Today's Baby Names

One of the most exciting things new parents get to do before the arrival of
their child is choose the baby's name. Will it be something popular or
unusual? A family name or something original? We will explore the
top baby names as well as some of the more unique possibilities to help you
choose the perfect name.

Top Baby Names

In the 90s, the most popular name for a boy was Michael. For the past
five years, the most common name has been Jacob. Other popular names
include Joshua, Matthew, Ethan, Andrew, Daniel, William, Joseph, Gregory,
Jonathan, Benjamin, and Christopher. If you are looking for a classic,
these baby names have been popular for years.

The most popular name for a girl has not changed in the past fifteen
years. It continues to be Emily, and is currently followed by Emma,
Madison, Olivia, Hannah, Abigail, Isabella, Ashley, Samantha, and
Elizabeth. Except for Ashley and Elizabeth, the popularity of the others
is recent and affected by pop culture, especially television shows.

Other sources of popular names are best-selling novels and celebrities.
After Gweneth Paltrow named her daughter Apple, many people have done the
same. The Harry Potter books and the Lord of the Rings movies have also
added many names to the list of the most popular.

Unusual Baby Names

One way today's parents have created unusual names for their children is by
changing the spelling of a popular name. Variations that are becoming less
unusual include Emilie, Elisabeth, Karin, and Erika. Names like Stacy can
be spelled in three different ways (Stacy, Stacie, Staci).

Another way to personalize a baby name is to use a nickname as the child's
full name. For instance, Ben instead of Benjamin, Jon instead of Jonathan,
and Matt instead of Matthew are becoming more common.

Other unusual sources for baby names come from the world around us. The
popularity of names such as April and May continues to come and go, while names
such as Winter, and Hazel are still unusual. Consider choosing a baby name
reminiscient of the time of year when your child will be born or the time of
year they were conceived. Fruit, vegetables, colors, and the adjectives
that describe them are a good starting point (Pear, Lemon, Azure). Other
uncommon names are those of plants and flowers, such as Hyacinth, Daisy, and
Fern.

Other ideas to get you
thinking:

Africa

Autumn

Butterfly

Calla

Kansas

Peach

Names that describe an ideal or a personality, such as Hope, Grace, Prudence,
Patience, Temperance, or Chastity, are still unusual although not entirely
unique. Other descriptive baby names include Cadence and Candid.

Other unusual names come from sources that are not commonly used today.
While Biblical names are popular, Greek mythology is only rarely used.
Your child may be the only one in their class to have the name Athena, Minerva,
or Pan. Or you could give them a name from another culture, such as the
Swedish Carina or the Polish Aleksy.

Baby names from other cultures include:

Anuket - Egyptian
mythology

Augustyn - Polish

Crina - Romanian

Dimitriy (Dima) -
Russian

Freya - Norse mythology

Hestia - Greek mythology

Kirill -
Russian

The possibilities are endless! But as mentioned above, remember that if
the source of your baby's name is a television show, novel, or celebrity, the
name may not be that unusual when they begin school several years down the
road. This is especially true for girls. Look for Apple, Reese, and
Uma to be popular over the next five years.

Perhaps you'd like something even more original.

Unique Baby Names

If you don't want your child's name to be the same as anyone else's, you can
create a unique baby name. These names can have many sources. The
more common methods of creating something original are by the combination of
family names or the addition of a syllable or letter to a popular name. An
example of the latter is Kylen, a unique girl's name which stems from the boy's
name Kyle. Unique baby names which may come from a family name include
Stafford, Prestoff, and Kilin. While some people may find these better
suited for a middle name, others may prefer their unique nature.

A sampling of unique
names:

Baton

Jaico

Kermin

Lorelai

Mady

The Meaning of a Name

For some people, it doesn't matter whether a baby name is popular or unique,
it just has to mean a certain thing. Rather than choose a baby name with
an obvious connotation such as Spring, Grace, or Rose, they want a name that
will bring goodwill to their child through its ancient origin.

Some popular as well as unusual baby names include:

Adelaide (Adelia,
Alyssa, Allison) - noble

Albert - bright

Alethea - truth

Beatrice -
traveller

Cara - beloved

Colbert - bright

Darwin - friend

Elfleda -
beauty

Gertrude - stength

Hannah (Anna) - favor, grace

Henry
(Henrietta) - power

Isolde - beauty

Keisha - favorite

Letitia -
joy

Manfred - strength

Osmund - protector

Robert (Bob) - fame

Vivian
- alive

Tips For Choosing

There are many things to consider when you finally select a baby name.
Will this be a name your child can use for life, or will it sound silly when it
refers to an adult? Will this name cause your child to be picked on?
Will they have to constantly correct people in its pronunciation or spelling,
and does this concern you? Are there any stereotypes (good or bad)
associated with it?

