What's in a (baby's) name?

Please allow me to step on to my soapbox for a moment...


If you have spent even a small amount of time with me, chances are you have heard me ramble on about how irritated I get with people and the names they choose for their babies. I encourage everyone to pick up the book Freakonomics (Levitt & Dubner) and read Chapter 6: Perfect Parenting, Part II; or, Would a Roshanda by Any Other Name Smell as Sweet? It will really open your eyes to the fact that the name you choose for your baby will be with them for the rest of their life and it could have detrimental effects! This morning I came across the article Isabella top name for girls; Jacob No.1 for boys on Yahoo. It made me a little sick to think that the top names for children were copied from the popular Twilight series; however, at least Bella and Jacob are fairly common and no one will ever have to know that their parents were victims of the Twilight saga. The part of the article that really struck me, and that is usually my point is this: "don't make the name a burden on your child." Jennifer Moss, author of "The One-in-a-Million Baby Name Book" and founder of babynames.com also said, "Make sure the name can grow with your child and make sure they can live with it. Don't make it too cutesy because think, can it work in the board room? Can they be a CEO?"

I'm begging you, for my sanity (and your child's), please think twice before you name your child.