Personal Development
Essentials

How to choose a Baby's name

Giving your child a name is one of the most difficult but important things you can do for your new born child. Get it right and you can open up a world of uninhibited possibilities for your child, but get it wrong and you might condemn them to a world of missed opportunities.  

You must remember that the name that suits a young child will be with them for their whole life, and not only the few years in which the child is growing up. This is an important point to note, as well as many others, but there are some more subtle factors involved when choosing a child’s name that don’t get the attention they deserve.

Common research tells us that people with names starting with letters at the beginning of the alphabet have a much better chance of success than those towards the end. Even though this research has mainly pointed to the first initial of the surname the same is true for the forename. Having your forename or surname high up in any list gives you a distinct advantage over those lower down, and your chances of being selected are far higher. As you child gets selected first more and more often, the affect this has increases and throughout their entire life they will feel the benefit.  

If you want to give your child the best chances of success pick a traditional name for them, such as James or Elizabeth, which for many people sounds intelligent. On the other hand names like Wayne or Lisa, George or even Ann have the least appeal.

You must also carefully consider the initials of the name when put together, avoiding initials such as DIE, BUM and BAG, and consider giving your child initials such as TOP, ACE, and JOY. Studies tell us that people with positive sounding initials live longer than those with less a positive one.

The final thing to consider when choosing the initials of a name is to consider giving your child a name starting with the letters A or B. If your child has these initials they are more likely to be thought of as an A or B student. When the teacher marks the paper and sees the name A. Smith, their subconscious mind is already telling them that this student is an A, the same works for B, C and D. You might find this hard to believe but check it out for yourself. If you can check the pupil lists at your local school, see how many pupils who are in the top classes who have names with initials at the start of the alphabet compared to those at the end, you will be surprised.  

Here are a few more things to think about when choosing a name for your child:

• Say the name out loud to check how it sounds.

• Consider how the name may be shortened.

• Check the spelling, don’t give your child an oddly spelt names... all too often parents spell their baby's name incorrectly making for a lifetime of spelling alterations!

• Consider whether other family members are going to have the same initials.

• Is the name difficult to pronounce?

• Will you still like the name when your child is not small.

• Avoid naming your child after a celebrity, their fame often only last a short time, but your child is stuck with the name forever.

• Check the meaning of your baby's name.

 

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