How to find a special name for your precious newborn

“What should we name her?”

An all too often question mothers ponder when discovering they are pregnant with a little baby girl. There are many ways to find a name for your newborn baby girl (or boy). Each name is unique to the parents and their child. The name should be special and meaningful, yet many parents have a hard time figuring out the best name for their infant. You are probably bombarded with friends and family wanting to know the gender and what you will name your unborn baby. You may even be wondering that yourself; after all, you want the best for you special daughter.

How do you figure out what to name your child?

There are multiple methods in choosing  a name for your sparkling baby (each method can provide a wealth of unique, or unusual, names):

1. family heritage or genealogical names
2. religious or spiritual name
3. local or national society
4. basic/common words as names
5. mix ‘n match names

Regardless of how you choose a name for your daughter, each of the methods mentioned above can provide you with a wealth of special and unique girl names. We’ve compiled some of the best ways of deciding on a name just to help you figure out next steps.

Family heritage or genealogy-based names

One of our good friends has a hobby of researching family history which has turned into a business. She helps people find ancestors from all over the world. Just because you and your parents may come from the same HomeTown, Canada or Hometown, Africa doesn’t mean your ancestors are from the same place. As you look for your ancestors, you may come across names that speak to your heart. If you are unsure of where or how to start from your family tree you can start your research with some of the following websites:

• www.familysearch.org (100% free – great for basic name searching)
• www.ancestry.com (14 day free trial)
• www.archives.com (7 day free trial)

Some unique names we have come across using the resources above include (hover over for the meanings):

Religious or spiritual belief-based names

Whether you subscribe to a religion or not, there are very unique names found in religious or spiritual texts. One only needs to open the Koran, Holy Bible, or Hinduism belief-based books to find uncommon names that you can use for your child. You should be mindful of a couple things when selecting names from any of these, or other, spiritual-based books. First, some names can be derived from unflattering stories. Be wary of an unusual name that may be related to an unscrupulous story from a religious text. Second, be mindful of your geographic location as a unique girl name in the Philippians may not be uncommon in Canada or vice versa. Keep the geography of your genealogy in mind, as your child may want to visit or even live in a foreign country when older.

Using local society as a base in deciding on a name

Pop culture or societal influence from around the world may be a major player in helping you determine a special name for your daughter. Many Hollywood parents name their children with uncommon names, probably to be more eccentric. Though the names are not usually found in society as a whole, they may speak to your heart and soul. Perhaps naming your child Apple, or Pineapple speak to the inner workings of your stomach, do they really represent your child in a way that helps make them stand out as a special individual? If so, great, there are many societal names to choose unique names from.

Basic words from local foreign languages

While living overseas for a number of years we discovered many intriguing ideas on naming children. One of the methods people in Africa often used in name selection for their newborn child was using meaningful words in their language.

Some example names that came from this method of name selection include:

Mix ‘n Match names

Have you always wanted a Junior in your family – only you are having a girl not a boy? Sometime we feel that it is a shame only sons get to carry the title of Jr. or junior. Similarly some parents struggle with agreeing on whether or not baby should be named after his father.

One person we know had parents that struggled with just that when he was born. Father wanted a Junior and Mother did not want two people with the same name under the same household. As a compromise they took a part of Father’s name, Kelly, and combined it with the word “son” to derive the name Kelson, or “Kelly’s son”. When attending a driver’s training course a car-mate of mine had the name Jayson, derived the same way as Kelson.

We have another friend who was named MaryAnn, though the name is not very unique, the spelling and meaning are. Her parents wanted her to have a middle name when she got married and took on her husband’s surname; by combining two names, along with capitalized letters for both (Mary + Ann = MaryAnn), she was easily able to keep her maiden name as her middle name when she got married.

Though these names, in and of themselves, are not necessarily completely uncommon, their spellings and the stories of how they came about are special and have meanings that can pass from one generation to another. If you are still in search of a unique name for your daughter, consider combining words (names or parts thereof) to make something special for your new angel.

Final Note…

As a last note when deciding on the name for your beautiful daughter, though you may find a name that jumps out at you as but you find it to be more common than you would like – you can always use it for a middle or second name.

Tags: finding a name, naming methods