What are the contributing factors when naming a child?

Do you look at the meaning of the name or the nationality or do you simply like how it sounds. Or is it a family name? Or do you look for names that nac be easily turned into nicknames. please tell me, i'm very interested in this sort of thing.

What are the contributing factors when naming a child?
I'm looking for names that will be pronounced similar in both my languages (we're a multinational family and spend time in both so I want her to have a "normal" name in both countries).





The name has to work with our last name Hxxx and and, if a girl, my family tradition where the female line has a last name too Hxxxxxx. For a boy it's only Hxxx.





I looked for names that was common, without being over used. I don't want my children to have to spell out their name all the time (like I do), but on the other hand I don't want then to be one of many with the same name as 3 others in class (even if they have slightly different spellings). The top name lists works well for this


http://www.babynamefacts.com/?gclid=CIv7...





Then not a name that would have an obvious teasing possibilities "Mary, Mary quite contrary". I'm not too worried about nick names, since it's my experience that all loved kids will have nicknames even if their name doesn't offer an obvious one (mine doesn't really have anything to do with my name).





I did look up the meaning of my favorite names, just to make sure they don't mean something like Demon, ignorant or something else degrading (most people look up the meaning of their name and really I wouldn't like finding out that my name is derived from cow or the devil.





We named our daughter after these considerations and we have a boys name ready, should our next child be male. I hope it will because to me finding a name for your child is very hard work and there's a lot of considerations that goes in to it.
Reply:First and foremost I would keep in mind how people could make fun of the child because of the name. I would like to name a child after family members that important to you, but it isn't a necessity. I also try to find names that wouldn't bring up memories of past people I knew. A name with history and a good story behind it is nice though. Not just, "Oh well, it sounded like a good name at the time." But name your child right away. This whole not naming the baby for a few days thing is annoying.
Reply:When my mother and father choose names they had a deal, my mother would do the first name and my dad would do the middle name. I didn't do that myself, when I had my sons I was by myself with my oldest I got his first name because I liked it Jason and his middle name Wesley was after my grandfather who was still around. Then after family reunions I found out that my grandfather's middle name was from his great grandfather, so it pleased me to know that I passed on a name that ran in my family. My middle name is May it has been passed down for 4 genarations unfortuatlly it skipped a generation because all I had were boys but my son and his wife named their daughter Natalja May after her nana. With my other 2 sons I gave my husband a list for him to choose from and because he wanted a girl with our 1st son Kevin wasn't named until after he was born and then again with the list my son Jason choose that, for Kevin's middle name we used my husbands James. Then with my youngest my husband picked Nathan from my list and for his middle name I gave him eather Aurthur from his dads middle name or my dad's name of Richard. Because our last name starts with an H, my husband didn't want our son's to us NAH so we used Richard. Please look at your family for names that have been passed down, or something that maybe your child may want to pass down. Speaking of that my son had a son and they just turned Jason's name around. Wesley Jason so his son has his name yet he's not a Jr.
Reply:depends most choose sound unless something special happens and they choose meaning here are a few names u might like





Girl


AMY


ROSE


CLARA


CHRYSANTHEMUM


SABRINA


ARIEL


BELLE


ANGEL


BEAUTY





BOY





DANIEL


DARIEN (not sure if that is how u spell it)


DEREK


SKY
Reply:First, does it sound nice?


What are the immediate associations of the name (ie personality?)


Are the nicknames nice





Then I think about negative aspects.


Does someone else in my family have that name? (We dont have 'family' first names and it would be weird to start) If so how close to me are they?





Does the name have any immediate massive negative connotations?





Finally, I look into foreign versions to see if I like them as it makes the name more interesting


If theres a meaning thats an added bonus.





Last but not least does it go with the surname and is it not too similar to other family names but not too different
Reply:I think it is really up to you and what you want. If there is a special name in the family you may want there is nothing wrong with that.


I named my son for the meaning of the name. I named him Nathaniel which means gift from God. I truely believe he is my gift from God!!!


I think it is all personal preferance.
Reply:I personally look for the sound, and how it goes with the Surname (and middle name). I also like something original, and good meanings are always nice.


My sons:


Maverick Hunter


Callahan Falcon (Mav %26amp; Cal, twins)


Enzo Ky


Parker Owen
Reply:well when i named my kids i always wanted their names to be unique yet meaningful and at the same time sound nice when said. i did research on the names that i really liked and narrowed them down as i went along the long list of names- i first went with the sound of the name first, then i looked up the meaning, then i searched to see how unique the name was. i hope i answered ur question... =)
Reply:I consider how the name will pair with our last name. I also consider the likelihood that, if the child is a boy, he will get his butt kicked for having that name, and, if it is a girl, the likelihood that she will end up dancing naked in a bar or doing pornographic films. I tend to favor more traditional powerful names, as they have yet to give the Nobel prize to anyone named Tiffani or Britney.
Reply:I look at the family that the child will be entering, then the members of that family that have meant a lot to me.





We plan on using names of relatives that we would like to honor - most of which have great nicknames. Our default test: if you can say "I would like you to meet my Investment Portfolio Advisor So-and-so Lastname" with a straight face, then we'll consider it.





Of course, we are from upper middle class backgrounds, and this is consistant with our upbringing (we're German and Irish, so fairly traditional when it comes to names). I highly suggest the book Freakonomics - there is an entire chapter on class and naming patterns.





If the kid wants to be unique, special, and memorable... they'll have to do it themselves.
Reply:i can only speak from personal experiance- we chose our children's names based on family- while i have a strong aversion to naming a baby after any living person we named our daughters after great grandmothers/fathers





we also used two names together for middle names (example - RaeLyn and GlenLyn) this allowed all branches of the family to be honored at the same time and no fussing between inlaws which can happen in some famililes. ( i didnt have that problem but i had lost all of that generation before my girls were born and wanted traditional family names)





when you pick names find ones that you can live with the nick names that people will always come up with (i personally hate nicknames) so that influenced our decisions as well





and PLEASE dont use "cutsey " names the kid is libel to hate them (example if your name is bush please dont name the poor kid rose - or shanda when the last name lear!! although i have heard much worse- (as a genealogist i come across some doozies!!!





many people get really creative and while thats fun for the adult it isnt for the kid (i lived with that problem as a kid hated my name for many years) also think how hard it is when starting school if his/her name is 15 letters!
Reply:for my husband and I it was personal choice. We wanted something that was NOT a family name, something unique but not overly difficult, and something that sounds good with their last names. Origin was not a factor (and neither was others' opinions on the names)
Reply:Personally when I started looking for a name I wanted something unique and uncommon. My first name is Amy and I've hated it since 2nd grade. There were 3 Amy's and an Amie in that class. While I was looking for something unique and uncommon, I didnt want something that sounded horrible.





I came up with my daughter's name (Ashlynn). It's a combination of my husband's name (Ashley) and my middle name (Lynn). Back when I originally came up with the name in September of last year I could not find it in baby name books or on websites with baby names. So I was pretty happy with it. Since then I have however seen the name used a few times and it does appear on a couple of name sites now. It's still not a common name so I'm very happy and proud of her name.