One last concern is: does it fit with your last name? Generally it
sounds better if there are a different number of syllables in the first and last
names. Only rarely should the first letter of the first and last names be
the same. This is of course more of a concern for boys, as they will keep
their name for life. Of course, any decisions about hyphenation in the
last name should be made before the first name is chosen.

Try not to get overwhelmed by the possibilities. After all, you have
nine months to make this decision! Leave yourself open to the myriad
sources of ideas, and you will find the baby name for you. And of course,
if you let people know you're looking, friends, family members, and even
coworkers might add their own suggestions!

Keep these things in mind, and you will choose a popular, or unusual, or
unique baby name that your child will be proud of for life.

Julie Parker is a successful writer and publisher providing valuable tips and advice on finding the top baby names, unusual baby names, and baby name meanings. Her numerous articles offer thoughtful tips and valuable insight into baby naming. Check out the "Top 100 Baby Names" list from the last 6 years.

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Unusual Baby Boy Names - Finding Exotic and Unique Baby Names

Unusual baby boy names and finding exotic and unique baby names can be loads of fun! Rather than giving your baby boy a name like Jacob, John or Harry -- you'd prefer him have one of the more exotic and unique baby names.

There are several ways to find unusual baby boy names. Here are some suggestions:

1. Start with the most popular names being given to baby boys. For parents living in the USA, you can easily find this kind of information by visiting the Social Security Administration's website (click on the link at the bottom of this page to go to the direct link to the SSA baby names search). See which names that are popular are also unusual baby boy names. You can view the most popular names for the past year, boy names given since the year 2000 or by decade in the previous century. It may surprise you how many exotic and unique baby names you can find this way.

2. Look at your own family names and see if using any name combinations create unusual baby names you like. Ask other family members for their suggestions, even invite your friends to give you their opinions. Does a relative have names you like? Do be careful if the names are already used. Ask other family members to be sure your favorite unusual baby names are not given to relatives. It can become confusing in families when two people have the same names.

3. Consider the unusual baby boy names used in the classics. Literary classics are a great source of exotic and unique baby names. Be careful when considering modern names used by this year's top male movie stars. Will that popular actor still be in the headlines 3, 5, 10 or more years from now? By using the classics for possible names, you know that these names have withstood the test of time.

4. Visit your local library or bookstore and browse the pregnancy and parenting sections. You will likely find several books in various price ranges that provide you with many unusual baby boy names to consider.

5. Search for exotic and unique baby names online. There are many baby websites with listings and resources for baby names.

Remember, your child's names will be used their entire life, so think how their names will sound and feel once they are grown. Don't let the joy of their infancy cause you to give them a name that they won't be proud of once they are older. Stay away from funny names. Choose his name carefully, a name that will have meaning and significance to you and your child.

Have fun and enjoy viewing and choosing your child's names. Provide them with unusual baby boy names that will add to their success and happiness in life. Take your time and find names you truly love. You will find at some point, there is no doubt about what your new baby boy names will be. When it happens -- congratulations! Enjoy and celebrate the moment. You'll know it was worth every minute spent looking for unusual baby boy names for that unique and very special person.

Copyright 2005 InfoSearch Publishing

See the Top 100 Baby Names and access the Social Security baby names listings. David Buster is VP of InfoSearch Publishing and the webmaster of http://www.yourdreamloghome.com - visit the website for nursery ideas, decorating ideas in kids bedrooms, playroom design ideas, playroom storage ideas and more.

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Baby Names - Choosing Trendy or Traditional

Lists of baby names are always fun to look at, whether
you're seeking a name for your soon-to-be-born baby boy or
baby girl, wondering about the popularity of your own first
name, or just curious about what baby names are currently
hot.

What I find particularly interesting is tracking the popularity
of baby names over the decades. In looking through U.S.
government baby name lists from 1880 to the present,
some amusing patterns emerge, particularly in regards to
baby names for girls.

For example, in Victorian times Biblical names, such as
Mary, Sarah and Ruth were very popular for baby girls. There
were also many baby names that sounded very
old-fashioned to me, as a kid growing up in the 1960s,
including names like Martha, Alice, Bertha and Minnie.

From the 1920s to the 1950s certain baby names rose in
popularity. For example, I went to school with many Susans,
Debbies, Patricias, and Lindas. All of these baby names
have since waned, to be replaced, by the 1980s, with fancier
names such as Jennifer, Jessica and Nicole. When I was a
children's librarian in the 1980s my preschool storyhours
were populated with little girls named Lauren and Jenny,
and little boys named Alex and Matthew.

