Choosing Names For Your Baby

Choosing a name for your baby can be a very daunting and stressful challenge.
Time seems to go so fast and from the very beginning of you finding out you are expecting you go from calling your unborn child ''IT'' and ''BUMP'' to people asking ''what will you be calling it'' or ''have you picked a name yet ''?


Choosing a name is one of the most important choices you you have to do for your child and it sticks with them their whole life .


I think my biggest concern was that I did not choose a name that could be joked about at a later age during school .
My birth name was Lisa Marie Hubbard , yes that is right 'Hubbard' as in the school nursery rhyme ''Old mother Hubbard''! 
I was bullied a lot for having this name and with my name been chosen after Elvis Presley's Daughter Lisa Marie, it soon became a constant joke and there was nothing I could do about it.


I grew to understand that I actually loved the Lisa Marie part of my name and in fact the Hubbard was the thing that bothered me so much and was easily changed by deed poll which I later done when I was old enough to do without consent on my own before eventually Marrying at a later date and now I am pleased to be named Prince .


Little things like picking names that could not be shortened was also a challenge for me.
Looking for a name that was not the same as most of the kids in the same village or town and also something easy enough for the child to learn and pronounce themselves was also a thought I had to take before leaping into such a huge decision.


My first daughter was named after the weather girl Sian Lloyd. I wanted something unusual and I had not heard of the name anywhere before. I pondered with all sorts of names and went from choosing names such as Skye (after a friend I met back in the Army training days) to Myca which my mum had wanted me to call her but in the end I fell in love with Sian as soon as I saw her .
The only thing with this name is , is that sometimes people tend to pronounce it Shaun which really annoys my daughter until I have to correct them.


My second daughter was named after her dad but shortened to make it feminine and apart from Drew Barrymore I had not heard of anyone by that name either.
Being quite the little tom boy now , I can see it was a great choice .
When she was born , I was very close to changing it to rose as she was born with such a gorgeous pink rose shade.


My last child was my son Kaiden. 
He seemed to be the hardest of choices for me. 
My husband and I found it hard to come to a joint decision on a name. I originally wanted to name my first son after his dad but my husband seemed adamant that he did not like the idea of it . Well not until he realised it was to late and in fact wished he had.
Kaiden came about when we actually in fact chose the name Jayden but then realised my cousin had named her son the same thing so we quickly changed it and then gave him my dads name for his middle name making him Kaiden Robert.

Throwing family relatives or friends names into your child's name can sometimes seem a great respectful choice but just be careful you feel pressured by Grandma Fanny or uncle Dick just because it is tradition to do so.
I made a decision to add my dads name into my son's , that was my choice but sometimes tradition needs to be broken especially when those names can cause upset to a child in this day and age.
Children can be so cruel , they don't see the meanings of tradition or meaningful doings.

I think these little tips in helping you decide may bring a little calmness to the challenge ahead-

• Advice -  Get a close friend or family member to help you and your babies father, they know you so very well and they may know the perfect name for your offspring . Be careful not to go to the parents though, this usually causes the biggest rift and although they have opinions (which are always welcome of course) , keeping them out of the naming conversation may avoid those heated moments.
• Write them down - Add all of the names you have chosen and write them down on a piece of paper . Over the next few months keep going back to the paper and say them all out aloud. Sometimes you begin to realise that the name you may have chosen a week a go may not sound as great as it does now and so strike out the unliked names as you find them unsatisfactory .
• If you can not decide between two names , try adding them together or combining them into first and middle names. This is a great way to get both you and your husband in on the naming of baby but of course there will always be who's name goes first .
• Tradition- Is there a family member you want to pay respect to , maybe your family tradition is to name your first child the same as its parent ? Traditional chosen names can be a wonderful and meaning choice but be careful of falling for some of the more unliked names today .
• Alphabets- I have heard of people naming their children in alphabetic order, sometimes because they simply find it fun but another reason is that Zack or Zoe will always be called last in activities where as Amelia and Alfie will always be first to get called out.
• Votes - Why not get everyone involved if you can not make the decision yourself with your husband? Get everyone together , make it a baby naming celebration and get your list of choices together on strips of paper. When everyone arrives tell them to choose a name, place it into a balloon and at the end of the event pop the balloons to see which name has been picked and favourited most .
• Occupation- Do you have a favourite actor, artist or scientist, maybe a historic myth or legend you simply adore or admire?, maybe choosing one of those names will be your answer.
• Initials- Not even thinking about this when we had our son , I soon came to realise that initials can make a name in itself so be careful  not to choose a name that can be unpleasant like B.O or V.D . Without realising we chose KP for our sons initials  , as in 'KP nuts' and I have to say there is a little disappointment that I had not thought about this before  , I dread the day when someone clicks and the names begin, (hopefully not).
• Meaning- Is there a name that means something to you, or even a meaning you could incorporate the name into? Me and my husband had decided the name of our due baby two years ago although I did originally decide never to have any more children . We wanted to add both our names into one first name , something of a little of both of us and it works perfectly. Sometimes the names such as Hope, Faith and Joy bring a perfect beginning to a child's start in life.

No matter what you decide , just remember that there are hundreds of thousands of names out there and you have at the very least 9 months to decide  on something you feel is perfect for him or her.

If you take a look at some of the baby books , you will find a list of popular names if this is what you are looking for.

The current list is -

Boys names - 
Liam 
Noah
Mason
Ethan
Logan
Lucas 
Jackson
Jacob
Aiden
Oliver   

Girls names-
Emma 
Olivia
Ava
Sophia
Isabella
Mia
Charlotte
Emily 
Madison
Amelia

I hope this list gives you a little more insight into helping choose the right name for your baby . 
There are so many different options but maybe just seeing that gorgeous baby's little face at the moment it is born will tell you exactly what his or her name should be .

How did you decide on a name for baby?