I can't believe I have not written on of baby names yet. The name of this baby has been a hot topic during this pregnancy. The following is my philosophy on how to name a child. Or at least the rudiments of my philosophy on how to name a child.
I am opposed to choosing a name based on if it's 'cute' or 'pretty'. That's what I call a junk-food name: a moment at the lips, a lifetime on the kid. I need a name to be meaningful to me-- in addition to sounding nice. My DS is named after my grandfather and DH's grandfather. Both very special people. There is someone I wouldn't mind naming this baby after but DH doesn't like the name and I told him he could have more of a say over this kid's name because I had so much influence over the last one. I still have to LIKE the name for this kid, and it still has to be meaningful to me, but I won't pressure him into something only I like.
The problem is that all the names he likes-- well, most of them, are -- as I mentioned above-- junk food names. Think of all the 30-year-olds you know today called Stephanie and Jennifer and Jessica. Think of all the 15 year-olds called Brittney. I feel like parents called their kids these names because they were hot or cute at the time. Like Mary or Doreen or Sharleen or Doris or Carol were in their time. Matilda. Some old names are coming back now-- Bella, Ella stuff like that. Personally, All these names are fine, but they shouldn't be chosen on the basis of whether they're popular today. What's popular today becomes dated very fast. It's also unimaginative to use a name just because everyone else is.
Biblical and other classic names are usually a good standby. Jacob, for instance, is always a good, solid name, although it's also a very popular one. Has been in the top ten for centuries. Then again, boys names, at least those ones at the top of the charts, usually lean towards the more conservative. Then you get things like Aiden and Haydn and Kaydn, Baydn, Ethan, Tyler, Hunter, Dylan, Jaydn -- I'm seeing them a lot on baby name charts but do they really mean anything to the parents choosing them? I hope so. I might be mistaken. I don't want to alienate little Haydn's parents just because the name is not meaningful to ME. I mean, Haydn may be a lot more meaningful to those parents than, say, Michael or Nathan, which are both of the classic and/or biblical variety. But my point is that I am against choosing names for my own children unless they are based on something that I can connect to. Anything else is empty calories. Nice at the moment but later on has the chance of becoming just extra weight.
Now, what does 'meaningful' actually mean? As I mentioned, my DS is named after people who are dear to us. There's no need to explain why that is meaningful. I know another couple who named their baby a name that means 'tranquil'. That's because they're both frazzled people and they wanted the opposite for their son. Some people name their kid after an event or a place that they would like to remember-- like if the parents met in Denver or Georgia. These are just some examples. I've seen families with theme names. Like namig all the kids names that start or end with the same sound or names that rhyme or all the kids are named after different birds or places. This can get tacky, but it doesn't have to be. If all my kids had 'nature' names, I wouldn't mind. It's what we're into, and both my husband and I have 'nature' names already, though DS doesn't. In short, a meaningful name has some thought behind it besides just 'does this sound nice with our last name.' The source and depth of the meaning can vary.
Names that DH has been choosing ring, to my ears, as junk-food names. I told him that instead of just reading through lists of names to see what he likes, he should start with an idea that he likes and work from there. For instance, he loves the sea. He loves music. There are plenty of names that would resonate with those ideas.
Well, we're still working on this but we're going to have to move fast. Baby is upside-down and getting ready to make an appearance sometime soon.
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