How did you find the right name for your child?

[Mahogany Momma]

I thought this was a great topic to share with the group, get us all thinking about our pregnancies and such. So, how did you come up with the name for your kids? Do tell...

I will start by sharing my story. Umm well why my son's father and I found out we were having a boy, it was very important to him that we find a name that really meant something. He strongly believes that a name dictates not only your personality, but your life. He wanted to find a name that was all about wealth, power, and strength. I'm not quite sure what I personally wanted but I was always clear on what I didn't want. Like when he thought it would be a good idea to name him 'The Greatest Unknown.' - Yeah, I vetoed that one right away, but it was always funny to think about it. Sooo well, at some point I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and rushed to the hospital for having way to high sugar levels. During a very stressful week there, my many mothers would call and read bible verses with me. It was during that time that I found 'Eden' and thought it would be the perfect name. Of course his dad hated it. Well one night I woke up and in a flash it came to me, let's use Eden as his middle name, his last name will be Ottley, so if we could find a first name that started with 'C' his initials would be 'C.E.O.'. When I told his dad my idea, the first C name that came to mind was Christopher, and so his name was created, Christopher Eden Ottley - a.k.a. C.E.O.. Christopher means of God, Eden means pleasant, and well CEO just about covers all the wealth and power that his father was hoping for. Strangely enough he is just that. Every one comments that he is such a pleasant baby, with such a strong spiritualness around him. So many random people have come up to us, looked at him and said that boy has something special about him, he is blessed. And to top it all off, he is quite a busy baby. From birth he's been in more meetings, on more airplanes, and outside more than his father and I put together. So I guess he is a business baby in training. LOL. Well long story long, I think his name is such a strong part of who he is and I love it.

Alright, that's the end of my story. I would love to hear yours.

[DivasMaMa]

I had a whole list of names because ever since i found out i was pregnant i had started researching names... my boyfriend didnt help me in it because he didnt want to know what we were having until we had the baby in our arms. me on the other hand- i wasnted to know immediately because i wanted a healthy little girl so we could have the same relationship that my mother and i had. the way we came up with our daughters name is while i was pushing i was asking the doctor and nurses while he was taking pictures, and if he didnt like it he would say hell no.

i wanted to name her
Ziya which mean light, because she was the light in my life when i was going through a whole heap of darkness, but he didnt like that. or Naziah which means a mothers love. the list goes on and on and he didnt like it. i didnt want to name her anything crazy cause he and i both have crazy names.... but all the names i did have for her had something behind them finlly after i laughed her out and her daddy melted i decided on Aja which means to propel or drive forward and her middle name is Nykole which means victoriously. I love my divas name. and recently i found out that her first name was also the name of a high priestess of Mecca. the only downfall about her name is that now that I have named her, I have seen the name Aja everywhere, go figure.....

[Sari Ramirez]

Well i always new i wanted a name that was unique and would stand out!!!! So i bought a multicultural baby name book from the moment i saw his name i new that was the one so the day we found out we were having a boy we went out to lunch and i said well i like Zakkai and he said but i like One` (pronounced Onay) and i said what about Zakkai One and at that moment the baby kicked for the first time and thats all we needed was the baby to cosign!!! Later that day my boyfriend said with a sad look on his face that he didnt realize that he had picked a name that was so alike to his mother who had passed away her name was Ronay,(also he was due to be born on her bday) so we new we had made the right choice in name Zakkai One Aziz ( meaning- innocent one) :o)

[Francine]

Like most of us, We wanted to name our son with names that had meaning. My first son name is Jabulani Amari. Jabulani means Happiness and Amari means Strenght. His name fits him well because he is always laughing and smiling and he makes us laugh everyday. Our second son is Jelani Camara. Jelani means Great/Mighty. Camara means Teacher. Great and Mighty Teacher. He is just nine weeks old and has already rolled over twice. Always smiling like his brother.

[Spirit Filled]

My hubby named both of our children. My son is Anthony James and my daughter is Victoria Whitley. Now I wanted to name my daughter "Cherish Memory", but that was not going to fly : ) and he has always liked the name Victoria, but "Whitley" came from the show back in the day, with the black college students (I forgot the name...) but he loved him some "Whitley".

[Tracy]

Ohhhhh I suckered out.... My bestfriend and I picked out names for our daughters when we were only 12 years old. It was one of the first 'bestfriend" acts that we made together. We loved prince and Morris Day back then, so we were going to name our girls.. BeYonca, and Brandizi.

