But wait a minute!

Remember that 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 in 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 mark current world events at time of 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 ridicule child and are gender specific. Perhaps there is at least one Chinese child in 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 make process less painful:

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

2. Father and Mother: try using derivatives of one of parents’ names, or a combination of both. Alternatively, how does 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 from natural world, particularly flowers (e.g. Rose) and it’s a great source for unique baby names (e.g. Gwyneth Paltrow’s daughter Apple).

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

And that’s 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 – in Western world – we rarely do any real research into history or real meaning of names. So when poor/lucky child finally finds out meaning of his/her “really nice sounding” name, results can be interesting, ironic, unfortunate or just sometimes hilarious.

You can have a lot of fun thinking up family/friends names, finding out meanings and trying to make a connection between two. For example, my eldest brother Clive is apparently “a cliff dweller”, which is coincidental, since he lives at top of a very long steep hill! Or why not play game with celebrities – consider 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”