Maybe
this sounds crazy, but usually a Mother just knows what feels right for
the name of her child. Call it intuition. Occasionally, men have this
gift, too. It is wise to discuss this together before getting into the
baby delivery room, though, so to help couples facing this decision I
wrote this article. Plus, it's a fun subject.
So many
people pick names based upon their parents names, or names Hollywood
stars or Soap opera stars are picking for their children.
I've noticed people who
were fans of the Soap Opera, Santa Barbara later had children and named
them Mason, Ethan, Julia, and Eden. Are we going to name children simply
the name that is most popular? Or will we follow the current pop-culture
rage? Or do we believe our child needs a unique name?
During the
"hippy" generation, many parents named their kids nature-type
names like, Star, Flower, Joy, Faith, Forrest, River, Brook, and so
forth. You'll see names of stars indicate this from Frank Zappa's Moon
Unit to Faith Hill. I have met people named Autumn and Summer to River
and figured, well, their parents were from the 60's Generation.
New baby names include
names of places, like Shiloh, or celebrity-type of status, such as
Chanel or Angelina or Ben. Children from the early 1990's starting
getting called Trinity, after the female character from The Matrix. I
haven't seen any NEO's, though.
Some people name their
children after seasons or months, such as Spring, Summer, August, June,
and so on. There are many names which have ethnic roots, such as with my
own daughter, who is named Galen. Galen is,
of course a Gaelic
ascendancy. Other examples of ethnic roots
might be Maria, a common Hispanic name, Olga, most likely Russian, Che,
Argentinean, Helga, German, Olaf, Norwegian, Sven, Swedish, and so forth.
I've always found
people's names fascinating. Names matter. If you
follow names like I do, you know that there is a numerology value in a
name, as well as the horoscope birth from the date, time, and place
where your child will be born. One, you likely cannot control. The
other, you can. So, with the name, take extra care.
In America, the top
baby names, according to the U.S. Social Security Administration's most
recent report, are:
For the boy's names on
this list, you can see the Biblical theme is still quite popular (Jacob,
Michael, Joshua, Matthew, Daniel, Christopher, Andrew, Anthony are all
the names of famous Biblical figures and/or saints). With girl's names,
it seems that the popularity is based more around a theme of BEAUTY than
religion. Emily is a name meaning rival. So, I suppose it's a version of
EVE to ADAM. Abigail and Hannah are both Biblical names. According to
BehindTheName.com, Emma was a
matchmaker (although Emma also ties-back to a German saint), Madison is
a contemporary name, but almost all the other names on this list are
names with ties to BEAUTY. Ava means "voice" or "sound" while Sophia is
Greek for "wisdom". Samantha is unknown although one site said it
is Aramaic for "listener", so that is unique to this list.
I've always felt that
Isabella and Olivia are two of the most beautiful names ever, and those
names do, indeed originate from names of former Queens. Would it surprise you if
a girl with that name liked the finer things in life? Some of the Hindu
names that are most popular include Shiva, Ravi, Zane, and Ganesh -- all
names derived from Hindu God's. So, clearly, American's are not alone in
their penchant for names based upon a religion or religious principle.
Something interesting I noted was that many popular French names came
from artists, poets, and political leaders. I wonder why other
ethnicities don't honor more poets and artists than saints. Obviously,
Homer and Chaucer didn't exactly rate high on the list of names for men.
As a side note, my father, named Homer, never liked his name, until my
brother (the English teacher) pointed out that Homer was a great poet.
So, kudos to Grandma!
Want more baby naming resources?
Some of the best resources I have found for naming a
child can be found through the following sites:
http://www.thinkbabynames.com/ - an excellent
resource of Christian names and other name resources, plus with
statistics of popularity of the names you love most.
What blew me away was
the database of names ranging from all of these Ethnic backgrounds,
ranging from African, American, Arabic, Aramaic, Armenian, Assyrian,
Australian, Babylonian, Basque, Celtic, Cherokee, Chinese, Contemporary,
Czechoslovakian, Danish, Egyptian, English, Farsi, Finnish, Flemish,
French, Gaelic, German, Ghanaian, Greek, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi/Hindu,
Hopi, Hungarian, Irish, Israeli, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mexican,
Native American Indian, Nigerian, Norse, Norwegian, Old English, Old
French, Old German, Old Norse, Old Welsh, Persian, Polish, Portuguese,
Russian, Sanskrit, Scandinavian, Scottish, Slavic, Spanish, Swahili,
Swedish, Teutonic, Turkish, Vietnamese, Welsh, Yiddish! Whew!
There are so many types
of names based upon ethnicity, it would take a Bible of Names to print
them all. I found the process of searching through names rather
impressive.
I often look up
people's names for a general sense of who they are at Kabalarians:
http://www.kabalarians.com/index.cfm which has many useful free
features. I love their first name look-up, and looked up Scott and
Scotty to get some insights into what they thought about me:
"The name of Scott
creates a quick, analytical, and clever mind; you are creative,
versatile, original, and independent. You have large ambitions, and it
is difficult for you to be tolerant and understanding of those who
desire less in life or who are more slow and methodical by nature.
