What Gender is that Name???
- Lesley, Shirley, Kelli/Kelly, Ashley, Taylor - Nice names but what gender? Think about what your child will spend the rest of his or her adult life doing with that first name, please! Kelli is a horrible name for a boy - everyone will assume he is a girl at first glance. And what is up with Lesley, Shirley, & Ashley...again, soon-to-be-parents, these are now considered primarily girl names so please don't stick your little boy with them...it's not 1865 any longer, so don't do it! Boys have a hard enough time becoming well-adjusted men without their classmates turning their lives into hell with an unfortunate first name choice. I know a man named Shirley and a woman named Aaron ...can you imagine how tired they must be of correcting their gender? So, please, don't be cute with those supposed unisex names. Don't kid yourselves! They really aren't unisex and never will be. Girls are girls and boys are boys; enjoy their gender difference and give them gender appropriate names!
- —acmeannie
Anagrams
- We chose our son's name by taking the first letter of everyone's name in the family. It prevented anyone being hurt by not choosing their name and everyone felt close to him. We called him Carl Martin, C for his brother Christopher, A for his brother Anthony, R for his Uncle Robert, L for my name, M for his eldest brother Michael, A for his Grandad Albert, R for his brothers middle name Robert, T for Thelma his Gran's name, I for Ian his Dad's name and N for Nan after his other Grandmother. He is a bit of everyone after all!
- —Guest Lyn
Dont's
- Parents have to think about their kids before naming them. They have to think if the kid will like the name. Not because you like it, it means your kid will like it. Don't rhyme last names with names like my parents did! Don't give them a name that sounds funny with the surname. Don't make up names, and if you do, try for it to sound normal. Also watch second names. Don't name your baby girl Hannah Mya just because those are her grandparents names. Try to be creative, but not crazy.
- —Guest Gayle Hale
Make it interesting!
- When I was expecting and people would ask what I planned to name my baby I told them in a very sweet voice if it was a girl I was going to name her Tahlula and if it was a boy his name would be JD Hog. People finially stopped asking me. And everyone was very happy with the real names of my children.
- —Guest Linda
How About The Flow
- My mother and grandmother always said if the last name has an even number of syllables, the first name should have an odd number of syllables, or vice versa. By having different number of syllables, the full name flows much smoother.
- —LollyKay
Think it through
- When thinking of a name, we lived out in the country, and I would stand in the yard and YELL! the name to see if it sounded right. It only took a few times to tell if we liked the name. I realize most people can't (or won't) do this, but it was over 30 years ago that we had a name problem.
- —Guest Patty
Names
- Resist the temptation to use an "ordinary" name with a quirky spelling....the kid will spend a lifetime correcting people, it is very irksome. Been there done that. An example: Byll for Bill.
- —breadmaker4
Baby names
- Knew a family by the name of Butts, named their boy Harry.
- —Guest Ray Hamerly
Fake names and the real thing
- We used Buck for a boy and Polly...Esther for a girl whenever asked! In the end, our now 22 year old daughter was the only Kristen/Kristy in her class, and our sons the only Jack (really!) and the only Jay. Common names that no one else had at the time.
- —Guest leamm
Give your baby a suitable name
- My husband and I had always a name for a baby girl, even before I got pregnant. When we found out that was boy, we found a name that it's suitable and easy for everyone to pronounce and spell and also that he is not going to get bullied for his name. We are both from different countries, cultures and religions and we live here in UK, so we thought of a name that is suitable and known in all the 3 countries and we are telling everyone his name.
- —Guest Silvia
My family has no tact
- If I say a name I'm thinking of, everyone on both sides of the family instantly think it's time for them to annalize it as if it was their child they were naming and usually share their plethora of negative remarks. Their criticism won't change my mind but frankly I don't want to hear it. Last time when I waited until the baby was born, the only negative was 'oh wow, that's..umm, creative.' That works for me.
- —Guest Alana
Hard choice but I'm a secret keeper.
- I agree with keeping the name a pretty-much secret thing, because what happens if someone steals the name that you had your heart set on? I, sadly have people in my family who are just THAT spiteful and evil. But then again, I also know my grandma and my mom also don't want to greet the new generation JUST yet. Will they ever be ready? Probably not but I am. I can't wait for my new bundle of vocal cords to arrive!
- —Guest thinkin-about-havin-a-lil-heathen
It's good to get input!
- My boyfriend and I are currently awaiting the birth of our child and we have both boy and our girl names picked out. The girl name was easy everyone loved the name and we had no objections. The boy name however wasn't so loved. I like the name but didn't love it and my boyfriend loved it. But with our friends input and what not, we have tweaked the name and spelled it differently so now I love it also! Friends input can be great. But if make sure they don't choose for you. At the end of the day its still your name.
- —Guest miababy
One name, no matter the gender of baby.
- Every baby is a gentle and special soul. After listing what seemed like hundreds of names we settled on one, the same name for either a boy or a girl. It is our choice and I don't care about what others think. As it turns out his name is Kelli and he is as cute as can be! It is so hard to decide on a name, follow your heart!
- —Guest Dena
Negative Input Not Always Bad
- I say share - if you get a lot of negative input then maybe it's a name you should reconsider - there is a lot of reserach that shows that children with very different or difficult names often have a harder time in life. While the parents may not think it's a big deal if the name they love is disliked by the masses but the child may have a very different outlook - think of how the child will adapt to the name in the process.
- —hostdiane
