Tips on Naming your Baby

Naming the new arrival in your family can be a trying experience. Here are a few hints to make your job easier.

Yashoda and her husband Gautam were overjoyed at the birth of their baby. They were deciding on their baby name. However, friends and members of the family soon swamped them with their suggestions. From parents to distant relatives, everyone had their own opinion. Gautam finally got so exasperated that he banned visitors from even bringing up the topic.

Naming your child can be a wonderful experience for both you and your husband. There is a special feeling when both of you sit down to pick out a name for the child you have created together. Choosing a name for your baby is also a serious decision. After all, the name you select will have an impact on your child and on you for the rest of your lives.

Think it Over

Always remember that your child has to live with his name for the rest of his life. Therefore, he should be named only after giving some thought to all the possible alternatives. Some parents like to wait until they have given birth before they think of choosing a name. Do remember that childbirth is a painful and exhausting process. In the moments just after you have given birth, are you sure that you are capable of taking a rational decision about your baby's name?

A woman is usually not very aware of her thoughts just after childbirth. Besides, what sounds cute at that time might very well turn out to be a mistake later on. For example, would you want your child to go through life being called Honeybunch?

Try it Out

Another point to remember is to try out how the entire name will sound when it is called out. A good name is always easy to pronounce. This is not just for other people but also for the child himself. Put the name and surname together to see if it can be spoken out easily. Sometimes, the name and surname put together may come out as a garbled mess, especially if they have the same syllables. Make sure you choose a name that can be clearly spoken.

A good way of testing out a potential baby name is to stand at the doorway of the kitchen and call out the name loudly, a few times. Pretend that your child is older and you are calling him for dinner. Does the name make you uncomfortable? If yes, think about how it will sound if you shout out your child's name while he is with a group of people. Select a name which both you and your child will be comfortable with, when you are out in public, a few years down the line.

Make it Short

Try to avoid choosing a name that is too long. Many parents give their children names that are three or four syllables long and are disappointed when other people shorten the name. If you give your child a long name, there is no doubt that at some point in his life, the child is going to have his name shortened. This sets a stage for your child to inherit potentially embarrassing nicknames. While a nickname need not remain with a person for the rest of his life, it could still put your child in a situation where he does not like his name. If you would still like your child to have a long name, pick one that is easy to pronounce.

Also take a look at your child's initials. Many parents give their child perfectly normal and innocent sounding names until the initials of each name are put together. Then they discover that the initials spell out something embarrassing. Such initials could be used to tease your child during his school years and sometimes, even later on.

Finding a suitable name for your child need not be a harrowing experience. It just needs some thought and a little careful consideration.

We have a HUGE searchable database of cool and unique baby names with meanings - Hindu, Muslim, Sanskrit, Urdu, and Jain names based on mythology sorted by Hindu rashi and easy for foreigners to pronounce.