Top Baby Name Websites

What's in a name? Well, a lot, actually. A person's name is their first and foremost form of identity. When you are pregnant, one of the first things you might begin to think about is naming your child. Even before a woman gets pregnant, she likely has an idea of names she likes. The internet can be very helpful for finding names and helping you evaluate which names you like best. Some sites are more helpful than others, but I found all of these to be great for one reason or another. BabyNamesWorld.com This site is a fairly simple site that I found helpful because it lists names in a chart format that includes origin and meaning. The advanced search option on this page is also very helpful, as you can narrow it down to just boys names, or just girls names, and you can search for a specific meaning. For instance, you could search for a baby girl's name that the meaning contains the word "happy" and you would come up with several names such as "Aliza," "Beatrice," "Felicia," and "Jolette." This site also has a page where you can browse baby names by origin.
BabyNameGuide.com The name categories on this site are diverse. I like the list of Biblical baby names. They also have baby name lists based on moods, occupations, nature, Arthurian legend, and color, as well as several ethnic lists. Social Security Baby Name Site This website shows the popularity of baby names over time. You can look up a specific name to see how it has ranked in popularity over the years, or you can look through the list of the top 100 most popular names each year. You can also look at the top five names for each state. When I was choosing a name for my son, I wanted to be sure that I didn't pick a highly popular name, because I didn't want him to have several kids in his class with the same name. This website is great for checking baby name popularity. BabyCenter.comFirst, I just want to say that I love BabyCenter for many things. Pretty much any concern you have in pregnancy or about your infant, you can find information about it on this website. When it comes to baby names, at the link above (www.babycenter.com/babyname) you will find many helpful baby name resources. You can search names by number of syllables, see popularity of names all over the world (my son's name is the 8th most popular in Italy), and you can even create a poll to send to your friends to test out your favorite name choices. This was something I did with my son and it proved very helpful. One of the names I liked a lot rated very low, and it helped me decide against that name. BabyNames.com This website has several unique search categories. You can see a list of names that have been chosen by celebrities, such as Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's baby, "Shiloh Nouvel," or Madonna's baby, "Lourdes Maria." You could also browse lists of names for Shakespeare, Lord of the Rings, Soap Operas, or Reality TV Shows. By Nicole Mohr