When I grew up, I was plagued with a boy name. My name is Alexandra, but my friends have always called me Alex. I hated it. I was so ugly, my mom made me keep short hair, and my name just didn’t help. When I finally did outgrow the boy look, I still had trouble with my name. Once in middle school, a substitute teacher wrote me up for trying to sit in the “wrong” seat in class. (By the way, ‘Alex’ and it’s variants is a very popular girl’s name lately.)

But on the the other hand, I had four friends named Amy and three named Jennifer. What I always wanted for myself was a normal name–something that didn’t make me feel like a weirdo for having a boy’s name, but not such a popular name that I had to use my last initial all the time.

Needless to say, I wanted to be careful while choosing names for my children. When I was pregnant with my son in 1996, I lived in Korea. I was 23, married a year and a half, and none of my friends were having babies. So when my husband and I started talking about names, we really didn’t have any outside influences. I told him I had always liked the name Jacob for a boy. It flowed nicely together with our middle name choice, and so Jacob was our boy name. I had never personally known a soul named Jacob, but I thought it sounded nice. Classic, but not too old fashioned. We weren’t as sold on a girl’s name. We had two (Anja or Grace) and said if it was a girl, we’d just have to look at her and decide what fit. My best friend’s name was Tanja, but I certainly didn’t know an Anja or a Grace.

We had a boy. His name is Jacob. And like I said, I had never known anyone else with that name.

We returned to the States when he was just a few months old. Imagine my surprise when the first person I met with a baby the same age told me her son’s name was Jacob! (He had the same middle name, too!) We soon moved to a small town with a large Amish population. Many of their boys were named Jacob, but they always choose Biblical names, so I didn’t think about it. But then we moved again, and my son started Kindergarten. There were three Jacobs just in his class…

Turns out, Jacob was the 5th most popular boy name of the 1990s, and has been the #1 most popular name in the US since 1999 (according to the Social Security Administration). How could I have been so unlucky?

Then 11 years later, I became pregnant again. When our ultrasound revealed that the baby was a girl, we revisited the names. We had generally become enamored of Grace in the intervening 11 years. We told my mother-in-law. “Oh,” she exclaimed, “I don’t like names with one syllable. I’ll call her Gracie.”

Hmm. Nope. Couldn’t do Gracie. Besides, I know how to use the internet now and saw that Grace was fairly popular (it was not even on the radar back when I first thought of it in 1996). So the name conversation started again.

At church soon after that, a friend of mine who was due two weeks before me found out she was also having a girl. “Have you picked a name?” I asked. “Yes! Anya.” Different spelling; same name. I felt deflated. How could this happen? We went with a hybrid name. AnnaGrace. I still haven’t met anyone with that name, though I know a MaryRuth, JoLynn and a few other combos. A lady in the waiting room of my pediatrician’s office told me that combined names are very popular right now. Sigh.

There are sociologic implications behind how I could have picked the same names as millions of other women without having consulted them. The same childhood media influences, etc. But the bottom line is this: most of us want our babies to have names that do double duty. They fit in while standing out.

The easiest way to know if a name is “too” popular for you is to consult the internet. The Social Security Administration has compiled a handy list for every decade and recent individual years. There are several articles right here on BabiesOnline, too! But a word of caution: recent research supports the idea that boys with very unpopular names tend to have social problems. In that light, maybe Jacob isn’t so bad.

What about you? Do you like your name? How did you choose your baby’s name? And do you mind if it’s too popular?

I am astounded at the things I am learning about pregnancy, even though this is not my first.  Today, I learned that I had angered a distant relative when I named my now 11 year old child Rebekkah.  Apparently, the distant relative wanted to name her child Rebekkah and felt I’d “stolen” her name.

This situation put me in a quandary because I felt slightly embarrassed by my lack of courtesy.  First of all, this woman has not dated in decades, so I guess I was surprised that she had even “picked” out a name.  I was even more surprised that she still remembered 11 years later that I’d offended her and felt compelled to share that with me at this point in time.

