Popular Baby Names: Don't Stress So Much About Naming Your Kids

Juliet from Romeo and Juliet knew how important a name is, she asks Romeo “What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” The tragedy surrounds the fight between the Capulets and Montagues. If it weren’t for their last names, these two “star-crossed lovers” would have been able to fall in love happily and not died tragically.

Millennials are stressing out about decisions to name their future spawn. Everybody dreads that time when the substitute teacher mispronounces your name. Parents are trying to remain original, yet not brand the child with an awful name. The pressure parents are putting on themselves for naming a child is detracting from enjoying the happiness of pregnancy.

Parents try so hard to come up with original names since John and Jane are so commonly used. I know so many Jessicas, I place an adjective before their name so I don’t get confused. Unfortunately, somewhere in the world, a child might share the same name. If you enjoy the common names, do not let it deter you from choosing that moniker for your child. While they may share the same name with another child in class, they will still be unique. Uniqueness doesn’t derive from certain name, but from personality.  

If you do want your child to have an original name, please think long and hard before you refer your child as any of these names. Original names are very interesting, such as Beyonce and Jay-Z’s daughter, Blue Ivy, but some names such as Pilot Inspektor, Jason Lee’s son, will cause teasing. Individualistic names derive from various inspirations from family names to character names in books. Choose a unique name that you feel strongly for and be proud of the originality.

When adopting a child, there is always the debate as to whether or not change their name or keep the birth name. Parents can take either method, keeping the the original name or using it as their middle name. My mother did the latter option for my sister and me. My name is Michelle, but my middle name is Usha (ooo-sha). Usha means dawn in Hindi/Sanskrit and is also a Vedic deity and possesses many awesome qualities.  My unknown birthmother named me correctly, since I love yellow and my personality fits sunshine. If you search either name Michelle or Usha, you receive a lot of results. If you search for the combination, the result is me (Now I’m sure you’ll all google me).  

Naming children can be really stressful, but do not spend your time fretting over names. Do not forget to enjoy the fact that you have created a life or adopted a child.