Low and behold, Years later, I had my child first and the father stepped in and wanted her named after him, so her name went from being Brandizi Inez (my favorite cousin's middle name) to Erica Inez.. EVERYONE WAS SOOOO HAPPY THAT HE TALKED ME INTO IT.. (lol)

Then 5 years later, my ex husband steps in AGAIN and takes over and my son's name went from being, Tray (after me Tracy) to Eric Jr (after him).

*sigh*... I was in too much pain from having him "AL'NA'TU'RAL" and too emotional to put up a fight.. *lmao*.. But, their names fit them PERFECTLY!

[Mahogany Momma]

*lol* Love the story Tracy! In the end it always works out :)

[Kim Crouch]

We named our newest addition Jaden David. Jaden because it means God has heard and David after my father but also because it means beloved". David was the second and greatest of the kings of Israel, ruling in the 10th century BC. We thought this was perfect.

[Tracy]

I named my two eldest daughters and the youngest was named by her father. I am a firm believer that a child's name is a part of who they become.

My oldest, I named Morgan, because I wanted her to be strong, intelligent, and independent. She is all of that and then some.

My middle daughter is Jasmin, because I love the scent of Jasmine. I knew she would be sweet with a quiet spirit. Although she has Autism, she is the sweetest person, always full of hugs and kisses, even when I don't ask for them.

Now my youngest, her name is Shaunte, and she is forever working my nerves...LOL

[Nappykat]

How did I miss responding to this thread?

Anywayz, my kids names have no original meanings because I made them up. Everything was made up somewhere down the line and given meaning by someone - so why can't I do the same darn thing?

I haven't given my kids names meaning yet - I'm sporadically researching to see if they have some meaning already in any language. I tried to be original but apparently I'm not that original because I find that one my daughters name is in the bible - even tho I have yet to find it. And that's ironic because that's totally unplanned and I'm not christian.

On online research revealed that another child has my other daughters name - same spelling and everything. The other two kids have names I've seen and heard before but with a difference in spelling or slight difference in spelling and pronunciation. The idea for my names have come from combination of African names Nzingha and Khiry (the R&B group 'The Boys' had the name Khiry of which I gave my son a variation), the word 'Journey' (or from actress Jurnee Smollet), the name Xavier, and a few others. Sorry, I don't advertise my kids names on public net.

I'm also fond of so-called 'ghetto names.' Say what you must, but at least these folks are original - and they give the names whatever meaning they wanna give them and that are dear and near to them and them only. I like the fact that they shrugged tradition and went with their own. Just because somebody made up the meaning for a name a long time ago doesn't make it any better than any other IMO.

[paulla]

mine was too too stressful, i went and browse baby books for names, listened to other people that wanted to help with names, nahhhh wasnt happening. i watched television and nothing struck me, i checked the maps, yes, the maps fornames, we were going to name her kobe, i think that was in china during the time, and there was a bad earthquake. so we changed our minds.


I picked up the jet magazine one day and saw Jayne Kennedy with her family and one of her daughters name was Savannah Re., so thats what her name is Savanah Re.

[Tyra B.]

We just wanted first names that were easy to pronounce and we decided to focus and give both babies (Boy/Girl Twins) middle names with special meaning. So we decided on

Girl : Taylor Emma Rose (Emma is a Great-Grandma, Rose is a Grandma)
Boy: Cameron Asher (Asher -- Hebrew Pronunciation sounds like "Ahh Sheer"-- means "blessed)

As I look at my sweet babies, I realize those names are perfect!

Lastly, it turns out the each baby's First, Last initials are identical to my husband and myself ( Husband & Son are CB , Daughter & I are TB)

[Sydney]

My husband and I are currently expecting. We are hoping it's a girl as we already have two boys. We are completely stuck on what to name a girl. We like Sydney, McKinley, and Cassidy, but can't seem to choose one. Also, my husband is hell bent on the baby's middle name being James (after him), whether it's a boy or a girl. Jaymes for a girl and James for a boy. I'm not sold on that idea, but am taking it into consideration depending on the first name that we choose for a girl. If the baby happens to be a boy, we have confirmed that his name will be Hudson James.

Can any of you help me with first and/or middle names for a girl? At the rate we're going this baby will be nameless for a while if she's a girl.