Another thing that surprised me was the notion that one must check with friends and relatives to get their approval and to make sure that no names are “stolen”.  This is my 6th child, and I honestly never knew that I’d offended people by “stealing” names.  In fact, I honestly never even knew that it was considered polite to actually check with people before naming a child.  I never even guessed that I should check with people who weren’t even considering having children…just in case.  What do I know? Not too much it appears.

I discussed this with a friend across the street.  She said that yes, she had checked with friends and relatives before naming her children.  One friend had liked a certain name that she also liked and she did ask permission to name her child that name!

Another friend, who is having trouble conceiving, has picked out names for the children she hopes will one day join their family.  She confided to me that she was quite upset when another mutual friend got pregnant “by accident” and then named her child the name that she’d picked for her son.

What do you think?  When choosing a name for your child, do you check with extended family and friends to make sure that you don’t take “their” names?  Have you ever been offended when a friend “takes” a name that you wanted for her own child?

Choosing your baby’s name can be a very emotional experience. Sometimes it’s easy. Usually, it’s not. There’s so much to consider, but the most important thing to remember is to love the name. Below is a list of baby names submitted by Babies Online Members in the past 7 days. Maybe you can find the inspiration you are looking for to assist you in choosing the perfect baby name.

Most Recent Baby Names Submitted by Babies Online Members:

Don’t see the perfect baby name above? Go here to see the Babies Online baby names section. You will find a searchable database which includes name definitions, links to the most popular baby names, most unusual baby names, and even a place for you to add your very own baby name suggestion to the list!

Now that I am officially 12 weeks pregnant, and everything seems to be OK, we’ve begun to think about names.

I remember as a young girl, playing with my dolls and giving them names.  I asked my mother if she thought I might be able to name my children those same names when I grew up.  She just smiled.

I can tell you that none of my children are named after my dolls.  In fact, most of my children were named because they were neutral names, or names upon which my husband and I could agree.  I never thought I’d name my children due to compromise, but it happened that way.

I remember that a bunch of  “good names” got thrown out of the running simply because either my husband or I knew of someone nasty who had that name.  Have you ever experienced this?

Last night, as we were driving home, my husband mentioned that he wanted to name our child a certain name if it was a boy.  The name was a very old fashioned German name.  Since we are both of German descent, he thought it was wonderful.   Of course, this leads to another delicate subject: how to tell the love of your life that the name he is smitten with makes you feel nauseous?  It’s a very sensitive subject to be sure.

My one friend said that she and her husband had come to a unique compromise.  She got to name the children if they were girls, and he got to name them if they were boys.  Although this worked for them, I’m not so sure I’d be happy about that compromise.  I don’t think my husband would be either.  One of my co-workers admitted to me that she told her husband outright that since she did the work of carrying and birthing the child, it was hers to name.  Supposedly, he was OK with this reasoning and let her name all of their three children.  Again, I don’t think my husband would go for that “compromise” either.

So for now, we are looking through baby books and baby name web pages, trying to find a name that is mostly acceptable to us both.  The good news is that we have 6 more months to find a name!  I think we can figure it out by then.

So here’s some more mom guilt for you. Baby boys with uncommon or unpopular names are more likely to commit crimes as teenagers and young adults.

Researchers from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania compared the names of juvenile male delinquents to male names in the general population.

They concluded that boys with common names like Micheal, Robert and Brandon are less likely to commit crimes. Boys with unusual names that are not very common – they cite Ernest and Ivan, Kareem and Malcolm as examples – are more likely to break the law.

So how do they think that names cause boys to become criminals? Well, they say that the names don’t cause crime, but rather speculate that parents whose children are more likely to become criminals are more likely to give their child an unusual name.  “They [uncommon names] are connected to factors that increase the tendency to commit crime, such as a disadvantaged home environment, residence in a county with low socioeconomic status, and households run by one parent“.

Does this seem slightly snobbish to you? Single moms and poor people give their kids odd names?

