Boy And Girl Baby Names

Avi: Should I call you Bullet? Tooth? 

Bullet Tooth Tony: You can call me Susan if it makes you happy. 

 - Snatch, 2000

   Baby names used to be a conventional thing. One would name a boy or girl using the traditional designation within their own culture, quite often for a symbolic figure within that culture or a particular family member. These days,...it's ALL over the place. Mostly here in America. Popular fruits, emotions, etc.,  have become the new personal label. There was recently a family that gave a Twitter inspired name. 

   For our part, the wife and I used as a base these two books:

Beyond Ava & Adien - published in 2009, it served us well for our '09 boy and even helped start the process with our '12 girl.

Best Baby Name Book In The Whole World - published in 1984, this was our first book and was a great launch to the search for our first, and kept us from "naming block" for our second and third.

   There is much to consider when naming in the early 21st century. Will my child be bullied? How many other boys or girls will have the same name? Will the company I'm in love with send me endorsement checks for showing this kind of loyalty? I realize that some parents feel the need to be unique, oblivious to the torture that "Bernice" or "Apple" will be subject to over the years. Others are thoughtful and will always adhere to the traditional naming convention of their culture.

   Never discount where you might find the name you are looking for. The books above gave some great suggestions that rolled over into other ideas. For our part:
- Our first child was a name within our extended family that fit and we never looked back.
- Our second was a name we heard on a television show that trumped all ideas we had instantly.
- Our third was a "similar names to..." suggestion upon looking at the website ParentsConnect.

   After my suggestions of "The Amazing" or "Artist Formerly Known As", I'm very happy with out names, even if friends or family wrinkled their noses at them at first. Our children are now branded, and no other names would have been more perfect. So happy hunting and let me know what you came up with. I'm curious.

J.