Most of you know that I'm Totally naming obsessed! Here is an article from the founder of Nameberry that encapsulates so many good guidelines and research about naming.
I violated (only partially) one of these rules and gave my girls girlie names. However, I made sure that they had very masculin nick naming options.
http://www.learnvest.com/2012/06/6-ways-to-pick-a-baby-name-that-will-make-your-child-a-success/
Did you follow theses guidelines?
GOLD / coconut / 8266 posts
I never thought to Google DD's name until just now! I love names as well. I'm already brainstorming for the next baby 
pineapple / 12566 posts
Most of these are pretty good, common sense tips.
DS's name in google turns up a lot of old dead French people. I actually think it is a good thing to remain a bit more anonymous rather than knowing that every hit for your name is in fact *you*.
pomegranate / 3779 posts
We've picked a girly name for DD, but I have a girly name and am am engineer and DH is an engineer, so I figure that cancels it out.
We had two rules for picking out a name - it couldn't be on the most popular lists, and the name had to work well in both cultures. His parents do not speak English and my parents do not speak Spanish. Luckily there are lots of options for English/Spanish.
watermelon / 14206 posts
My DH feels very strongly against co-ed names. He has one and he has always disliked it. He doesn't want to do it to a son OR daughter, and I tend to agree.
Otherwise, I tend to follow the rest of the guidelines. DS's name is very classic. S wasn't so much, though. I do want to find something more classic for LO, but if I fall in love with another name, I'll just go with that.
I def try to stay off of the name lists, though.
apricot / 335 posts
I love names too. We picked names that fit these criteria, "normal" but not too popular.
papaya / 10343 posts
I don't know that being very google-able is always a good thing. When I got married I went from being the only person online with my name (that I ever found, anyways) to one of thousands with my name. I sort of love the anonymity. Before getting married when I was beginning my job search, I googled myself to see what employers would see and didn't love finding things I had done in high school (not necessarily bad-- but not necessarily great either) all over the place. People are stalk-able enough these days... no need to make it easier by giving a super unique name for the purpose of google-ability!
pomegranate / 3643 posts
We fit all of those.
BUT it's a pretty sexist and racist standard! Give your girls masculine names? "William" is not associated with any culture?? (yes it is - white European!)
I guess that's the world we live in though!
honeydew / 7687 posts
Interesting. I think the Google aspect is silly though, because by the time an employer is going to be Googling your baby, the search results that are up today will probably be long gone.
blogger / pineapple / 12381 posts
@jedeve: yeah, when they mentioned that Claire and some of those other names were class and race less, I kind of chuckled. They are from the dominant culture, which is white and middle class.
I think the google aspect isn't silly because the Internet is forever. What you think might be temporary is there for anyone to find. Forever. I think google-ability it definitely a double edged sword.
papaya / 10570 posts
Great news for us! We gave our daughter a traditionally boys name - hopefully it will work to her advantage!
persimmon / 1436 posts
How interesting! Especially the positive/negative initials statistics...I mean, we definitely wouldn't have wanted to go with initials that spelled anything "bad" but I found it interesting that there were actual longevity statistics tied to them.
I think we filled all of those criteria, though!
papaya / 10560 posts
Interesting. I think we did pretty much follow these guidelines, but didn't do the google search! Maybe with this next one!
honeydew / 7295 posts
No. I named my son a name I liked. I want him to be successful and all that but I don't want to get caught up in statistics. I also really love very feminine names. Adore them.
honeydew / 7589 posts
Interesting. I definitely gave Viviana a feminine name, but I don't regret it. I love the name and it fits her perfectly.
pomegranate / 3113 posts
My hubby's last name is so rare (and hard to spell and pronounce) that our kids are doomed from the start! We will give them short and easy first names, but it was a battle to find first names we liked that work well in both his first language and in English. The kids will have my last name as a middle name (again, poor things...it's not difficult but it is long). As far as google goes, they will likely be the only ones out there with these names -- I just tried it and got no results for either our girl name or boy name -- but even searching only DH's last name brings up results for just him, his brother, father, cousin, uncle, other brother, aunt, and another cousin.
Anyway...we are staying off the name lists and the kids will have neutral initials. But I don't think there's any way we COULD follow all the "rules" in our situation and I'm fine with that.
eggplant / 11408 posts
Eh, I don't know about some of this. Some things make sense, but why do I need to make sure my daughter has a masculine name? Because girly girls aren't successful? I don't buy it. If you like a gender neutral name, great (@Cherrybee: I ADORE your baby's name), but why am I going out of the way to make sure my daughters' names are as "un-girly" as possible? Sounds sexist to me.