(Aside: According to Rum and Monkey’s White Trash Name Generator, my white trash name is Britney Jo Chickensworth and my son is Walden McTrailer. You can find yours here!)

The researchers also suggest that children with uncommon names are more likely to be teased by other children and the emotional damage may predispose them to commit crimes.  That’s hardly a flawless argument too – I went to school with a kid called David who was mercilessly teased for having freckles, a Richard who was teased for being tall, and another kid called Micheal who was picked on for… I really have no idea why. Names are one of about a million reasons why a child would be teased at school.

And of course, naming your child something unusual is not a guarantee of a life of crime or a impossible barrier to success – consider Donald Trump, Keanu Reeves, Tiger Woods and Barack Obama.

Unusual names are becoming more popular than ever. New parents either seem to pick something classic from the current top ten, or are at the opposite end of the spectrum and choose something unusual.  In 18 years time, half of the babies who are now teenagers will have an unusual name and are they are all going to be criminals? I don’t imagine so.

Do you think giving your child an unusual name is a hinderance, or does it make no difference?

Baby names are definitely a personal thing. What is classic to some is old fashioned and stuffy to others. You may think a name is beautiful and others just think it’s weird. There are definitely trends in baby names, there are some odd ducks out there who give their kids unkind names, and then celebrities take the cake for the bizarre.

Take my son’s name, for example. When he was born, we lived in another country. I named him Jacob, not personally knowing a soul with that name, but feeling like it was one of those fit-in-while-standing-out kind of names. Little did I know it was the most popular name of the year for a boy, and would be for another three years straight. We came back to the US and everywhere we looked there was a Jacob. Poor kid. He likes his name, but every class he’s in, every sports team he’s on, he contends with at least one more boy with the same name. If he had been a girl, we would have named him Grace. It was a bit of an old-lady name, somewhere far back in the top-100 names of that year, but we thought it sounded sweet.

So when I found out I was pregnant last year, and that it was a girl, we went straight back to Grace. And that’s when I discovered it was now in the top-10 names for girls. *sigh* We decided we’d be unusual and give her one of those double-names, like MaryJane or BillyJo. The result: AnnaGrace. Lo and behold, sitting in the waiting room of her pediatrician’s office, some lady told me: oh, yeah, double names are real trendy right now. *double sigh*

Of course, we could avoid all of this follow-the-trend thing by being like celebrities. Go way back and dig up MoonUnit (Frank Zappa). Reach back just a few years to Sage Moonblood (Sylvester Stallone) or the more benign Apple (Gwyneth Paltrow). Or, you could just look back a month to Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa.

Say what?

When actress Lilakoi Moon (formerly known as Lisa Bonet, a “Cosby Show” kid, Moon is currently in “Life on Mars”), and her husband, Jason Momoa of “Stargate: Atlantis,” had their second child in December, that’s what they named him. The news just broke this week on Momoa’s wesbite. His name is Hawaiian, like his daddy’s. And it breaks down to something reminiscent of a Native American descriptor. “He was born on the stormiest, rainy night, so Nakoa (warrior)…Mana(strength/spirit) Kaua (rain) po (dark)….” she wrote. “The name was always going to be Nakoa-Wolf, but Jason did the research on first [and] middle name. [The] 2nd middle name, as you know, is Jason’s.” They spared their not-quite-two year old daughter the same torture. Her name is Lola Iolani.

In many ways, it’s not as bad as, say, the Pennsylvania couple who named their son Adolf Hitler Campbell. I mean, the poor kid can’t even get a birthday cake. But his dad is right about one thing: no one else in the world will have his name! Of course, when we were kids, we all chuckled about someone named Ophelia Butts or Ima Hogg.

Well, to each his own. I suppose we all have the right to change our names if we don’t like what our parents picked, right? And I think if I ever have another baby again, I will not tell people what I’m planning to the child until the day he or she is born.

Several weeks ago, I had written about a gentleman who named his daughter after the Republican presidential and vice presidential candidates. A new trend has developed; this one is also associated with the American presidential elections.

