The baby’s name is one of the most debatable issues among families. The main problem is that a baby’s name is a matter of opinion. Everyone in the family is going to have a strong opinion on what the baby’s name should be. But whatever you decide, there are some unwritten rules on choosing a baby’s name.
Unique spellings are a way to differentiate a baby’s name. But keep in mind that other people are going to have to spell their name. The more complicated you get with the spelling, the harder it is going to be for others to get your child’s name right. This can be a problem later on especially when your child starts school and starts writing their name. If you intend to have a unique spelling, stick to changing only one or two letters. Keep in mind that no matter how many times you actually spell it, some people will never get the spelling correct.
How a name sounds or how a name is pronounced is a common method for making a baby’s name different. There are a couple of inherent problems with stressing different syllables than what is the common pronouncement. The first is the obvious. No one is going to know the exact way to say your baby’s name. Say it a thousand times and people will still hear it differently. It will be an never-ending source of frustration. The second problem is that when people see your child’s name without hearing how it is pronounced, they won’t know that you decided to make it a little different by stressing something else. So when they do say your baby’s name, it will almost always be pronounced wrong. You will be spending a lot of time correcting people on the pronunciation.
One indirect aspect of choosing a name is one of association. While you might not name your baby after your high school arch-nemesis, more famous names can have both good or bad associations. Even though it is technically just a name, there are certain names that society associates with bad things and those types of names should generally be avoided.
Famous names can also have a future detrimental effect. If that celebrity does something very bad in the future, most people aren’t going to know that you named your baby before they became infamous. It is a risk even if you name them after celebrities with good reputations.
A baby’s name isn’t easy to choose. If you are caught up in the debate over what you should name your baby, you need to think about the future implications for your child. Sometimes, what may sound cute when they are little, doesn’t sound quite as cute when they are older. If you choose to go a different path with your baby’s name, you will have to keep in mind that there can be continuing frustrations with keeping people informed as to what you want to call your child.