How to Choose Baby Names

Female: In two months, Kyle and Alex Richardson will be joined by a baby brother or a sister who as of yet remains nameless. Parents Daren and Sheryl were working on that. Daren: Especially with the first one, it seems like such a huge thing because you don’t want to give them the name that’s going to be difficult to throughout their life. You want to give them a cool name but a good name. Female: Like many parents, the Richardsons began their search for baby names in a baby name book. Sheryl: Daren is really good about reading out names to me and some names that he throws out there, we just “oh no, I knew someone like that, then they are bad kid. No, I don’t want that one”. That’s cute. Daren: Blake, English attractive dark. Female: Daren and Sheryl were hoping to find names that reflected their Irish-English heritage. But that wasn’t the most important thing. Daren: The main goal was to have a name that flowed that he could get through life well that we like, that we thought was a good name. Sheryl: Cameron is too long, I like it. It is too long. Daren: Yeah, Cameron Richardson. It's a long name really, yeah. Female: Jenifer Sue, the Richardsons Pediatrician has treated lots of kids over the years and she knows that not every child likes his or her name. Jenifer: Depending on how cordially it's chosen, it can be really embarrassing. It can make them stand out, bring unwanted attention to them that they might not like. Female: What’s in a name? Potentially quite a lot like family history. Adelaide, ethnicity, Chandra, religion, Elijah, celebrity, Elvis, beauty, Melody, individualism, Felisa, popularity, Taylor. Is your child one in a million or one of a million? Popular names have an advantage. Jenifer: They’re easier to spell, more likely to be pronounced correctly. You don’t have to clarify or answer questions about it like how did you get that name. It's really different or unusual. Female: The social security administration keeps a running tally of the most popular baby names from year to year. Emily for instance has been the most popular girls name for six years running. On one hand, this means the name is a safe bet. On the other hand, it means that your very special little Emily will likely be sharing her classroom with three or four other very special little Emilies. So, are unique names the way to go? Jenifer it might not be as easy to spell especially if your parents have chosen an unusual spelling for it. So if it's not as common, people will have a harder a time writing it out or pronouncing it. Female: Dr. Sue suggests you run the names on your short list to a couple of text. Jenifer: The truth test, would you want to be called that name yourself for all your life and the other one I have is the telephone test. Somebody calls you on the phone asking for that child, do you want them to be out of pronounce it correctly? Is it important to you or does it not matter to you if somebody mangles the pronunciation of your name? Female: So far, the Richardsons have Kyle Jacob and Alex Daniel. What’s in the hopper for baby number three? Sheryl: Daren’s leaning towards Blake and I'm leaning towards Collin, so. Daren: WE will decide on Blake and then the next day, she’s kind of back with Collin which we didn’t do that with either of the other boys. So, it tells me that she’s not completely solved on it. Female: And what’s the plan if baby number three happens to be a girl? Sheryl; We’re thinking maybe Caitlin or Ashley. Female: Of course, no parent can predict precisely a child’s name will be used or abused or how much a child will love or loath the name he is given. Daren: I like my name, Daren Wayne Richardson, but I was—for Wayne for whatever reason. I don’t know why. Jenifer: So the more important thing is to make sure your child has good self-esteem and self-confidence so no matter what their name is, what their nickname is, what they get teased about that they have enough self-confidence to feel proud of who they are. Female: If mom and dad are having trouble agreeing on a name—