Mothers in Kisumu, Kenya, have celebrated the election of Barack Obama as president of the United States by naming their newborns after he and his wife Michelle. Kisumu is a village in Africa close to where Barack’s father was born.

The day after the elections, there were 15 children born at the local hospital. Five of the male children were named Barack and three of the female children were named Michelle. Many of the mothers interviewed said that they hoped to honor the couple, but they also hoped that their children would be inspired to succeed in life because of their names.

I am deeply touched that women in another country have chosen to name their children after our president elect and his wife. While I think that their intentions are admirable, I guess I wonder – will these children face ridicule because they are named after an American couple? I have never been to Kenya, and so I don’t know if these names will “stand out” from the names that other children have been given. Then again, if the naming trend continues, their names won’t “stand out” anyway.

I wonder what will happen to the babies Barack and Michelle as they grow. Will they spend their lives explaining their names to people? What happens if they meet people who do not support the political ideals of their namesakes? I think of the man I mentioned at the beginning of this blog post who named his daughter Sarah McCain. What happens to her now that the candidates that she was named after lost their bid for the White House?

People in many places celebrated in myriad ways yesterday when Barack Obama was elected the next president of the United States. Perhaps nowhere was the party as enthusiastic as in maternity wards the world over, especially Kenya, Obama’s birthplace.

Today saw a flood of little Baracks, Michelles, and even Obamas, as mothers hope their little bundles of joy will meet with similar success in life as the 44th president-elect and his wife. His name means “Blessed.” Her name asks, “Who is like God?”

One Kenyan mother, Pauline Adhiambo, gave birth to twins in the wee hours of November 5, and named them Michelle and Obama. In the same hospital on that one day, there were at least eight other boys with the president-elect’s name. One mother told a reporter that she and her husband picked the name “because the whole town and the entire world was very enthusiastic about Barack Obama, and we believe he is a great man.”

The trend wasn’t just limited to Kenya, but that country definitely led the way. Obama is a celebrity in Kenya, one of their own who has succeeded beyond all expectations. And, of course, it’s not unusual for mothers to name their children after celebrities and leaders. France has seen its share of Napoleons, for example. I named my son Jacob because I thought it was a nice name, but also because I like the story. He really messed up but he was used by his god, anyway. Now, that’s hope.

So while these moms pray that their children will be as “blessed” and “godly” as their namesakes, I pray that the leaders will live up to such expectations.

Mark Ciptak of Elizabethton, TN has secretly named his newborn daughter Sarah McCain Palin after the Republican Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates without his wife?s knowledge.

Apparently, Ciptak decided to change the name he and his wife had agreed upon for their child which was Ava Grace Ciptak. What was his reason for the change of heart? This was his third child, and he was unable to give financial assistance to the campaign fund for the Presidential hopefuls of his choice. He felt that by ?taking one for the cause? and by naming his child after the candidates, he could ?get the word out? for free.

One of my precious daughters is named Sarah and I admit that I think it is a beautiful name. I do believe though that I would be very angry if my husband had tried something like this when our son was born?for a lot of reasons. Mr. Ciptak disclosed to the media that he acquired a new set of birth certificate forms from the nurse?s station and secretly filled them out without his wife?s knowledge. When leaving the hospital, he gave the set he?d secretly filled out to the nurse instead of the set he and his wife had filled out. I am amazed, but I feel very sorry for poor Mrs. Ciptak.

I feel most sorry for their infant?she will spend her lifetime explaining her name and probably enduring countless taunts from her peers. I know, I probably shouldn?t think about this, but I do. Imagine the stir her name will create if the candidates she was name after are unsuccessful in their bid for the White House!

By the way, Mr. Ciptak also relayed during the interview that although his wife is upset and in shock, she is still speaking to him. He admits that some of their relatives, however, are not at this time.

When asked what he would think if little Sarah McCain Palin becomes a Democrat when she grows up, he says that as an American, she is free to do so and that he wishes the best for his daughter.

What do you think?

