Category Archive for ‘Baby Naming Tips’ at Baby Names Made Easy: The Complete Reverse-Dictionary of Baby Names

Archive for the 'Baby Naming Tips' Category

The Baby Name Insider

Published

on August 9, 2010

in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists and Baby Naming Tips

. 0 Comments

Entertainment Weekly has The Shaw Report, I have The Baby Name Insider – the latest in cool and uncool baby names and trends. Baby naming trends change just as quickly as fashionable hairstyles, clothes and nursery themes. A lot of parents I’ve talked to were sure they’d chosen a name that wasn’t overly popular yet, only to discover they were very, very wrong. Don’t let that happen to you!

Here are my picks for today’s “Cool,” “In Limbo” and “Uncool” names and trends – some based on my opinion, some based on what I’m hearing from readers.

THE BABY NAME INSIDER

	COOL	IN LIMBO	UNCOOL
“Twilight:” Names:	Jasper	Rosalie	Bella
Location Names:	Kingston	Memphis	Brooklyn
Names that end in “X”:	Beatrix	Max	Jax
Celebrity-Inspired:	Audrey	Presley	Miley

Like The Baby Name Insider? If so, let me know J You can email me or leave a comment. When you leave your first comment, you’ll need to take a couple seconds to “register.” It’s a way to prevent spammers from clogging up comment sections with off-topic advertisements. Once you do register though, you won’t have to worry about it again and can leave all the comments you want.

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

WANT MORE BABY NAME INFO?

●Join the free BABY NAMES MADE EASY newsletter list for the latest baby name news and tips from my website

●Subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss any future baby name posts

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HAVE BABY NAME QUESTIONS?

If you have baby name questions, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

DO YOU TWEET?

Follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, interesting names I come across and so much more! I’m @babynameauthor!

For more information on baby names and their meanings get your copy of

BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES

15 Baby Naming Tips Article

Published

Amanda Barden

on July 16, 2010

in Baby Naming Tips, My Life and Website Announcements

. 0 Comments

A couple weeks ago, Melissa Chapman asked me to weigh in on an article she was writing for SheKnows.com about unique ways to find cool and interesting baby names. I put together a list of 15 ideas and Melissa’s article was posted today.

Here are two of my tips from the article:

Tip #2: Make a game of it

Make it a goal to meet three new people every day and get their names—the checker in the grocery store, the person sitting next to you on the bus, the barista blending your drink—you’re bound to hear something interesting. If mom and dad both do this, it will be something fun you can do together and you’ll double the number of names you add to your list.

Tip #10: Go back in time to popular names from 100 years ago

The Social Security website will tell you today’s most popular names, but it will also tell you what names were popular in the past. Some of the names parents liked for boys back in 1910 were Archie, Everett, Oscar, Otis and Henry.

Read the rest of my tips:

http://www.sheknows.com/articles/816274/15-ways-to-find-a-cool-baby-name-1

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

WANT MORE BABY NAME INFO?

●Join the free BABY NAMES MADE EASY newsletter list for the latest baby name news and tips from my website

●Subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss any future baby name posts

GET YOUR OWN COPY OF BABY NAMES MADE EASY

HAVE BABY NAME QUESTIONS?

If you have baby name questions, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

DO YOU TWEET?

Follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, interesting names I come across and so much more! I’m @babynameauthor!

For more information on baby names and their meanings get your copy of

BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES

Romantic Baby Naming Ideas

Published

Amanda Barden

on July 9, 2010

in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists and Baby Naming Tips

. 0 Comments

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Looking for unique baby names? Turn your baby’s name into a romantic affair. Think about all the people, places and events that are important to you as a couple and you just may find the perfect name along the way.

Here are 11 romantic baby name ideas:

1. The name of the street where you first lived as a couple

2. The name of the restaurant where you went on your first date

3. The city/state/country where you met

4. The name of the friend who introduced you

5. The place where you conceived the baby

6. The name of the singer who sings your song

7. The name of the place where you or your partner proposed

8. The name of the site you got married

9. The place where you went on your honeymoon

10. The name of the actor/actress who starred in the movie you saw on your first date

11. The name of the flower you used in your wedding bouquet

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Any other romantic ideas? Share them with me!

