Choosing a baby name

What’s in a name? Asked Juliet to Romeo, in the world-famous Shakespeare’s play. To a newborn not much as they are only concerned about being fed, loved and taken care of. The ‘problems’ start when your child goes to school, especially if their first name, associated with the family surname, has connotations, is too different (or difficult to spell or pronounce), can trigger silly nicknames or sounds like a silly or embarrassing word. Do check the initials too, if your surname is Carey, you shouldn’t really name your son Walter! If you fear your child won’t like their name when they grow up, include a middle and even third name – this is handy if you need to use a family name that you are not in love with. And if you don’t want your child to called Sam two or Emily three, don’t pick a name from any Top Ten chart!

According to the Irish Central Statistics Office, Jack and Sophie were the most popular names registered in 2009 – Jack retaining its top spot since 2007. There were over a thousand boys named Jack registered in 2009, 134 more than Sean, the second most popular name, while 635 girls were called Sophie, only five more than Ava, the second most popular name for a girl. Interestingly, four of the top five boys’ names (Jack, Sean, Conor and James) have been high up since 1998, while there has been more variation for girls. Emma and Sarah have retained a place in the top five and have been recently joined by Grace, Ava and Sophie. If you want to see the top 100 popular baby names in Ireland, visit http://www.cso.ie/releasespublications/documents/births_d_m/current/babynames.pdf.

Do and donts of choosing a baby name

• Do think carefully if you want to give your child an unusual name. Celebrities tend to give their children unusual names only for many of these children to change them when they grow up.
• Don’t use a celebrity name (who is famous today might be forgotten when your child is older) or archaic, literary names most people don’t know how to write or pronounce. The exception is several Bible names, which are becoming very popular even among non religious parents.
• Do consider hidden jokes or connotations. Nellie sounds sweet and lovely but there is an elephant called Nellie and Nessie is the nickname of the Scottish Loch Ness monster!
• Do have a list of names you like for bothBAD WORDes if you don’t know theBAD WORD of your baby – you might find that when you see your newborn, the name you love best ‘doesn’t fit’.
• Do give a family name if you both like it, there is nothing wrong in carrying on a tradition - old-fashioned names are all the rage!
• Don’t leave it till the baby is born to pick a name – compile a list of potential names in pregnancy.