Are you having a baby, but can't seem to come up with just the right name? Maybe you're looking at names to try to steer a friend or relative in a new direction. Here are 8 fresh ideas to make your search easier.
#1 Use a Last Name as a First Name
If you have access to your genealogy, you might find just the right name by looking over several generations' worth of last names. For example, I might choose Dyson from my paternal family tree as a boy's name. Not everyone has access to long geneologies, but there are other sources to find last names. Use a search engine to hunt for popular or interesting surnames that are unique or have significance to your family. Here are some examples of other last names turned first names: Kennedy, Jamison, Tyson, Garris, Miles, Hayden, Carter, Parker, and Alexander.
#2 Use Geography as a Name
Personally, place names are my favorites to explore. Naturally, you can find inspiration from a map. But you can also use significant places, like the street where you grew up (Ashley) or the country where your high school's foreign exchange student friend was from (Thai). You might have guessed that my pen name--Eden--is created from a place, but it's also my oldest daughter's name based on the biblical Garden of Eden. If you're really creative, you can dream up "outside the box" geographical associations like River or Cambria (a type of quartz). Other favorite baby names derived from places include: Madison, Phoenix, Maui, India, Asia, Austin, and Houston.
#3 Look up the Meanings of Your Top Favorites to Narrow the Selection
The word "etymology" is a handy word to know when looking up meanings of names. That's because etymology means the history of a word's origins. Your search may encourage some names. For example, I loved the word Levi, particularly because of its exclusivity and piety as it was used with Old Testament biblical priests. However, the name Cameron means "crooked nose," which I would have been better not to discover. Some meaningful types of names include Rhys (warrior), Sage (wise one), and Blair (battlefield).
#4 Be Creative About Concocting Names of Special Significance
My friend just had her first child. Being a public school teacher, several names can trigger a variety of associations or connotations based on the behaviors or attributes of students bearing those names. Therefore, every teacher I know likes to choose original names, and she chose Mattingly. Although she has taken some flack for the name, I love it. It fits in perfectly with the "M" names from the rest of the family while also having the aura of "money" or prestige that longer, formal names bring. Another friend of mine was a guy who was interested in Medieval falconry. Having a special interest in falcons, he named his firstborn Peregrine (a type of falcon), and they call him Perry for short. Be creative; it's better than being one of 8 kids with the same name in that class.
#5 Name Your Baby After Your Hero or Mentor
Are you a race car enthusiast who wants your daughter to grow up to be just like Danica Patrick? What a great name for a child (even if she turns out to be a boy). If not race cars, maybe you enjoy history; Grant, Lincoln, Kennedy, and Winston are some suggestions. Being an English teacher, I named my daughter Emersen after Ralph Waldo Emersen, but we call her Emma, which is the title of a Jane Austen novel. Maybe the most common source for hero's names is the Bible. How many kids can you think of with names like Noah, Moses, Abraham, Isaiah, Jacob, Sarah, Deborah, or Rachel? In addition to all those, I even know a Tamar and a Barak (minor biblical characters).
#6 Ask a Teacher
High school teachers or college professors are a good source for unique names because they usually teach between 60-200+ students per year. Ask a teacher to recall the most interesting names from class rosters over the years. Some of my top picks for boys' names include Talen, Dalton, Cale, and Tarek. While some of my favorite girl names include Teal, Season, Mody, Chaitra, Tuesday, and Winter.
#7 Use a Foreign Name
These might be difficult to find and even more difficult to pronounce and spell correctly. Consider whether or not you think your child will be able to deal with this. (Would you? He/she will have your genes.) If so, then you could start with French names like Baudin (or Anglicized, Bodin), which means brave. You could also take an English name like Matthew and give it a French spelling, Matthieu. For a girl, how about Bellerose from the French for beautiful rose. If those aren't exotic enough, how about some Scandinavian derivatives like Bjork, Christofferson, Clausen, Ljungborg, Madsen, Sven, or Vinter?
#8 Use a Favorite Character's Name
While many people love the Simpson's, I'm not recommending you name your child Marge or Homer. However, I do love Shakespeare's Portia as a name or even Bianca from a different Shakespearean classic. Not an avid reader of Shakespeare? Any young American girl can give you some names from her favorite Disney classics: Giselle, Jasmine, and Belle, for example, or her favorite American Girl: Kit, Samantha, or Julie.
#9 Base a Girl's Name on "Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice"
From flowers to princess' accessories, feminine names abound. You can go with the traditional floral choices like Rose or Lily. Or you can be even more unique, like Sunflower or Delphi(nium). In addition, names that suggest sunnier times like April, May, June, and Summer are fun. Then there are the names like Lacey and Lauren that suggest girly fashion. Jewel or Tiara (or variations like Kiarra) remind me of royalty, but so do formal names like Elizabeth, Victoria, and Alexandria. The connection is that these really were names of historical royalty.
#10 Name a Boy for Masculine Connotations
You might pick a star athlete as a first name: Jordan or Gretsky. Or you could go with a masculine aspiration, like Gunner or Hunter. What guy isn't in love with some type of car like Porsche or Ford? Or perhaps you can name your boy for celestial associations like Nova or Nebulon or pirate-sounding names like Sparrow or Bellamy.
Whatever you choose to name your child, be sure that you are passionate about the name because you will be using it a lot. Practice saying the first, middle, and last name aloud to see if it flows smoothly. Bounce the name idea around to a trusted friend or parent to get a sense of what the name suggests to them. But if they don't like it, remember that the final call is yours. Odds are, they'll come around eventually. . .at least my family did.
