Friday, August 24, 2012

Baby Name Research

A lot of you have already asked us if we've been thinking about baby names.  For a while, we've held off on first names because some first name-last name combos can sound a little weird.  Of course, now that we have our family last name decided, we're finally free to plow ahead and start thinking of some first name options!

Like many parents, we'll waffle on baby names for quite some time until we actually have to make a decision.  Part of that is tied up in how we won't know a lot about the baby until we are chosen by a birth family.  Another part is that we have enough problems choosing where to go to dinner some nights, so making a decision that will have a lifelong impact for our child is even tougher.

At this time, Andy and I are planning on doing some research into baby names to develop some short lists.  We'll each create our own lists for boys and girls and then have those on hand to use as a go-to list if we suddenly have a last minute placement.  Amazingly, the government will be helping us do this!  The US Social Security Administration has an excellent database for history and statistics on baby names.  They track the top 1,000 baby names for boys and girls of any year going back decades.  Just for fun, I've included a quick screen grab of their Top 10 of 2011: 

While we'll be using lists like these from the SSA website as a reference, feel free to post a comment with any suggestions you have.  I know our friend Eric has already started lobbying for us to name a boy....Eric.  Very stealthy of him.  

In honor of Eric's efforts, here are some fun facts:
1. Eric was the 103rd most popular name for boys in 2011
2. The name Eric has been decreasing in popularity since it peaked in the mid 1970's
3. Our friend Eric is getting old.
4. Name rankings won't play a huge factor for us, so after ribbing Eric I might still be nice and put his name on the list  :)

6 comments:

  1. Aunt Sue's granddaughter was inadvertently named "Josie" after Aunt Eileen's dog "Josie".
    Aunt Eileen's granddaughter inadvertently named her baby "Cloe" after Aunt Sue's previous dog "Cloe".
    How about "Fozzie Annie", named after a cute dog ~..~ in Ohio?

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  2. What a blessed baby this will be. I hope and pray that someday your precious little one will come to know just how much preparation and anticipation went into his/her arrival. Love and prayers for a speedy arrival.

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  3. Tatiana is an awesome name. Don't use Xavier because...um...because.
    Mike tells me Naomi is no good because it spells I Moan backwards. Too bad too, I was fond of that name. I shot down his favorite - Sakura. Our daughter wasn't going to be named after an elementary-aged card captor.

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  4. I'm going to go with Eric and lobby for Erica. :)

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  5. This graph has essentially the same information as the SSA website, but something about it being interactive makes it strangely addicting: http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager

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