Jeanine Cox - The Perfect Baby Name: A Proven Plan for Choosing a Name Youll Love

A Proven Plan for Choosing a
Name Youll Love JEANINE COX STERLING and the distinctive Sterling logo are registered trademarks of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Originally published in 2004 by Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016 2004, 2010 by Jeanine Cox Distributed in Canada by Sterling Publishing c/o Canadian Manda Group, 165 Dufferin Street Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6K 3H6 Distributed in the United Kingdom by GMC Distribution Services Castle Place, 166 High Street, Lewes, East Sussex, England BN7 1XU Distributed in Australia by Capricorn Link (Australia) Pty. Ltd. P.O. To my wonderful husband, Lew, and beautiful children, Oliver Max and Nadia Grace. To my wonderful husband, Lew, and beautiful children, Oliver Max and Nadia Grace.

Their ongoing enthusiasm and interest in this project have kept me going.

Without the unique skills and creativity of my editorial and programming team, this book would not be. Gratitude and thanks to Christine Beaudry, my long-time editor and friend. Her enthusiastic dedication to perfection is an inspiration to all of us.Daughters: Erin Elizabeth and Lauren Elise Thanks to Noel Hanlon, my technical guru, friend, and an exceptional father.Son: Thomas Joseph Thanks to my special Chinese friend, Ginger Yao. Her technical expertise and fluency in Mandarin are appreciated.Daughter: Jocelyn Yao Thanks to Fred Jonas for his technical expertise and reliable hosting services.Sons: David and Zachary Thanks to Kathleen Finnegan whose fluency in French and German was of significant value.Daughter: Una; Son: Milan Thanks to Lina Zaltsman, who created the worlds most sophisticated baby-names software for us and helped with Russian names.Daughter: Julia Beth; Son: Benjamin Thanks to Mariel Swiggard for her creative contributions as are evident in poems, quotes, and interesting facts regarding names throughout the book.Daughter: Savannah Mae; Son: Alexander James Thanks to Pauliina Vahaama. Her fluency in German, Persian, and Finnish added insight and accuracy to our database.Son: Saam Erick Thanks to Claire Matze.

Her expertise and fluency in Arabic and Spanish helped pull the book together.Sons: Gerard and Bernard; Daughters: Laura and Sabrina Finally, special thanks to Meredith Peters Hale, Melanie Madden, and Bob Diforio for believing in the project and helping to bring it to perfect realization.Daughter: Sloane Florence

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR PREGNANCY! THIS TIME OF YOUR LIFE is nothing short of a magical voyage that lasts (give or take) nine months. While you anxiously wait for your son or daughter, you have a very important decision to make: What will you name your precious baby? As generations have passed, weve learned from psychological studies, case histories, and experts in onomasticsthe scientific study of namesabout the overwhelming evidence that names and personalities are interwoven entities, and that what you name your child will impact his or her future. Many of our own parents believed that a popular name was the most desirable choice for a child because of a flawed yet well-accepted study indicating that kids with popular names do better in school. More recently, published research says that a child should have a unique name to stand out in this highly competitive world; likewise, namesakes, stereotypes, and spelling variations can be frowned upon. While this is interesting edification, what continues to be overlooked is that expectant parents have a natural, intuitive image of what their child may be and what name will suit him or her. Religious parents often choose a biblical name; more liberal or creative parents may go for something more unique, while conservative parents tend toward something popular but safe.

So while it appears that the name defines the child, its logical that parents naming a child with certain expectations and raising a child in a particular manner define or stereotype that child. Fortunately, theres enough media exposure to a myriad of names in our increasingly diversified culture that perceptions and stereotypes are now skewed. While its interesting to see what impressions are associated with a name, todays global society is less likely to judge people solely on their monikers. Todays classroom is filled with many ethnicities and thus, many old school bad choices are in every class roster. How can anyone in this society be concerned with name perception when the president of our country has frankly the funniest sounding moniker yet? Despite this newfound openness in choosing a name, you still want to find a meaningful name for your child. After all, any important decision in life requires research and contemplation.

But remember, only you have some inclination of what road your daughter or son may take, only you know what ideals you will set forth for your child, and only you will say, repeat, and abbreviate this given name thousands of times as you endeavor to raise your child into an exceptional person. Here you will find facts (not opinions), reliable statistics, and polls gathered from various sources as well as fun exercises, inspirational quotes, and fascinating information on the history of naming babies. What you wont find is our judgment of what makes a name cool, trendy, good, or bad. You will be provided with all the information you need to come to that conclusion on your own; after all, you are naming your child for yourselves. When it was time for my husband and me to name our first child, we did what many parents do and bought every baby-naming book we could find. While perusing the books and forming lists, we were also busy launching and developing BabyZone.com, the popular parenting site which quickly began developing tools to help parents name babies.

Nine months later, we gave birth to Nadia Grace, and two years after that her little brother Oliver Max was born. Today, several years from my pregnancy with Nadia and the inception of BabyZone.com, my editorial staff and I have helped moms and dads name millions of babies. Weve also gathered a plethora of baby-naming data from parents, experts, and public sources, and compiled stats via the Internet from millions of parents. Now, for the first time ever, were publishing this unique factual content. Along with this data, Ive added scores of lists, games, and guides to create this all-in-one inspirational book.

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