When I was pregnant with my first child, I was shocked to find the hardest part of pregnancy for me was the responsibility of parenthood. Yes, it started during pregnancy. Eat right, for the baby. Exercise, for the baby. Get the rest you need, for the baby. Make sure you have the safest carseat, safest car, baby-proof your home. And greatest responsibility of all...choose a name. For me, that was by far the most difficult part. Find a name that will easy enough for your child to spell when the time comes, a name they will like and be proud to say, a name that flows well with your last name, something that can't be made fun of, something that doesn't spell something bad in the initials, and something that doesn't make bad words when you sing the "Name Game" song. I also wanted something not so common that they would have 10 other kids in their elementary school class would have that name, but not so uncommon that it was never heard of by anyone anywhere. Aftar all of the considerations you put into the name and you come up with the perfect name, your spouse has to like it too. Ahhh. Amongst all of this stress, I made the mistake of talking to my inlaws about some of the names we were considering... now, I was trying to find a name that met all of the above and trying to get 4 other people to agree as well... it was impossible. So, I gave up. I have since changed my philosophy on naming. Here are basic rules, maybe they will help you. Choose a name with a purpose. Be able to give your child a good answer when they ask you how you came up with the name. Help them to be proud of the name no matter what it is. As they get older and know that you love their name for a certain reason, it won't matter what the name, because they love it too. Even if the name is something that no one else (family, friends, neighbors, etc.) approves of. It is hard enough to choose a name, don't try to please everyone, it won't happen. Choose a name that you are proud of and the rest will fall into place. Let's say that you want to name your daughter one thing, but your husband has a different idea. You could fight over it until no one is happy and it becomes a source of constant tension in your home or you could talk about it and compromise. Let's say you decide to combine the 2 names into a completely made up and unusual sounding name, that no one but the 2 of you are happy with. Imagine how proud your daughter is going to be of that name when you tell her that her name was result of how much Mommy and Daddy love each other, and how they didn't like fighting and wanted their daughter to be a little part of both of them. Now, she takes with her everywhere the love of both of her parents. I think that is far better than worrying about what the rest of the world will think of the name. Hope that helps. Sorry so long.
That was a good post, Boys2men! My husband and I like unusual names, and we've recieved a LOT of flack for them. With our first child, we made the mistake of asking people if they liked the name. NOBODY liked it, and it made us rethink our decision, even though it was a name that had special and important meaning to us. We named him our name anyway, and we couldn't be happier with our decision. I've never once regretted his name, and it suits him perfectly. When it was just a name, not attached to any child, people didn't like it. But when I tell people his name today, and they see my adorable little boy that has the name, suddenly the "name" isn't so bad and I've even been told by a couple people that they loved it enough to give a future child that name (something I'm NOT too happy about--what's the point of an unusual name if people start stealing it???)
Anyway, with our 2nd baby, I've just been telling people "His name is going to be such and such" and not asking if they liked it or what they think of it. My husband and I LOVE the name, and love it more every time we call our baby it, so frankly, I don't care if anyone else likes it. Once the baby is born, it won't be just a weird name no one's ever heard of, it'll be our son's name, and that's what people will know it as. Ya know?