Choosing a name

loloco22

What are your top pieces of advice for choosing a name?

scatteringashes

I once saw the advice to imagine how you would feel shouting it across a playground, which I think holds pretty well. Personally, I also try to consider how I feel about potential mispronunciations and nicknames. I really love the name Marjorie, but the nickname Marge is a non-starter for me. Since I can't control what my kid may want to be called later in life, I figure best to start from a place that doesn't introduce nicknames I don't like.

janinegb

I think people are waaaaaay overdoing it with the “unique” names/spellings. It not like your kids name are screen names or gamer tags where you can’t register it cause it’s already taken 

00kim00

• Use the most common/traditional/logical spelling of the name (otherwise your child will have to keep spelling it again and again and again)
• Watch out for cultural appropriation - do not choose a name associated with a culture that is not your own, especially a marginalized culture (native American names, African names, Japanese names, etc. if neither you, your partner, or the child are of that culture). It doesn't matter how wonderful the name sounds, you/your child will be side-eyed at some point and you'll have an uphill battle against being labeled racist.
• Say first and last name together as if you were introducing yourself in a business setting. Does it flow? Does it sound professional? Is it super long?
• Check initials: both first and last; first, middle, and last; and, first, last, middle (the order if they ever get a formal monogram)
• Watch the length, will the full name fit on forms? 
• Look into name meaning (behindthename.com is a good source) to make sure you're okay with the meaning
• Google it- you don't want to accidentally name your child after a serial killer
• If you live in an area where there are people from other cultures or you anticipate your child visiting/moving to other areas, think about pronunciation (my husband's father's family is Chinese, so we're considering placement of r and l sounds because of how they would pronounce it; we used to live in a very Hispanic area, so having so people with common accents attempt to pronounce it can give you an idea of how easy or difficult it is)
• Think of nicknames and how you feel about them
• Ask someone to read it and try to pronounce it. Can they get it on the first try or will your child be correcting people their whole life (or change the name they go by to avoid it)

knottie_knottie1

Don't name your child anything that will cause them to be bullied in school