10 Top Tips for Choosing a Baby Name

Are you getting stressed about deciding on the perfect name for your baby? You’re not alone! We’ve collated some top tips to help…

Even if you class yourself as a friendly person who rarely dislikes others, when it comes to choosing a name for your new arrival, you might find there are actually quite a few skeletons that pop out of the baby-naming-closet after all…!

“Ooh no, we can’t have ******, he was a bully at school.”

Or

“We definitely can’t have **** because that reminds me of someone I used to work with who was totally bone idle!”

Sound familiar?

The way we associate names with people we know or have come across during our own lives will often what we choose for our own children. You could have your heart set on something but your partner disagrees because it conjures up a personal reference from their life or they might like a name but it feels a bit way-out for you, that other people might not like it, or that your child won’t like it when they grow up.

There may be pressure to uphold a family naming tradition but you’re worried your child will end up with a name they really dislike – or worse, your relationship with those named is troubled, so it’s not a good association.

Then there’s the consideration of what their nicknames will be, middle names, how the first names work with surnames and of course what the initials will spell out – no one wants to have initials that spell something rude or that could be the butt of friends’ jokes in years to come.

It’s a minefield!

The responsibility of naming another human being can be daunting – so much choice, so many potential clangers! While we wouldn’t dream of suggesting specific names, these top tips should hopefully help in choosing the right one for your little bundle:

• Say the full name out loud – how does the name sound with your surname, does it run together nicely or is it hard to say?
• Check the name goes with your other children’s names – you might want them to have rhyming or alliterative names, or you might want to avoid this completely.
• Contemplate all possible nicknames – do you like the shortened versions of the name?
• Don’t forget about the initials – they could form a nickname of their own!
• Don’t complicate the spelling.
• Look up meanings if you’re stuck for inspiration.
• Most name associations don’t last, but try to avoid passing trends.
• Try to not be too influenced by opinions and don’t be afraid to change tradition if you want to - the only opinions that really matter are yours and you can consider using a family name as a middle name instead if you need to keep relatives sweet!
• If you really can’t decide, just create a shortlist. When your little one arrives, you’ll know within a few days – and don’t forget, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland you’ve got 42 days to decide, and in Scotland it’s 21 days before you actually need to register the ‘forever’ name.
• Keep it a secret! (Don’t tell anyone your name until after the baby’s born). Whatever dilemmas led you to choose the name you want, family and friends will learn to love it

For such an important decision and with so much to consider, it’s understandable we can become stressed and sometimes obsessed.

In reality however, the name you choose will be perfect and after your baby arrives you’ll be hard pushed to imagine them with any other name.  

Happy naming!

Still stuck? Check out these sites for a few name ideas:

• Baby Names
• The Bump – Top 100 baby names for 2021
• What to Expect – Including gender-neutral names and names inspired by the seasons
• Baby Centre