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Shakespeare said, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." That may be true but a child's name is too important to be given without a lot of thought. There are books with hundreds of names for girls and for boys. That seems cold to me.

Many families have traditions about naming the first child or the first son or daughter. My mother's family has such a tradition. The first daughter is named either Nora or Victoria. So, my grandmother was Victoria, my mom is Nora, I am Victoria, my daughter is Nora, and my granddaughter is Eleanore Victoria. Two family traditions melded into a beautiful name and there is no confusion.

This is my opinion and I have experience with it, do not give sons one generation after the other the same first name. My dad was Ken, my brother was Kenny and then Ken, and my nephew is Kenny. There were times when I had to tell my mom to please specify to which "Ken" she was referring. When my brother's older son and his wife had their first baby daughter they named her Hope Elizabeth. Hope for my nephew's mom and Elizabeth for his wife's mom.

When I told me granddaughter what they had named the baby she said, "Don't those people know there are other names?" Their second daughter they named Katherine.

So a name can be confusing or it can be so different that nobody knows how to pronounce it or spell it. I've noticed that more traditional names are making a come back. I'm glad to see that. But, I'm a traditional person. I buy classic styles in clothes that won't get dated. I'm the same with names. One year Caitlin would have been the most popular name except there were so many different spellings that each iteration got a fraction of the vote.

First names are important. Your child will have this name for his/her whole life. So something that sounds "cute" for a baby may not be so cute on the playground or in the boardroom. That's why classic names are best.

When deciding on a first name, say it out loud. How does it sound? Now say it out loud with your last name. Still sound good? Put a long 'e' at the end and then say it out loud with your last name and without. What you need to do is try to find some corruption of the name that the bullies would come up with.

Now, how will the name sound when called at your child's High School graduation. This will include middle names so put all three names together and say them out loud. Are you proud or appalled? My oldest son's name is Andrew Carroll. He hated his middle name and insisted that he be called

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