[sigh] Patience is not your forte. You do, however, have leadership
ability and would never be happy in a subservient position. You are
ambitious and aggressive by nature. You would be happiest in positions
where you are free to express individually and creatively and where
opportunities are not restricted; you desire freedom, and do not
tolerate being possessed by others. You appreciate change and travel,
and the opportunity to meet and mix with others, and to influence them
with your creative ideas."
Yep. that's me:
Ambitious, sporty, clever, independent, leader, free, love travel,
creative ideas, influencing others, mixing. They nailed it.
Of course, I also go by
"Scotty" - especially with friends and when playing my sax. So, here is
the difference one letter can make to a name: "In your work, you would
seek a position offering self-expression through contact with people,
such as sales or teaching, or a position giving scope to your creative,
artistic talents. You are good-natured and likeable, and people tend to
confide in you and seek your advice in personal problems. Others sense
your sincere interest and desire to help, and you can always be counted
on to see the bright side of any problem." Hmm. Scotty, the Sax Player.
Creative and fun, yep, that's me, too.
Interesting, huh? Well,
okay, I'm biased. But, look up your own name, and see how you enjoy it
and how accurate they might be for your own name. I have one particular
ex-girlfriend who seems to always have had her relationships end in
disaster. You know, if she read the lookup on her name, she just might
change it, as it pretty much predicts that type of result: struggle,
strife, difficulties manifesting, creative with handicrafts, and
clever-minded. That was her. I read my own name description and her name
description with a friend and she laughed at how
ironic it is in they were so accurate for her. We then went through all of her names for
her kids, and it was amazing how accurate the Kabalarians had the first
names of her children, too.
One of their main
points is that you must know the whole name, though, so I probably
should order a full name analysis to see how "balanced" I am.
Anyway, it may be a good idea to run your entire baby name through their
system to see how your baby's lot in life might turn out. After all, if
half of life is predetermined and the other half free will, we might as
well make the predetermined part as healthy as possible, right?
http://www.babynamesgarden.com/unusual-baby-names.aspx has a list of
unusual names, of which I thought some were funny: Aslin - is this like
Aslan but they never READ the book Chronicles of Narnia (just saw the
movie)? Or, Kerren, is this someone who just wanted to name Karen but
had to be different? Jewellah struck me as cool, but probably just
because I like Jewel, the singer.
BabyNamesWorld.com had a
wise piece of advice: "If you decide to choose a popular name, don’t
pick one of the top ten names of recent years. Choose one that’s
slightly less popular. Find a happy medium and pick a name that’s not
too unusual, but not too popular. There are various web sites that list
the names chosen most often for each year. Avoid the top ten of the last
five years and see if there are any names you like within the top 100 or
1000." They have many other useful suggestions for how to name your baby
at this site.
Whatever name you pick,
remember that your baby is special. Give each baby the tender love and
care they need and deserve and watch a special miracle grow inside of
you, too. Also, if you are a wise parent, you will observe the behavior
of your child and change their name if they seem to act other than their
name.
For example, I was called
David up until the age of two. If you look up David, you will see that I
am, indeed, not much of a David, and much more of a Scott or Scotty. My
Mother was wise in saying, "you know, he's not a David, he's a Scotty!"
even before I quit wearing pampers. Of course Scott and Scotty could
either mean a Scotsman or "painted warrior" depending upon where you
look. I made the change from Scotty to Scott myself at the age of 7 or 8
years later. It can be useful to change our name if we don't like it,
although a hassle. So, try to get your babies' name right, then do your
best to reinforce who the huggies-wearing toddler is as they grow up. I
remember one of my Mom's favorite songs when I was growing up as a kid
was "Watching Scotty Grow" by Mac Davis. Mac was another guy who came
from rags to riches, but in the song he sings of these joyful moments
just hangin' out with his kid, who is full of fun and life. My Mom would
hear this song, and she said, "you're my last one, it makes me happy,
and sad, to see you grow up." I always liked the last line to that song,
"'cause
Me and God are watching Scotty grow.... Me and God watching our Scotty
grow."
You might differ on a
name, but keep at it until you find one you both like. I think finding
an agreement before you put the baby name on the birth certificate just might
be a good idea. Best of luck, and may the name you choose be what you
most feel for your child.... and, like Scotty, may it be blessed!
Love is the Answer
A final word about babies
and baby names... my sister once told me that "A child can never have
too much love." I agree. I opened the website for
http://www.luvs.com,
and they had a remade version of the Beatles' classic, All You
Need Is Love. Forty years later, that
title is still right on the mark. Love is the answer, love is all you
need to choose a baby name. Through love, you will find the name that
most fits your little baby.
Please
note: This article is intended for entertainment purpose only. The author of this article may not be certified as a
licensed psychotherapist -- please consult professional assistance as your
situation dictates.
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