Choosing the Perfect Baby Name

Doesn’t every woman have a list of baby names she loves? My list was started in high school where I wrote boy, girl and unisex names in the back of my agenda book. Slowly but surely, my list got bigger with time and transferred to new agenda books each school year. Eventually I graduated to a note entitled “baby names” on my iPhone.

I wrote down names that I encountered in everyday life, names that I heard in pop culture, and arbitrary terms/words that I thought would make unique names. Of the most memorable from high school; Reality Victoria, Jett, and Maquillaje (the Spanish word for makeup). Daydreaming of having a child is often something young ladies do. We rarely know exactly what type of parenting styles we’d incorporate, the details surrounding our birth plan, or when we’ll decide to start trying to conceive. One thing is for sure, we’ll be armed with a slew of cute names!

So, what makes a name? There’s no magic formula to finding the best name for your child. The fact that he or she will essentially be stuck with this name for the rest of their lives is a bit intimidating to say the lease. Whether you are starting from scratch or adding to your agenda book list, here are a few starting points to get your creative juices flowing:

• Choose a family name (Think Alexis Olympia Ohanian daughter of Alexis Ohanian and Serena Williams)
• Choose the name of a mentor or idol (David and Victoria Beckham named their daughter after Harper Lee)
• Choose a name paying homage to your cultural heritage and identity (Cardi B and Offset welcomed a daughter named Kulture in 2018)
• Choose a name from your favorite movie or tv show (The name Arya was a popular choice in 2017 following the wide success of Games of Throne)
• Choose a name based on your favorite place (Think Paris Hilton and Chicago West)
• Choose a biblical name (Gwyneth Paltrow and Andrew Martin named their son Moses Martin)
• Choose a name after your favorite animal (Tiger Wood’s parents were ahead of their time)
• Choose an arbitrary name (Blue Ivy, Rumi and Sir are the children of Beyonce and Jay-Z)
• Choose a name made popular by a celebrity (Chances are you never heard of Apple, North or Birdie as first names before Gwyneth Paltrow, Kim Kardashian-West and Busy Philips).

No matter what you chose to name your child in the future, know that this choice is yours alone! Do not let outside influences sway your decision from a name you absolutely love. There are powerful individuals who paved the way for unique names today.

Where would Oprah, Whoopi Goldberg, Cash Warren, Uma Thurman without their famously unique names? Think about it.

Your name defines you.

The name you bless your baby with will be theirs FOREVER.

Also, fun fact, this beautiful picture is my sister when her son–who she named Elijah–was born!

So tell us, if you’re in the middle of picking your baby name what are you leaning towards? OR If you’ve already been through the process of naming a child or two (or three!) what are their names and how did you choose them?

We want to know!