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

WANT MORE BABY NAME INFO?

●Join the free BABY NAMES MADE EASY newsletter list for the latest baby name news and tips from my website

●Subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss any future baby name posts

GET YOUR OWN COPY OF BABY NAMES MADE EASY

HAVE BABY NAME QUESTIONS?

If you have baby name questions, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

DO YOU TWEET?

Follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, interesting names I come across and so much more! I’m @babynameauthor!

For more information on baby names and their meanings get your copy of

BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES

Baby Naming Tip from Amanda Peet

Published

Amanda Barden

on July 6, 2010

in Baby Naming Tips, Celebrity Baby Names and Celebrity Birth

. 0 Comments

When you can’t decide between two different names, write both down on separate pieces of paper, put them in a bowl and choose one. Your gut reaction will tell you which name you like better. If you’re excited about your pick, you have your name. If you’re disappointed and want to choose again, the name you didn’t choose is the winner.

According to People.com, Amanda Peet and her husband, David Benioff, did a version of this when naming their daughter, Molly June. Amanda and David were torn between two names – Molly June and Maya June. They couldn’t leave the hospital without picking a name, so David wrote the names on pieces of paper and held them behind his back. Amanda chose the paper that said Maya June and was disappointed…so they decided to go with Molly June.

I think they made the right choice – Molly June flows a little more smoothly than Maya June. What do you think?

SOURCE: People.com

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

WANT MORE BABY NAME INFO?

●Join the free BABY NAMES MADE EASY newsletter list for the latest baby name news and tips from my website

●Subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss any future baby name posts

GET YOUR OWN COPY OF BABY NAMES MADE EASY

HAVE BABY NAME QUESTIONS?

If you have baby name questions, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

DO YOU TWEET?

Follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, interesting names I come across and so much more! I’m @babynameauthor!

For more information on baby names and their meanings get your copy of

BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES

ASK AMANDA: Can you suggest some baby names?

Published

Amanda Barden

on April 8, 2010

in Ask Amanda, Baby Name Suggestions & Lists, Baby Naming Tips and Twitter Baby Names

. 1 Comment

Welcome to ASK AMANDA. I have a question from a Twitter follower. Have you found me on Twitter yet?

Ask Amanda

Q: First of all, thanks for the response to my naming inquiry on Twitter (I’m @busylilmonkey).

Secondly, if you have any others to throw into the mix, I’d love to hear them (my husband and I have the hardest time choosing names). I do love Caroline but somehow my husband isn’t as thrilled (plus I have a close friend named Caroline). I also like Maeve because it’s different yet not totally weird; but do you think people would know how to pronounce it or often spell it incorrectly?

My first daughter’s name is Arden, so aiming for something along that vein (not common but not weird). Our last name starts with “B,” but I’m not a big fan of alliteration in names in general, so I’m avoiding B names.

Thanks for any help in advance! AMBER, Marietta, GA

A: Thanks for writing to me. I’m glad you liked my Twitter suggestions.

For everyone’s reference, here’s the tweet in question:

ELODIE MAEVE CAROLINE For more http://ow.ly/1mIPpF Good luck! RT @busylilmonkey: still struggling with baby girl names. Any suggestions?

If you like Caroline, but your husband’s not crazy about it, consider Carolina instead. It’s similar to Caroline, of course, but has a more feminine flair to it. Carolina also sounds a little more unique because it hasn’t been as common as Caroline over the years.

Maeve…will people know how to pronounce and spell it? That’s a good question. I suspect your instincts are correct here and that some people will not. Of course, you run into the same spelling problem with a very familiar name like Caroline. Some people will guess Caroline and others will guess Carolyn.

If you’re still looking for more names, here are ten more baby names to consider that have a similar style to your first daughter’s name, Arden – I left out all “B” options, as requested!

GIRLS’ BABY NAMES

ANNABELLE

DAPHNE

GENEVA

OLIVE

PEYTON

PIPER

RAMONA

SAVANNAH

SYDNEY

WILLA

Calling all readers! Do you have any other baby name suggestions for Amber?