I would love to have another child, and even another daughter. I already had a name for her until I saw a listing of popular baby names around the world. I guess I won’t be naming my daughter Sophie. I prefer unique names, and if I named a future daughter Sophie, she’d be sharing the name with many babies around the world. It is currently ranked #4 in England, # 2 in Germany and New Zealand, and the Sophie derivative Sophia was #5 in last year’s U.S. baby girl names .

There’s been numerous psychological studies that link names and people’s perceptions of them. For instance, what do you immediately think of when you hear someone is named Loser or Winner? Positive or negative thoughts? What about names like Temperance, or Charisma, or Cookie?

Do you know of anyone who has named their child something that the child as an adult legally changed? I do. And how about giving children extra long names that are dropped along the name for sheer impracticality? I would be an example of that last one.

Names definitely mean a lot, and parents are known to battle it out until well after the baby has arrived. It’s important to take in many considerations when naming the baby. The considerations could be uniqueness, future trauma the child may experience for being saddled with a ridiculous names (like Desiree Excaltacion — that would be my aunt, who demurred to be called Day instead). Other considerations include naming after older family members but making it sound more modern, or preferring traditional sounding names like Michael for a boy and Emily for a girl.

For those who’ve picked a name but don’t know whether it’s a right one, follow this one simple tip I read somewhere. Open the door to the backyard, yell the name in question 10 times. If by the end of it all, you still like the name, then it’s a keeper. But you’ll probably be yelling it a lot more than 10 times in the future!

The Olympic Games is the most prestigious sporting event in the world, and as well as inspiring athletes to compete for gold, it’s also inspiring baby names across the world.

In China, perhaps to show their pride in hosting the Games, 3,500 babies have been named Aoyun, which means “Olympics” in Mandarin. And, over 4,000 children have been named after the Olympic Games’ mascots, Bei Bei the fish (880 people), Jing Jing the panda (1,240 people), Huan Huan the Olympic flame (1,063 people), Ying Ying the Tibetan antelope (624 people) and Ni Ni the swallow (642 people).

Here in the US, there are lots of baby names inspired by the Olympic Games’ history, athletes and traditions.

The Olympic Games began in Greece, so a source of inspiration is the Greek gods. What about names like Athena, Hera, and Venus for girls, and Jupiter or Apollo for boys?

Athletes with distinctive names inspire names too. For boys, Jesse, after Jesse Owens, the African-American athlete who dominated the track and field events at the 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi Germany, and infuriated Hitler by shattering the Nazi idea of white supremacy in front of the watching world. And for girls, The popularity of Mia is partly due to Mia Hamm, winner of three medals for soccer.

Here’s more Olympic inspired baby names.

Would you pick an Olympic Games-inspired name for your baby?

But it did get nine-year-old Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii taken into court guardianship in New Zealand, so her name could be legally changed to something less stupid. The judge who ordered the guardianship criticized the parents, and others who give their children bizarre names.

New Zealand has laws prohibiting offensive names, but otherwise anything goes. Other names that have been permitted for children include Midnight Chardonnay, Number 16 Bus Shelter, Violence, and twins called Benson and Hedges, named after a brand of cigarettes. A great start in life to be named after booze, smokes, or public transit infrastructure.

Stallion, Yeah Detroit, Fish and Chips (twins), Twisty Poi, Fat Boy, Cinderella Beauty Blossom, Keenan Got Lucy and Sex Fruit were prohibited by name registration staff. What could possibly be going through the minds of parents who thought that last name was suitable for a child?

The popularity of weird baby names is on the up and up, so a little comfort to children saddled with ridiculous names is that they probably won’t be the only one at school with a bizarre name.

Last week a dad from Florida sold the naming rights to his unborn son for $100 to the DJs on a local radio station, so his kid is going to be called Dixon and Willoughby Partin. Last week, I though that was the stupidest thing I’d heard. Until poor Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii, and Number 16 Bus Shelter.

One word–androgyny.

That’s right, the new trend in baby names according to those in the know is names that can work for either male or female babies. There used to be a time where you could pretty much guess the sex of a child when you heard a name. Perhaps I am dating myself?

