Only 3.5-something months left and then husband comes with a name like Eleanor – because he wants to call her Ellie. Nothing wrong with the name, but also not really a particularly beautiful, strong or fun name. On my ears the baby name just sound meh.
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet – Shakespeare
Family & baby names
I am from a long line of “lets name the baby after the grandparents”. Then my cousins followed – and their parents decided to name their babies after the grandparents too. I kid you not, I have 2 cousins with the exact first name.
Do you know how confusing it was to hear people calling “Susanna!”? There is my dad’s younger sister, myself, the butch blond one and the skinny short one that all arrived at the scene because somebody’s parents couldn’t be a little original.
Now, with the new baby my mom really wants to be named because my sister broke the tradition and called her one kid a colour and gave the other a “volksvreemdenaam” with a hyphen. Shock and horror. I will spare you the long story, but it has been 11 and 9 years and my mom is still on that.
Husband’s parents I couldn’t give 2 tweets about, because well – they didn’t give a damn when I needed support. They also haven’t spoken to me since December.
Back to my mom and the baby name… it has started. She wants to be named and I understand that, but husband isn’t budging and I can guarantee that my mom won’t either. I would like to have them in the same room so they can fight it out.
How to choose a baby name
- Think about nicknames that could possibly manifest from each baby name you like.
- Does the name work with your surname?
- What does the initials spell out? (Seriously, one of my cousins has P.I.L.D.)
- Will the baby grow up and end up in a class full of girls with the same name?
- Read the meaning behind the name.
- Spelling – don’t be stupid, spell it the way it is meant to be. Nobody likes having their name pronounced incorrectly.
- Don’t let family dictate, they will learn to love it.
What is your name?
How did your parents choose your name? How did you choose your kids’ names?