Good luck! Please let me know what name you end up choosing.

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

Follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, interesting names I come across and so much more! I’m @babynameauthor!

If you have baby name questions for me, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

For more information on baby names and their meanings check out

BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES

Baby Names Soaring in Popularity

Published

Amanda Barden

on December 5, 2009

in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists, Baby Naming Tips, Celebrity Baby Names and Celebrity Names

. 0 Comments

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A topic that comes up over and over again with readers is how to choose names that aren’t going to be too common. I’ve blogged in the past about ways to prevent choosing a name that will be popular in the future.

Here’s another great tool from Social Security to help parents. They’ve put out a handy ranking of the names that moved up the chart the most in the previous year. The 2009 stats aren’t due out for another couple months, but here is the data from 2008.

These are the names that showed the biggest increase in popularity from the previous year. What can this information tell you? In the post I mentioned earlier about predicting what names are going to be popular, one of my tips is to avoid names that are quickly rising on the popularity chart. This list helps you figure out what those names are!

So, if you’re looking for a name that will be unique, avoid the names on this list because they might be destined for even greater popularity in the years to come. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a trendy or stylish name, you might want to use one of these names.

No matter your goal, this is a list you need to know about.

Here goes…the top 20:

GIRLS’ BABY NAMES

KHLOE

MARLEE

MARELY

AUDRINA

MARLEY

DANNA

JASLENE

LILAH

PAISLEY

MILEY

LYLA

HARPER

DAYANA

VALENTINA

LONDON

MYLEE

JIMENA

LYRIC

KAYDEN

EMERY

BOYS’ BABY NAMES

JACOBY

KANE

BECKETT

PAXTON

KALE

AUGUST

BRAYLON

RYKER

KINGSTON

KOLTON

ZAYDEN

BRYCEN

RIVER

MILO

LANDYN

ALIJAH

CASH

ALVIN

JUDE

BYRON

What jumps out at me the most is that on the girl’s list there are three spelling variations of the name MARLEY and two variations of MILEY. These are names to avoid (no matter how you spell it) if you want to avoid popular names.

There’s some celebrity inspiration on this list — obviously MILEY Cyrus. We also have AUDRINA — it’s a beautiful name brought into the spotlight by Audrina Patridge of The Hills fame. No surprise that it caught the attention of parents. PAISLEY may be inspired by Brad Paisley (quite a creative baby namer himself with sons Huckleberry and Jasper).

On the boy’s side we have CASH — the snazzy name of Jessica Alba’s husband, Cash Warren. KINGSTON is the name of Gwen Stephani’s oldest son and it’s probably no accident that his name made it onto this list.

Follow the trends… the –en/-on sound at the end of boys’ names is quite hot and this list shows that loud and clear. There’s PAXTON, BRAYLON, KINGSTON, KOLTON, ZAYDEN, BRYCEN and LANDYN. That’s a little more than a third of all the names on the list.

Another trend we see represented here is the popularity of location names with LONDON on the girl’s list. Ditto for KINGSTON on the boy’s list.

Other names that made the list that may increase in popularity next year:

GIRLS’ BABY NAMES

AUDREY

CORA

DELILAH

FIONA

LILA

MALIA

PENELOPE

PEYTON

STELLA

VIOLET

BOYS’ BABY NAMES

EASTON

ELI

ELLIOT

FINN

GRADY

GRAYSON/GREYSON

HOLDEN

HUDSON

JASPER

KELLEN

LEVI

MADDOX

WESTON

WYATT

What names dropped in popularity? Here are the 20 names that took the biggest slide:

GIRLS’ BABY NAMES

ANGELIQUE

YOSELIN

JADEN

KIRSTEN

ANAHI

ALISSA

JULISSA

ASHLEE

MEREDITH

PAULINA

DAYANARA

DIAMOND

JAIDEN

RACHAEL

JOSELYN

ABRIL

PARIS

MEGHAN

JADYN

RYAN

BOYS’ BABY NAMES

ALDO

BRANDEN

OSVALDO

LELAND

BILLY

NOE

RODNEY

JAYLIN

FELIPE

TOBIAS

CAMRON

NATHANAEL

ORLANDO

TERRANCE

JALEN

JADON

CYRUS

SCOTT

JESSIE

CARL

We see some celebrity backlash here (which always happens eventually) — ORLANDO, CYRUS, PARIS, ASHLEE, JADEN/JAIDEN/JADYN.

