Unique Baby Names

Written by Michael Barrows


What’s in a name? Er…well, everything, really! Of course your little bundle of joy isrepparttar sweetest, most beautiful thing you have ever seen and you want to choose a name that reflects his/her individuality, spirituality, uniqueness and all-round special-ness.

But wait a minute!

Remember thatrepparttar 100515 unique baby name you choose will help define junior’s life - how they are viewed and accepted - for many, many years. What sounds cute and original for a 5-year-old, may not sound so funky for a 15-year-old…and what about a 55-year old?

Time was when only celebrities could get away with unique baby names (Zowie Bowie, Dweezil and Moon Unit Zappa, etc), but inrepparttar 100516 modern world, individuality is more prized than ever before, and increasingly, this starts with our names. Great idea – but don’t allow a flash of a self-indulgence to condemn your child to a lifetime of problems; it’s reported that a Chinese couple named their child “Saddam Sars” to markrepparttar 100517 current world events atrepparttar 100518 time ofrepparttar 100519 birth! I just hope it means something nice in Mandarin, or Cantonese!

This probably wouldn’t have happened in Germany, where names can only be registered if they recognizable, do not ridiculerepparttar 100520 child and are gender specific. Perhaps there is at least one Chinese child inrepparttar 100521 world, who will grow up wishing he/she were German!

So – assuming you are not German - what should you do if you want to create a unique baby name, without creating too many problems? Here are some tips and some warnings to makerepparttar 100522 process less painful:

1. Anagrams: try creating an anagram of an existing name.

2. Father and Mother: try using derivatives of one ofrepparttar 100523 parents’ names, or a combination of both. Alternatively, how doesrepparttar 100524 mother’s maiden name sound as a first name?

3. Telescoping: try dropping letters from another name or a word, until you get a nice-sounding name.

4. Spelling: an unusual spelling of a common name creates uniqueness. However, remember that your child will be condemned to a lifetime of “…that’s David spelt D..A..Y..V..I..D…” conversations.

5. Pronunciation: another trick is to pronounce a common name in an unusual way. But this can also lead to a lifetime of corrections and explanations – as well as teasing and accusations of pretentiousness.

6. History: do some research into names that were popular in previous eras, but have become less so.

7. Family History: are there any unusual baby names that can be used to honor family members or ancestors? But beware family politics…

8. Nature: many names come fromrepparttar 100525 natural world, particularly flowers (e.g. Rose) and it’s a great source for unique baby names (e.g. Gwyneth Paltrow’s daughter Apple).

9. Geography: another useful source of great names - grab an atlas and start searching. David and Victoria Beckham called their first son Brooklyn, which many people think is a cool-sounding name. However, it’s reported thatrepparttar 100526 choice was made because that’s where conception took place. Hmmm, imagine a lifetime in which your name is a constant reminder of your parents having sex! Eeeuuuuww!!!

Baby Name Meanings

Written by Michael Barrows


Speaking as a Michael (a Hebrew name, meaning “Who is like God”), I’m really proud of my name. And I think that I – mostly - live up torepparttar title! Of course, my mother would probably disagree; I thinkrepparttar 100514 phrase “little devil” would probably pass her lips if she was describing me during many stages of my childhood.

But then, my mother has her own issues; apparently her name (Kathleen) is a Celtic name meaning “Little Darling”. Hmmm, that isn’trepparttar 100515 way I used to think about her during those regular occasions when she was punishing me for my “not like God” behaviour…!

And that’srepparttar 100516 fun of baby name meanings – parents make naming decisions based on many, many different reasons, including family traditions, religion, culture, uniqueness and “it just sounds really nice.” But – inrepparttar 100517 Western world – we rarely do any real research intorepparttar 100518 history or real meaning of names. So whenrepparttar 100519 poor/lucky child finally finds outrepparttar 100520 meaning of his/her “really nice sounding” name,repparttar 100521 results can be interesting, ironic, unfortunate or just sometimes hilarious.

You can have a lot of fun thinking up family/friends names, finding outrepparttar 100522 meanings and trying to make a connection betweenrepparttar 100523 two. For example, my eldest brother Clive is apparently “a cliff dweller”, which is coincidental, since he lives atrepparttar 100524 top of a very long steep hill! Or why not playrepparttar 100525 game with celebrities – considerrepparttar 100526 following:

Badu (as in r n’b singer Erykah Badu): African name meaning “Tenth born child”

Winona (as in actress Winona Ryder): Sioux name meaning “Firstborn daughter”

Aaliyah (the late r n’b singer): Arabic name meaning “High, exalted”

Hilary (as in actresses Duff/Swank): Latin name meaning “Cheerful”

Some cultures have very interesting traditions when it comes to baby name meanings. For example, Hindu names usually have connections with very positive things such as truth, beauty, happiness, blessings, etc, or one ofrepparttar 100527 Hindu gods. Inrepparttar 100528 Sikh culture, girls traditionally haverepparttar 100529 middle or surname “Kaur”, meaning “Princess”, whilstrepparttar 100530 boys haverepparttar 100531 middle or surname “Singh”, meaning “Lion”.

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