When I was born, parents were naming their children Michael, John, Michelle or Jennifer. They wanted something conservative and sensible for the most part.

I notice that my friends who are having children today all want something unique and different. It strikes me funny that those who are looking for unique end up inevitably naming their child the same thing as many other parents named their children. The unique name is now–popular.

I think of when I named my daughter Emily 13 years ago. No one at that time was naming their child Emily. In fact, she was named in honor of her great-great-great grandmother Emily who came to America to start a new life. Emily is now the most popular name for girls and has been for several years.

Nine years ago I named my youngest child Grace. Many people asked me why I would chose to name a young child such an “old lady” name. I chose it for many reasons, but mostly because I liked it. Today, when I go to the park, I hear a number of parents calling out the name as they search for their wandering offspring.

Currently, there seems to be a bunch of Logans, Morgans, Madisons and Hunters. All of these names can be for both boys and girls. I think of how my friend from high school and I both considered naming our children the same name when we became pregnant in 2007. Her child was a girl; mine was a boy.

Oddly enough, I didn’t have a problem naming our son Kendall. My father’s name is Kenneth and it seemed to be a modern take on his name. I viewed it as a positive thing. My husband, upon finding out that our chosen name could also be given to a girl, nixed the name from his list. He wanted a masculine name for our son as he felt this was very important. He also wanted a unique name for our first born son. After naming four female children, I was ok with this.

What did we finally end up naming our son? Marshall. It was unique, but also masculine declared my husband.

How do you feel about this baby naming trend? Does it bother you to name a girl baby a name that can be considered masculine? Would it trouble you to find out that your son’s name can also be a name for a girl?

What are they smoking in Florida? A radio show in Orlando was giving away a $100 gas card to the caller with the most interesting item to trade. Dad-to-be, David Partin, called into the show offering the naming rights to his unborn son.

The presenters declared him the winner, and his son is going to be named Dixon and Willoughby Partin with the “and” included, after the show’s presenters.

And the baby’s mom? I’d have given my son’s father a slap upside the head for this kind of thing, but David’s girlfriend, Samantha, who’s due at Christmas, said “Well, it was his choice,” and that “I’d told him that if it was a girl, I’d name her. And if it was a boy, he’d get to choose… I think he might hate David for a while. But after he grows up some, he’ll always have a story about his name. I always wanted that but never did with ‘Samantha.’ ”

I know your brain shrinks while pregnant, but come on, Samantha, Junior is going to hate you too. You are allowed to have an opinion. You have to sign the birth certificate, so don’t mess up your kid’s life for $100. I can think of several mean nicknames and I’m way, way older than a grade schooler.

And then, the story starts getting really twisted. David’s friends started offering him more money to out-bid the radio station and get the chance to name the baby (I’m With Stupid Partin?) So David and Samantha have offered naming rights to their son on the open market, hoping to get more money. Apparently they are hoping that companies will be throwing Benjamins at them for chance to name their son Econo Lube Partin or Pedigree Chum Partin.

Well, the economy is bad, and money’s tight, and a name is just a string of letters… woah, hold on. These people are insane.

And, David plans to get his son’s name tattooed on himself. If their kid does end up named Chuck e Cheese Partin, the lucky winner will get two adverts for one.

Hey, why not sell advertising space on the baby’s head too? Remember that woman who had a casino’s web address tattooed on her forehead?

I’m speechless. You too? Or would you care to comment on this story?

Source: Orlando Sentinel

When my husband and I named our daughter Monet we were pretty sure that it was relatively unique, as far as names go. When she was about two months old I was reading through a parenting magazine and there was her name, smack in the middle of a short article about cool, unique names for babies.

I wanted to run out and buy every copy so people wouldn’t see it and decide to bestow the name upon their daughters. This wasn’t realistic, of course, but I was pretty bummed out about the whole thing.

