if John Smith and Margaret Jones had a child, the child’s name would be Jones John. But that is only if they didn’t choose the surname. It was so hard to follow, especially when they all had such unique Asian names! It was like that in most of the villages and made it hard to trace people.”

A good website to search for names from all different cultures would be Babynames.org.uk


Name Meanings
After popularity, a second school of thought in baby naming is name meanings. While a lot of people go through life not thinking about what their name means, others take great pride in knowing the origin and meaning behind their name.

While there are many ways to find the meaning of names, some of the most popular ways are through websites, such as the one on ParenthoodWeb.com. Here, you can search meanings several different ways. You can enter any name and the meaning will come up or you can type in words and phrases in a meaning and you will get a list of names. You can also search for names by origin (Biblical, Danish, English, Chinese, etc).

As an example, typing in the word “strong,” you get a list of names that include: Anders, Bogart, Brianna, Bryant, Charles, Ethan, Kale, Megan and Virgil, as well as several pages of others. If the meaning “strong” associated to the name of your child is important to you, you should be able to find a name that fits your life and liking.

Friends & Family
One of the larger debates among new parents is whether or not to share your name choices with friends or family before the blessed event. There are some points to consider while making this decision. Would you be offended if someone told you what they honestly thought of the name you loved? Would you be comfortable using that name anyway? People tend to be extremely opinionated about name choices while a woman is still pregnant and less so once the baby is born and named. If your feelings would be hurt, it might be best to keep your choices to yourselves until the baby is born. This is especially so if you have decided against using a family name when family names are traditions on either side of family.

The Devil in the Details
There are many other details to take into consideration while deciding on a name. In addition to popularity, meaning and origin; there is the spelling, pronunciation and nicknames for the name, initials, how unisex or unique the name should be, and of course, any associations you may have to a particular name.

Do you go “traditional Mormon” and use parts of both parents name in coming up with a unique name? Do you name your children with the same beginning letter or use grandparent’s names as middle names? Should you name your son or daughter Kelly or Taylor? Should you name your son Caleb if your first kiss was with a boy named Caleb or is the association too strong? Do you live in a predominately LDS town where the name Nephi would be common place and what happens if you move to a town where that name isn’t known? If your last name is Lee, should you really name your son Brock?

When deciding on names, you should always write the name down in its entirety, with nicknames, initials, and any other way you can think of to make sure you think of any way possible the name could haunt your child in the years to come. There are even websites, like one from Oxygen.com, that allow you to type in a name and it will generate a list of possible teasing nicknames associated with that choice.

While going through this process, you will notice that there are almost as many schools of thought on picking a baby name as there are parents. Everyone has a story or a reason to adhere to their correct way. Yet, nearly everyone will say that it is a highly personal decision for the parents and one that needs a great deal of thought. So, whether you decide to discuss names with everyone you know or keep the name under wraps until you deliver; make sure the name resonates with you and what you want for your future child.