by Laurie Childree

Created on: September 09, 2008

The good news is there are a few months to decide on a baby name. The bad news is that it is probably one of the hardest decisions that you will ever make and you will change your mind at least a few dozen times before settling on one.

When choosing a baby name there are some things to take into consideration. Actually there are a lot of things to consider and some of them will make you want to pull your hair out. You have to decide whether or not you want to name your baby after anyone first. Naming babies after people eliminates the number of names especially when you give them the exact name of the person. Any variations should be appropriate sounding when paired with other names.

You want to choose a name that your child will be able to spell before they're graduating from college. It doesn't mean sticking to three and four letter names such as Bob or Sue but it does mean making sure that you and the child can pronounce and spell the name.

There are those that will shorten names no matter what they are. This should be a consideration when you decide on the name. You want to go over every shorter version of the name that you can possibly think of and make sure that none of them will be offensive to you. Then you want to eliminate those names that the other kids can shorten into something hurtful.

You want to be careful what the names rhythm with as well. Kids like to turn names into little rhythms and you want to do your best to prevent your child from coming home in tears because of it.

You want to have a name for either a boy or a girl in case you aren't planning on finding out the sex of your baby. There are some names that little boys just don't want to have, the same goes for some little girls. You should consider how you would have felt with the name that you are considering for them. If you wouldn't have been happy with the name you shouldn't risk it with your child.

The names that sound so good on tiny ones might not sound good when they get older. There are names that may sound good when they are older that are too grown up for little kids. You want to try for a name that is going to work for a baby and an adult so that they can have fun as kids and be taken seriously as adults.

The things to consider when choosing a name for your baby can be overwhelming at times. You will find yourself ruling out name after name and narrowing it down a million times just to end up where you started with a million to choose from. The end result should be something that you and your baby are going to be able to live with.

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