How to Pick a Name for your Baby

Everybody has their own method for choosing names. Some people choose baby names even before they are pregnant. Some people have a hard time choosing a name even after the baby is born.

How will it sound when he is five, ten or twenty years old? Does it match his last name? Will he be able to write it and pronounce it? Will people make fun of him? While you may be the type of person who doesn't succomb to taunting,your child may not be. Be careful not to set them up for that. People can be cruel for no reason at all so try not to provide them with ammunition.

Here are just a few of the celebrity babis born in 2012:

• Ivy Blue- daughter of Beyonce and Jay-Z.
• Maxwell Drew- daughter of Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson.
• Clover Clementyne Watson- daughter of Barry Watson and Natasha Gregson Wagner.
• Camden- son of Kristin Cavalleri and Jay Cutler.
• Hawkins- son of Tony Roma and Candace Crawford.
• Exton- son of Downey, Jr. and Susan Downey.

There are, of course the myriad of baby name books. Most are very thorough with spelling variations, origin and meanings.

Your clergy man will also have a source for baby names

Your friends and acquaintances.

TV shows and movies. How many Bellas, Edwards and Jacobs were born in the past 5 years?

Children of the stars and other famous personalities. Who doesn't want to know what Kate Middleton will be naming her little princess?

Some people like to choose names in languages other than their own for the sheer beauty of it while others do as a neccessity. My husband is from Israel and I am American. We tried to satisfy both cultures by choosing names that would be either the same in both languages or easy to pronounce in either. If you are using a language other than your own, research it and see how it is used and pronounced in other countries. I sure wish my parents had done that with my name (Randi)! Satisfying family obligations can also be a concern for people. As hard as it may be, this is your baby and your choice.

Play on words. Heaven=Nevaeh

Spelling. Ashley, Ashleigh

Acronyms William Oliver Woods

Using the same initials for everyone in the family.

Characters in movies or stories. Amy, Jo, Beth and Meg were popular names for girls after "Little Women" became so popular.

Write it down. See how it looks.

Say it. Say the full name out loud. Say just the first name. Say it angrily. Say it playfully. Say it with the words "the Honorable" or "Dr." before it! You never know!

"Fate tried to conceal him by naming him Smith."~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

When you are having a baby, everybody has an opinion. They will tell you what to wear and how to wear it. They will tell you should breastfeed or they will tell you should feed the baby formula. They will tell you what products to buy and what not to buy.They may drive you crazy, but......

...They can also provide a wealth of valuable information. The difficult task will be in weeding through it and deciding what will work for you.

The same holds for baby names. People will always give their opinions but even better than that, they will give you ideas. When we were having a hard time naming our daughter, we had baby name books and lists all around us. We were crossing out names we couldn't agree on right and left. One of my husband's friends came over in the middle of this. He said he had heard a pretty girl's name at another friend's house. We listened. It sounded pretty. We looked up the meaning. It was noble. We wrote it down. It looked pretty and was easy to spell. We said it aloud. It was a bit difficult so we came up with a nickname that worked with it. We used it!