Naming Children After Presidents and Celebrities

Naming a child can be tricky. While selecting names for their children, many parents simply pick names, they like. However, being aware of such trends may help parents understand the reasons for their choice better. It may also help them discriminate between names that are creative or expressive, and plain weird.

Some common naming trends include selecting names based on:

Naming Children after Presidents

Parents looking for a name for their newborn baby draw inspiration from various sources. This includes political figures, such as presidents or presidential candidates. In fact, new presidents often spawn naming trends and many past presidents' names have been on the popularity lists of the time. At various points in history, scores of parents have chosen to name their children Abraham, Andrew, Dwight, Franklin, and Woodrow.

Today, parents are somewhat more cautious now about naming children after presidents. Nevertheless, presidential names remain more popular than ever before. (In comparison, however, instances of children named after vice presidents seem to be rarer - for instance, there are not too many Hannibels or Spiros around.)

What, one wonders, is the attraction of naming babies after presidents? Is it about political affiliation or inclination? Yes, but only to a certain extent. Actually what is attractive about a new presidential name is that it soon becomes a household name. Most Americans choose presidential names because they represent America and its essential spirit.

We adore them, criticize them, and follow details of their personal lives with interest. And some of us go a step further and even name our children after them.

Naming Children After Celebrities

Naming children after celebrities is hardly new and the names of movie stars, sportsmen, and people in the news, have spawned generations of children with common names. This is because parents like to give their children names of people they admire. Also, they hope that by sharing the name of their idol, the children will also be assured success, fame, and fortune in their lives.

While there is nothing wrong with naming children after celebrities, there are many reasons why this need not be the sole criterion for selecting a name.

• Naming your child after a public figure will mean that people will always associate the name with that person. This is not fair to your child.

• The image conjured up by the name may not match the personality of your child.

• Some celebrities enjoy only a brief moment in the limelight. You may even grow over your fascination for a star. In such circumstances, it may not be appropriate to name your child on a momentary whim.

• All too often, celebrities are associated with controversies. If this happens, your child may become an innocent victim of someone's scorn.

• Some star-struck parents, who name a baby after a celebrity, tend to set high expectations for their child. This benefits neither the parent nor the child.

• Often, one of the parents may decide on a celebrity name, which the spouse dislikes.

You may find the baby names checklist useful as you cull through literally hundreds of names that have immediate positive associations but could never make the final cut after a little analysis. Choosing baby names is easy.