We named our son Abram because while it is somewhat unique it isn’t really weird. A couple of months ago, however, I was reading in another parenting magazine about a woman who named her daughter Abram. I threw the magazine on the ground and said a little prayer right then that my son’s name wouldn’t be destined to be the next hottest name for little girls.

Maybe I need to stop reading parenting magazines.

It’s such a huge privilege to give a name to a baby. I didn’t take the task lightly. I guess I didn’t expect for it to be an ongoing source of worry, though. I figured that a baby gets a name and that’s the end of it. I didn’t know that I would still have panic attacks over baby names long after my babies were far passed the naming stage.

My husband and I had a little girl’s name picked out even before we were married. The other day, my husband asked how set I was on that name, and tossed out another option.

I like both equally, so I may leave the decision to him. If we have a boy, though, we’ll have a problem.

We’ve had much lengthier discussions over boy’s names, and still can’t settle on one either of us likes, which doesn’t remind us of poorly-behaved relatives, ex-boyfriends, or losers and weirdos we knew in high school.

Babies Online has a host of resources to help expectant parents select a name, including a comprehensive listing of baby names and their meanings, and a list of the most popular names, as compiled by the Social Security Administration.

These are great resources for parents to peruse if they have no ideas for names, to gauge the popularity of a particular name, or to look deeper into the meanings behind their choices. You can also run a numerology report on your unborn baby’s name (just leave out the date-of-birth) to get some insight into the personality traits of the child if you select a certain name.

When I ran two variations of our favorite female name through the report, the personality traits listed so closely matched myself, or, with an alternate spelling, my husband, that I’m convinced of the report’s accuracy!

Unfortunately, none of these resources has helped me and my husband pick a boy’s name. It’s just not happening. It’s definitely one of those situations where I’ll ‘know it when I hear it,’ and I haven’t heard it yet.

I’m only in Week 10 of pregnancy. I know we have plenty of time. But this absence of an obvious boy’s name leaves me convinced we’re going to have a girl. Which makes me a little freaked out; what if we find out it’s a boy? Will the child be scarred for life by being thought of in the feminine for the first 15 or so weeks of her, um–his, life?

Of course, I’m being ridiculous. But maybe this is just to keep my mind off the real fears: giving birth, continuing to work while I raise an infant, being first-time parents, having the money to afford a baby, getting the spare room organized enough to turn it into a nursery!

I had one of those moments this afternoon, where I felt firmly convinced that I could not handle this. What were we thinking anyway? Our whole lives are going to change.

This is a lot more personal than I’ve gotten in this blog, but it is supposed to be a pregnancy diary. If any moms out there would like to offer comments of reassurance, they will be happily accepted. Likewise, pregnant women reading this; please step up and share your fears. We don’t have to be alone in this.

To get back to the topic at hand, I pose another question to you, dear mothers: when did you select a baby name? Were you in the hospital, pulling a name out of the air when the doctors asked what to write on the birth certificate, did you have the ‘perfect name’ in mind before conception, or somewhere in between?

When my mom named my brother Joshua back in 1972 she swore it was considered an odd boy name. Nobody else had this name, and she was proud to bestow upon my brother a unique name that would not be common whatsoever. We all know how this turned out because if you walk through any mall or play area you’ll hear “Joshua, get over here!” or “Joshua, come to Mommy!” several times. Joshua is a common name nowadays, much to my mom’s chagrin.

When I named my babies I wanted to give them unique names too, but I didn’t want to go so far as to give them names that people would never be able to pronounce. I have a relatively unique name (Tamsen) and have always enjoyed the uncommon nature of my name. I also didn’t want my kids to have several friends with her same name. I want them to enjoy the fun that comes with a unique name.

My daughter is named Monet (pronounced Mo-nay, just like the famous Impressionist painter) and my son is named Abram (pronounced Ay-brum). There aren’t any other kids with their same names in any of the playgroups we attend. I did have to correct the attendant at the gym daycare who kept calling my daughter “Mo-nett” and plenty of people seem to think my son’s name is “Abraham,” but other than that I take great delight in telling people my children’s names.

