Agreeing on a Name

Some parents can easily pick out a name together that both of them like and are excited for. Others have a harder time, particularly ones that come from different cultures. One may want the child named a name from his culture, the mother may want the name to come from her's. One way to get around this is to find a name that fits with both.

This can be easier than you think. Most cultures have names that are similar or have been taken and used in a different culture. Get a list or book of names from your culture and from your significant other's and look through both to see which ones match.

Also if you are planning on having more than one child you could decide to name every other one from each culture. This also works with using handed down family names, if you are having multiple children.

If you only plan on one child and that one child has the responsibility of carrying on Aunt Selma's name AND Aunt Dorothy's name, you can consider giving one for the first and one for the middle. If the names are too awful to use as first names, there are plenty of people with multiple middle names. Just squeeze Aunt Dorothy's name in after Aunt Selma's and everyone is satisfied, except perhaps the little girl herself who may or may not be proud to carry on those names.

Maybe the problem is just that you don't like the same names. Here again, each parent naming every other one might work. Or agreeing on other things, such as name length, initials, meaning or how many names the baby will have, may help narrow the choices for both of you and help you come to a compromise or agreement. Changing the spelling of a name one of you likes may get the other person to appreciate it more. Also, giving it time can help. It might not sound right at first, but if you have a month or two left to choose, come back to it later and try it out again.