Parenting
The Baby Name Game
Friday, May 1st, 2009 | Parenting | No Comments
Some of the biggest decisions that a parent must make have already begun while the mother of a child is still pregnant. Determining which tests to take, planning the nursery, and deciding whether to have natural childbirth are just a few of the many choices that soon-to-be mothers and fathers must make. However, of all of these, one of the most significant decisions depends upon the parents’ choice of a name for their future newborn.
Among the weightier assessments that parents have to make, choosing natural childbirth or allowing for pain-reducing drugs ranks high. Deciding whether to take many of the tests offered during pregnancy, such as checking for the likelihood of certain diseases such as Reyes or Downs, is another major medical decisions parents must make. Planning a safe and soothing space for the new infant is yet another consideration that must be handled. While it appears to be less serious than some of these other decisions, in actuality the choice of a name can have a lifelong impact upon a child.
Choosing a name is easily one of the most important parenting decisions a mother or father must ever make for their infant. While some families choose to prepare a list of names while the mother is still pregnant, others decide to wait until the child is born to name the baby.
Many factors sway parents in one direction or the other. Those who prepare lists in advance may prefer to speak to a child in the womb by name. Other parents have had names picked out for their children far in advance of even meeting their spouses! Still others create lists of names because they wish their baby to begin learning their identity immediately.
For those who choose to wait to name their newborn, the decision may stem from a variety of reasons. Some parents wait to name their children in order to get to know them better and choose a name that is a good fit for the child. Other parents may wait out of respect for a special cultural custom or religious rite. For instance, in some African cultures, it is traditional for parents wait seven days to name a newborn. This decision originally sprouted from a fear of “jinxing” a birth by naming a child too soon, thus displaying its immense value to wicked spirits, who might then take its life. From cultures where a high infant mortality rate was commonplace, it also likely served as a distancing mechanism for parents, whose grief might be slightly ameliorated by the microscopic comfort that at least the baby had not yet been named.
Once parents decide when to name their infant, they must begin the difficult task of choosing what to name their child. A plethora of sources exists solely for this purpose. Modern baby name books hold offerings from many different ethnic, religious, and tribal roots. These texts often divide names by boy and girl names for easier searching.
Another favorite starting place for names is the family history. Children might be named for beloved aunts or uncles, or take their middle names from revered great-grandparents. Surnames of mothers might live on in the form of first names for their sons. Other families have a tradition of naming the sons after their fathers for multiple generations.
No matter what parents decide to name their baby; their choice will likely form the core of who this person becomes. Even when the parents have passed away, the name they bestow upon their child will remain a loving connection between them, a memory of the beloved bond between parents and baby.