If you plan on naming your baby something unique just know that you can’t get upset if people mispronounce their names. I just politely correct the pronunciation, but I understand that I can’t expect people to automatically know how to correctly pronounce a name they may have never seen before. I’m not snooty about it, and you shouldn’t be either.

Baby names are often the most debated decision among expectant parents. The will of family members and the media comes into play for many parents, who often start name lists before the sex of the baby is even known. Of course, the names chosen are often shaped by the century the parents are living it- and even the decade.

In 1907, the most popular girls? names were Mary, Helen and Margaret, followed by Anna and Ruth. The most popular boys? names that year were John, William, James, George and Charles. One hundred years later, the list looks a lot different. In a survey of the top 20 boys? and girls? names of 2007 only one of these names, William, appeared at all.

Names heard on television, particularly on soaps, have been shown to be a strong influence on the baby names chosen in any particular year. The name Madison was virtually unknown until the movie Splash came out, featuring a mermaid named Madison. Since then, Madison has been steadily climbing the charts and is now the third most popular name of BabiesOnline babies this year.? Next year?s names are impossible to predict, as they vary substantially from year to year.

New television and movie characters, as well as negative associations formed during the year, will no doubt shape the new year?s crop of names. Negative associations with names are often just as powerful as positive ones. People who associate a bad behavior with someone with a specific name have a hard time considering that name for their innocent new baby. So, at the end of 2008, we may have babies named after the new president, whoever he or she may be, new soap characters and perhaps babies named after heroes we have yet to hear from.

This list represents the most popular baby names that Babies Online members named their children in 2007. What did you name your baby?

If you were in love and mushy like me, you’ve probably already discussed possible baby names with your beloved, even before the marriage and pregnancy.And in the first few minutes of finding out that there’s a baby on the way, chances are, you or your spouse will wonder aloud what to name your child. Unless, of course, the baby’s name has already been decided before. And all throughout the pregnancy, you will catch yourself searching for baby names and their meaning, writing these down, saying them out loud with your surname.

One of the reasons why we parents are so eager to find out the baby’s sex is so we can already refer to the bump with a specific name or nickname, rendering the bump unique. Instead of saying, “We’re expecting.” you can now say, “We’re expecting Baby Angeline in June.” or “Our little Pyro is due next week.”

Your baby’s name will add or take away from his personality, growing up years, maybe even job and romance opportunities in the future. Do you give him a common name that everybody easily remembers, or a name so unique nobody can spell it? Do you make him a junior, a third, or the fourth of somebody long dead? Do you name him after famous characters in books or movies or your favorite anime, or do you go the traditional route and combine parents or grandparents’ names? Do you name your child after celebrities or after their babies?

And since children are naturally gifted to reduce even the loveliest of names into something atrocious, no parent can really safeguard their child completely from playground teasing. Still, it would be wise to anticipate the more obvious ones, decide if the name is worth the trouble, before committing to it. ‘Adolf’ would probably be pretty common in Europe but anywhere else, your child may have to be perpetually greeted with the Heil sign.

We named our son Rubeus Iakob for the following reasons:

RUBEUS Latin for “ruby” it is considered a stone of power and passion, bestowing energy and willpower and counteracting lethargy. Ruby is also associated with health and long life and was adopted by alchemists to symbolize the philosopher’s stone (elixir of life). Rubeus is also the perfect name to represent three generations of Arevalos that went before Yakee: Jesus Reuben (father), Ruben (grandfather) and Jesus (great grandfather).

IAKOB Greek name for Jacob (Hebrew) meaning “he who supplants” (supplant meaning ‘to supersede another especially by force or treachery; to take the place of and serve as a substitute for especially by reason of superior excellence or power’). The Biblical Jacob, whose firstborn son was named Reuben, was blessed immensely by God.

Some friends say the name is ‘cool’. Some friends are surprised I didn’t name our child Albus or Sirius instead. Some friends say it sounds like a name of a virus. I rather think it sounds vampiric. However which way, the name is done.

Unless he grows up and decides he wants a name change, that is.