Choosing a Child's Name



Choosing a Child's NameNaming a child is a big deal to me. I have agonized over every name that we have chosen. Being pregnant right now, I am thinking a lot about this next little guy I’m going to have and what his name is going to be. Unlike our other two children, we are pretty decided on this boy’s name before even seeing him. With the other two, we wanted to see them first before choosing for sure. However, my husband thought of this name in his sleep one night, and we immediately both fell in love with it. The name (which is still a surprise to friends and family) has stuck, and now, I can’t wait to meet this little guy.

It seems like a tradition in my family to give family names as middle names. Both of our children have family names, and this third one will as well. So, behind the naming of every child there is a story. And, if you don’t scrapbook that story, it might be lost for future generations. Especially when choosing a family name, you should document why the name was chosen in your heritage album. Create a layout all about your child’s name.

Start with thinking of what the first name means. Can you use that for a motif or theme on the layout? For example, my first name, Meredith, means “Guardian of the sea”, so you could create a sea theme with embellishments and papers when creating this layout. Or, if a name simply means something like, peaceful, then you could use that in the title of your layout.

Make sure you include a baby photo of your child in the layout. If they are named after a relative that is still living, it would be a great idea to include a picture of your baby with that relative on the layout. If your child is named for a deceased relative, try and find a picture of that relative to include on the layout.

Another fun idea is to add a “reject list” somewhere on the page. Your child might like knowing other names that you considered for him or her.

If there is no family reason for choosing the name, that’s OK. It is still important to tell the story behind why you chose the name you did. Maybe it was the only name that you and your spouse could agree on, or maybe you had a close friend that you named you child after. No matter what the reason was, documenting why you chose the name you did is an important part of family history. After all, that name will be on a pedigree chart somewhere forever. So, documenting why it is there will make this layout extra special. The more personal you can make the layout, the better!

Meredith Ethington is the author of this blog. To learn more about Meredith, and her history with Scrapbooking and Genealogy, go here.


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