Your Child's Name is a Reflection of You

When thinking of a name for their baby, most parents look at the meaning of the names. They want to know what the baby name means, what kind of a personality, or future a baby with that name might have. However, the name you choose for your baby actually says more about you than it does about your child.

Laura Wattenburg, author of The Baby Name Wizard says "The name doesn't belong to you--you're making the decision because your child can't do it for himself--but what you choose does say a lot about your personality."

While the name will reflect on your child as they get older, in the beginning, it really is more about you. 

Jennifer Moss, author of The One-in-a Million Baby Name Book gives this advice, "When deciding on a name, you want to see it from the child's point of view and how she or he will have to live with it throughout their lives. Try the name out at your local coffee shop. How do you feel giving that as your name? What kind of reaction do you get and how does it make you feel?"

Even Lily Allen has breastfeeding (mis)adventures!

So, what does your child's name say about you?   Parents.com came up with a quick list of what baby names say about their parents.

If your child has an unusual name, you crave the spotlight. We have seen a lot of this recently with the birth of Alicia Silverstone's son, Bear Blu and Beyonce and Jay-Z named their baby girl Blue Ivy. But this is far from a new trend. Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter is named Apple, and who can forget Nicolas Cage's son Kal-el?

"There is a revolution going on when it comes to baby names, and for some parents, the more unusual, the better." Wattenberg has seen such names as Zeppelin (as in Led Zeppelin), Anakin (as in Skywalker), Lucifer (as in, you know) and Mystique (like the character from X Men) handed out to babies. "Past generations worried more about their child fitting in, but today's parents want their kids to stand out. And some are in a race to be more distinctive than the next." 

If your child has an old fashioned name, you are on the conservative side. Not all celebrity parents are hopping on the strange name bandwagon. Many prefer a more old time name for their baby. Just this year we have seen Selma Blair give birth to Arthur, Christina Applegate having Sadie, and Jennifer Connelly's Agnes.

Maryanna Korwitz, founder of TheBabyNamingExperience.com explains, "These names stand out from the pack, but they're not made up and they don't sound weird to others, Although names like Ava and Emily are in the Top 10, most of the old-fashioned names are not used on a regular basis, so the child is standing out. They're trendy, but in a safe way."

Check out the best retro celebrity baby names of 2011.

If you choose a creative spelling, you dare to be different. I see this all the time in my kids' classrooms. Children with traditional sounding names, but that are spelled very non-traditionally. Celebrities who have gone this route include Kate Hudson with son Ryder, Johnny Knoxville's son Rocko, and David Bowie and Iman with little Zowie (Zowie Bowie? really??).

"In an effort to be different and make their kids special from the very beginning, we see a lot of names with a multitude of spellings," says Candace Alper, creator of Name Your Tune, personalized CDs for children that feature the child's name throughout much-loved kids' tunes. "We see extra vowels, silent H's, and Y's where there would traditionally be an "I" or an "E" (think Aayden, Khate, Rhyan).

Just be careful when going this route.  Remember your child is going to have to correct the spelling on their name for the rest of their lives when you do this!

Find out what keeps these Moms up at night.

If you choose a family name you're sentimental. I love the idea of naming my children after people who I love in my family. My first and third babies (both girls) were named after my great-grandmothers. I like to think that part of my grandmother's personalities were given to them when they were born. I am not alone in this either. Many celebrities take this path when naming their babies.Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O-Connell's daughter, Charlie, is named after his brother. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie named one of their twins, Vivienne Marcheline after Angelina's Mother, and Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Philippe's daughter, Ava, is named after his grandmother.

Naming your baby can be tricky, so many options, and the never ending doubt of "did I pick the right name?". Remember that just as your child will reflect on you as they grow, the name you give them at birth will reflect on you also.

 What do you think of this list? Do you agree with it?

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