by Keri Withington

Created on: March 02, 2007   Last Updated: April 25, 2007

How many times a day do you hear your own name? Once? Five times? Ten? Twenty?
When you choose a name for your child, you are deciding what they will be called for the rest of their lives. There's an art to picking a good name.

It is difficult! Inevitably if you are expecting a girl, you'll find lots of boys names you like, and vice versa. Start looking for names early in the prgnancy so that you don't feel rushed or stressed. Enjoy laughing at horrible names and keep a list of potential ones.

Consider what names mean. Pay attention to where they come from and what associations they have.

Pay attention to what the initials are. Katherine Karen Knightley or Adam Steven Smith might sound nice when you say the full name, but I wouldn't want either of those sets of initials.

Similarly, pay attention to how the names are abbreviated. For example, if you're considering William, be aware that you're son will probably be called either Willy or Bill.

Look at baby name books. They can be good to get ideas from, and have lots of horrible names to laugh at. Your local library should have some. I got mine for 20p at a charity shop.

Consider family names, but don't feel obligated to use them. Just because your grandmother/mother-in-law/father thinks you should use a certain name, it doesn't mean you have to. However, family names can be meaningful to everyone involved and work exspecially well as middle names.

Names, like everything else, go through trends. Try to avoid them unless you want your child to have the same name as 6 other kids in their class.

Be creative, but not ridiculous. Remeber that kids get picked on in school for having names like Romeo or Rainbow. (Just because celebs pick outrageous names it doesn't mean that you should).

Pick out the name together. Both parents should agree on the name.

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