Now it’s your turn! What do you think?

Subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss any future baby name posts.

You can also follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, name trivia, interesting names I come across and so much more…don’t miss out! I’m @babynameauthor!

♥ Amanda

If you have baby name questions for me, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

For more information on baby names and their meanings check out

BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES

DOUBLE FIRST NAMES: Part 2, Double Names with a Modern Twist

Published

Amanda Barden

on December 3, 2009

in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists, Baby Naming Tips and Celebrity Names

. 2 Comments

D. Sharon Pruitt

Yesterday, I posted a list of celebrities who use double names (i.e., SARAH MICHELLE Gellar and SARAH JESSICA Parker). Today, I have a list of up-to-date double name options, for those parents who think that two names are better than one.

It took me quite awhile to come up with these options. I tried to stay away from the traditional second names like Ray, Lee, Sue, Lou and Jo(e).

The boys’ names were especially hard because many options tended to sound like a first and last name instead of a complete first name.

I’d love to hear your suggestions for double names! Leave a comment with your recommendations.

FEMALE DOUBLE NAMES

ABIGAIL PAIGE

ALLISON IVY

AMY CLARE

AUDREY ELLA

AVA MAY

BIANCA BELLE

CHARLOTTE SKYE

CHLOE WINTER

CORA LYNN

ELIZA JUNE

EMILY KATE

EMMA GRACE

ISLA ROSE

LANDRY KATE

LILY JADE

LYDIA BAY

MAYA PAIGE

NORA JANE

PRISCILLA JOY

RUBY BELLE

SADIE CLARE

SAVANNAH ROSE

TESSA GRACE

WARNING:

EMILY ROSE might sound like the perfect match and it is lovely. However, it’s also the name of a horror movie about an exorcism. If you don’t like the association, you might want to choose a different name — EMMA ROSE and EMERSON ROSE are nice alternatives.

MALE DOUBLE NAMES

ETHAN EVAN

HENRY ELLIS

HENRY SCOTT

JACK HENRY

JACK MASON

JACKSON COLE

JACKSON GRAY

JEREMY WYNN

JOHN THOMAS

JONAH ELLIS

JOSHUA GRANT

LEVI WEST

LUKE WYATT

MILO MOSE

PARKER JAMES

WILSON CLAY

ZACHARY TY

BEN WILLIAM

BABY NAME ADVICE…

One thing to think about are names that are also words with other meanings, like Drew. If you name your son JACK DREW it’s going to sound like a sentence and leave people who overhear you calling his name wondering just what Jack drew. I’m not saying not to do it, but I don’t want you to do it by accident.

Here are some names that also double as verbs:

MAY

DREW

WADE

WILL

BILL

Can you think of any others?

I’d love to hear your thoughts about double names. Love them? Hate them? Also if you have any suggestions, post a comment and share!

Subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss any future baby name posts.

You can also follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, interesting names I come across and so much more! I’m @babynameauthor!

♥ Amanda

If you have baby name questions for me, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

For more information on baby names and their meanings check out

BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES

ASK AMANDA: A Vintage Name with a Good Meaning

Published

Amanda Barden

on November 30, 2009

in Ask Amanda, Baby Name Suggestions & Lists and Baby Naming Tips

. 1 Comment

Beverly & Pack

Welcome to another edition of ASK AMANDA. Today I’m helping parents with a very common question — and one of my favorites.

Ask Amanda

Q: We are having our third child in February, a baby girl. My husband and I love vintage names with great meanings. This time, we are struggling a bit. The baby’s middle name will be Constance. We do not want to pick a name that is too popular.

Any ideas? DANA, Austin, Texas

A: So, you’re looking for a vintage name that’s not too popular, has a good meaning and goes with the middle name Constance. I’m so glad you wrote to me!