More recently there's been a lot of renewed interest in
more "old-fashioned" baby names like Hannah, Abigail and
Ethan, plus many Biblical names such as Sarah, Rachel,
Joshua, Jacob, and Samuel. There's also been a surge in
nontraditional baby names including Madison, Ashley and
Brianna for baby girls, and Brandon and Logan for baby
boys.

It's interesting to consider the whys and wherefores of
such developments. Sometimes, I suspect, the popularity of
a specific actor or fictional character might result in many
babies with a particular name. For example, were some of
the Lauras born in the 1970s and 1980s given a name
suggested by older brothers and sisters who were growing
up watching "Little House on the Prairie ?" Were some
attributable to the super popular Laura of "General Hospital"
fame ?

Today Madison is a very highly ranked baby name for girls
(ranking number 3 in 2003) but, when the film "Splash"
came out in 1984, Tom Hanks' character told Daryl
Hannah's character that Madison was not a bona fide first
name.

While baby girls' names seem quite subject to the whims
of fashion and the top ten lists can change radically over
time, I've noticed that, in general, the top baby names for
boys remain far more stable. Names like John, William and
James are perennials, perhaps because baby boys are
often named for their fathers, perpetuating the popularity of
certain baby names from generation to generation. The
"Junior" factor aside, baby boys are also less apt to be given
fanciful names.

A comparison of the changing fortunes of my own first
name, Barbara, with those of my husband's name, Robert,
gives a good illustration of the difference in stability between
baby girl names and baby boy names over time.

My name grew in popularity in the 1930s, '40s and '50s,
peaking at the number 2 position in baby name popularity,
which it tenaciously held from 1937 to 1944. When I
attended grad school, of a class of approximately forty
students, there were no less than three baby boomers
named Barbara. Should I thank the actress Barbara
Stanwyck for this? Alas, my first name later suffered a slow,
steady decline and placed at a pitiful number 628 position
on the baby names popularity list for the U.S. in 2003.

Robert, on the other hand, has survived the vicissitudes of
baby name popularity. It held a coveted spot on the top ten
most popular baby names list every year from 1896 to the
late 1980s, often peaking at number 1 between the 1920s
and the 1950s. It has gradually slipped since the 1990s, but
still managed to hold the respectable slot of number 35 in
2003.

When naming a baby there are, of course, many other
points to consider besides how popular or unique a name
is. Here are some helpful tips that you can use with your
other children to get them involved in choosing a name for
the new baby and to make the process fun:

1. Baby names need to go nicely with the sound of your last
name. Also, pick a first name and a middle name that go
together well. (So maybe not something like Erasmus
Beelzebub Smith!)

2. When your family finds a name you all like, look at the
initials to be sure that you don't give the new baby a name
with initials that will make people laugh. (So maybe not
Pamela Iris Green, which equals P.I.G.!)

3. You might not want a baby name that is so unusual that
the other kids will make fun of your little brother or sister as
he or she grows up. (So maybe not Rosebud or Molasses!)

4. You also might not want a baby name that is so trendy
that it will sound funny by the time the baby is ten years old.
(So maybe not Sunshine!)

5. You probably shouldn't pick a name that's really cute for
an adorable little baby but will sound silly when the baby
grows up. (So maybe not Dimples!)

6. Avoid baby names that might produce insulting
nicknames when people shorten them. (So maybe not
Smellonius, or Smelly for short!)

7. You and your family might not want a name that is so hard
to spell or to pronounce that people will always get it wrong
and your poor little brother or sister will have to go through
life correcting people. (So maybe not something like
Incandescence, or is it Incandessints? )

8. You and your family might want to pick baby names in
honor of favorite relatives or ancestors, or special names
that show your family's ethnic roots. You might even find a
special name from a book or movie that you love. (Like
Harry?)

9. You might want to look through books of baby names and
pick one that has a special meaning that you like - maybe
something that means "sweet" or "kind" or "brave." (So
maybe not wimp!)

10. You might want to think about names that will go nicely
with your name and your other brothers' and sisters' names,
so that if mom or dad are calling you all for dinner or signing
a birthday card to grandma it won't sound too crazy.
(So maybe not "Happy Birthday, Grandma! Love, Joey,
Cindy and Dweevo!")

There are hundreds of names waiting for you out there, so
good luck on your search for the perfect name!

Barbara Freedman-De Vito is a professional storyteller and artist. Visit Kids T-Shirts, children's clothing, and adult's clothes decorated with pictures and words

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