Our conditions for a name are to make sure each child has a name they can grow into ( could you run for president with this name?) and to make it as sixth-grade-proof as possible (ie, avoid names that make you a target for mocking). We also are aware of the initials thing and want to include a patron saint's name in there somewhere. I think names should have meaning and make you sound respectable, no matter what you choose to do.
Lol, that was way more intense than I intended it to be. Sorry about that 
grapefruit / 4582 posts
Yeah, I thought it also reflected pretty racist and sexist standards. I feel bad for any "Lakisha's" reading this.
blogger / pineapple / 12381 posts
@LovelyPlum: I think she was just relaying what the data show, because like it or not, the world is sexist. I obviously didn't name my girls boy names, but I did make sure they could have boy nicknames. We also did a patron saint too, by the way
pineapple / 12526 posts
We fit most of those.
We wanted a very strong, classic, yet feminine name. I think we accomplished that.
I also thing the google anonymity is good. The only match for C's name is a couple ancestry.com hits from the 1940s.
admin / wonderful grape / 20724 posts
@Mrs. Jacks: totally agree that it's the world that discriminates! Such a shame that name advice has to reflect that, but I see where the interviewee was going with their advice!
eggplant / 11408 posts
@Mrs. Jacks: fair enough. Maybe that's what I'm pushing back against And I love the saint thing. I'm the weirdo who has seriously, on several occasions, considered Bonaventure for a boy's middle name. Well, it would be a second middle name, but still. So clearly old fashioned names don't scare me...maybe they should. Oh well
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I don't know...my ethnic name has served me well, no one forgets me...not sure if that is my personality though?
The issue I have is that this doesn't account for families with a non American parent. My husband's criteria would probably contradict this entire list.
I really think names should be considered globally, these days you don't know where the person on the other end is from.
grapefruit / 4800 posts
We have a good blend of unique and classic, which has made naming LO2 really hard to find that nice blend again.
I don't want to name my girls anything masculine though I do try to avoid names ending in -ette or -y, though in french -e is a common ending so I might compromise on that part.
I do agree with the others that it's sad that the job market is a bit racist and sexist. My husband has an ethnic name I guess (I've never heard of an American with the name), but since it's a European name it's served him well in the job market by making him memorable and opening up conversations.
honeydew / 7687 posts
@Mrs. Jacks: That's true, it'll be out there forever. We did google his name for fun but wouldn't have changed our minds unless it was something seriously atrocious.
I too am troubled by the sexist/racist reporting... how boring would it be if everyone was named along these rules anyways!
pear / 1837 posts
We adhere to most of these, except for the fact that LO shares a name with a rabbi in pretty much every major American city so he's got a lot of built-in Google anonymity...
wonderful grape / 20453 posts
Hmm not really. Ella is feminine, kind of popular, and her middle name is ethnic. I have a very feminine name and DH's first name is a name that both men and women have. We're both successful engineers, so whatever it was hard enough picking a name we both liked, let alone one that factored other considerations in 
Plus, who knows what the world will think in 20 years!
pineapple / 12793 posts
We met all categories but went with a feminine name. Our last name is a common male first name (think Peters) and I think that already lends an air of masculinity. Her name does have the option of a very masculine nickname - Vinny, so if she needs that she can use it.
We also had to consider a name that would be pronounced similarly in English and Spanish.
| Member | Posts |
|---|---|
| Chuckles | 1 |
| poppygirl15 | 1 |
| catgirl | 1 |
| bees_knees | 1 |
| superkate | 1 |
| blairkiday | 1 |
| Today | Monthly Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Topics | 0 | 0 |
| Posts | 1 | 0 |
Ask for Help
Make a Suggestion
Frequently Asked Questions
Bee Levels
Acronyms
Most Viewed Posts
Hellobee Gold
Hellobee Recipes
Hellobee Features
Hellobee Contests
Baby-led Weaning
Bento Boxes
Breastfeeding
Newborn Essentials
Parties
Postpartum Care Essentials
Sensory Play Activities
Sleep Training
Starting Solids Gear
Transitioning to Toddler Bed
All Series
Who We Are
About the Bloggers
About the Hostesses
Contributing Bloggers
Apply to Blog
Apply to Hostess
Submit a Guest Blog
Hellobee Buttons
How We Make Money
Community Policies
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
32 comments