Here are some suggestions:

ALTHEA: “healthy, healing power”

AUDREY: “noble strength”

CORDELIA: “heart”

DAPHNE: “laurel”

ELIZA: “God is my oath”

FELICITY: “happy, fortunate”

MARGOT: “pearl”

NORA: “honor”

ORLA: “golden lady, princess”

In case it factors into your decision, the name CONSTANCE is Latin for “loyal.” Sometimes people like to coordinate meanings.

I hope you find something you like on this list. If not, there are thousands of options in my book!

For everyone out there looking for names with specific meanings, you should pick up a copy of BABY NAMES MADE EASY. It’s the only baby name book that’s organized by the meaning of the names. That makes it really easy for you to find names with meanings you like. J

Good luck and let me know what you pick!

Happy naming,

♥ Amanda

Follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, interesting names I come across and so much more! I’m @babynameauthor!

If you have baby name questions for me, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

For more information on baby names and their meanings check out

BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES

Interview with Kojii Helnwein about baby names…and her pain-free birth!

Published

Amanda Barden

on November 18, 2009

in Baby Names in the News, Baby Naming Tips, International Baby Names and Website Announcements

. 0 Comments

I’ve launched my first Notable Names feature - an interview with Kojii Helnwein of Project Runway and Models of the Runway. Kojii told me about how she got her unique name and how she chose her daughter’s name. Plus, she had great tips for soon-to-be-parents. Read it for yourself and leave comments here.

More name interviews to come…Stay tuned!

Subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss any future baby name posts.

You can also follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, interesting names I come across and so much more! I’m @babynameauthor!

♥ Amanda

If you have baby name questions for me, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

For more information on baby names and their meanings check out

BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES

More Alternatives to the Top 10 Baby Names

Published

Amanda Barden

on November 14, 2009

in Baby Name Suggestions & Lists and Baby Naming Tips

. 3 Comments

j0438039

Parents-to-be often fall in love with a name only to see it land in the Top 10 most popular baby names. Some take that as a sign that they have good taste and choose the name without looking back. Others decide to scrap the name and choose something more unique.

For those of you who like some of the Top 10 names, but want something that’s not already at the top of the charts, I’ve put together a list of alternatives — names that are similar, but not similarly popular.

GIRLS’ BABY NAMES

EMMA — EMBER, ESMÉ, AMABEL

ISABELLA — ISLA, ISIDORA, IRIS, INGRID

EMILY — EMERSON, EMERALD, AMELIA

MADISON — MACY, MADELINE, MARLEY

AVA — AIDA, AVERY, ASTRA, IVY

OLIVIA — OLIVE, OLYMPIA, OPAL

SOPHIA — STELLA, SIMONE, SIENA

ABIGAIL — ABILENE, AUDREY, ANNABELLE

ELIZABETH — ELIZA, ELINOR, BETHANY

CHLOE — CALLIOPE, CAMILLA, CORA

BOYS’ BABY NAMES

JACOB — JASPER, JERICHO, JAMESON

MICHAEL — MICAH, MILLER, MITCHELL

ETHAN — ELLIOT, EASTON, ELIAS

JOSHUA — JOSIAH, JOSS, JULIAN

DANIEL — DANE, DALTON, DASHIELL

ALEXANDER — XAVIER, ARCHER, ARCHIBALD

ANTHONY — ANDERSON, ARTHUR, AUGUSTUS

WILLIAM — WILSON, WALLACE, WALKER

CHRISTOPHER — CHANDLER, CHARLETON, CRISPIN

MATTHEW — MADDEN, MALCOLM, MARLOW

What do you think? Do you have a good suggestion for a Top 10 alternative? Leave a comment and let us all know!

Also, a big thank you for the comments and emails — I love to hear from readers! J

Subscribe to the RSS feed so you don’t miss any future baby name posts.

You can also follow me on TWITTER to get up-to-the-minute celebrity baby name news, interesting names I come across and so much more! I’m @babynameauthor!

♥ Amanda

If you have baby name questions for me, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.

Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.

For more information on baby names and their meanings check out

BABY NAMES MADE EASY: THE COMPLETE REVERSE-DICTIONARY OF BABY NAMES