Choosing a name is one of the first decisions you make for your child, and one of the few they will carry every day. This guide turns it into a process you can work through together: decide what matters to you, check meaning and origin properly, test how the full name sounds and looks, then narrow a long list down to one name you both love.
Decide what matters to you first
Many disagreements about names are really disagreements about priorities. Before anyone suggests a single name, agree on what you are looking for. Each of you can rank these on your own, then compare:
Meaning
A name whose meaning reflects a value, a hope or a quality you admire, such as names that mean light, love or bravery.
Heritage
A name from your family, faith, language or culture, or one that connects two backgrounds. Browse names by origin to see what each tradition offers.
Sound
How the name feels to say and hear, alongside your surname and any siblings' names. Short and crisp, or long and flowing.
Practicality
Easy to spell, easy to pronounce where you live, and comfortable for a child, a teenager and an adult.
Check meaning and origin properly
A name's meaning usually comes from the language it grew out of. Leo comes from the Latin word for lion. Noor is the Arabic word for light. Theodore joins two Greek words to mean gift of God. When a meaning is that direct, you can rely on it.
Many names are less tidy. Some have traveled through several languages, some are short forms of older names, and some sound alike but come from completely different roots. Liam, for example, began as an Irish short form of William, and Eli is often used as a short form of Elijah. If the meaning matters to you, read about the longer name it comes from as well.
Our catalogue lists names from 125 origins. The largest groups are below. Each link opens the full collection, which you can narrow by gender and first letter.
| Origin | Names listed |
|---|---|
| Hindi | 22,742 |
| Arabic | 20,780 |
| English | 12,610 |
| Hebrew | 8,050 |
| Greek | 6,850 |
| Latin | 6,132 |
| Indian | 4,525 |
| French | 4,276 |
| Urdu | 3,634 |
| Irish | 3,193 |
Think about sound, length and rhythm
Say every name on your list out loud, in full, with your surname. Then say it the way you would call it across a playground, and the way you would say it if you were cross. A name that looks lovely on paper can feel very different spoken.
Length is part of that. Across the 182,601 names in our catalogue, about two in three have five, six or seven letters. Fewer than one in a hundred have three letters or fewer, and about one in sixteen have ten or more.
Show the data as a table
| Letters | Names |
|---|---|
| 2 or fewer | 117 |
| 3 | 1,547 |
| 4 | 8,879 |
| 5 | 28,796 |
| 6 | 47,309 |
| 7 | 43,473 |
| 8 | 27,309 |
| 9 | 13,477 |
| 10 | 6,135 |
| 11 | 2,903 |
| 12+ | 2,656 |
These figures count the names available to choose from, not how many children are given each name, so they say nothing about popularity. They do show the range on offer: if you want a very short name like Ann, the choice is far narrower than among six- and seven-letter names. If you like short names, our three-letter and four-letter collections and the short and sweet list are good places to start.
Rhythm matters as much as letter count. A common rule of thumb is to vary the number of syllables between the first name and the surname, so a one-syllable surname often pairs well with a longer first name, and the other way round. It is a guide, not a law: say the pair aloud and trust your ear. You can search by exact syllable count in the name finder.
Test the full name
A name is rarely used on its own. Before you commit, look at it the way other people will see it: on a form, as initials, shortened by friends, and next to your surname.
| Check | What to look for | What goes wrong if you skip it |
|---|---|---|
| Initials | Do the initials, with and without a middle name, spell a word? | The word turns up on monograms, luggage tags and email addresses. |
| Run-together sounds | Does the first name end with the sound the surname begins with? | The two names blur when spoken, and people mishear the name. |
| Nicknames | What will it be shortened to, and do you like those versions too? | A short form you dislike becomes the name everyone uses. |
| Spelling | Will people spell it correctly after hearing it once? | Your child spends years correcting forms, badges and introductions. |
| Pronunciation | Is it said the same way in the languages your family and community speak? | Relatives say it differently, or it means something unexpected in another language you use. |
Write the full name out by hand, including any middle name, and read the initials aloud. Then say the first name and surname together quickly, three times.
Boy, girl or unisex names
Our catalogue lists 92,315 girl names, 83,401 boy names and 6,885 unisex names. Those labels are a guide, not a rule. Names such as Jordan are used for children of any gender, and a name's usual gender can differ from one country or generation to the next.
If you are choosing a name before you know your baby's sex, or simply prefer a name that is not tied to gender, the unisex collection is a good place to begin. If you are naming twins or siblings, see our twin name pairings for names that work as a set without matching too closely.
Honor family and culture
Family names carry stories, and there are several ways to include one without giving up a name you love:
Use it as a middle name
A grandparent's name in the middle position honors them while the first name stays your own choice.
Choose a related form
Many names have versions in other languages, or short forms that work as names in their own right. Look up the original name to see its relatives.
Match the meaning
Pick a different name with the same meaning as the family name, perhaps from another language your family speaks.
Match the initial
Use the same first letter as the person you want to remember. Browse names by first letter to find options.
If your family follows religious or cultural naming customs, such as naming after a living or late relative, choosing a name with a particular meaning, or holding a naming ceremony on a set day, talk to family members early. Knowing the expectations before you build your list avoids difficult conversations at the end.
Build and narrow your shortlist
- Collect without judging. For a week or two, each of you adds every name you like to a shared list. Browse by origin, meaning and our curated lists for ideas. No vetoes yet.
- Cut to names you both like. Go through the list together. Either of you can remove a name, no explanation needed. What remains is your shortlist.
- Check each name properly. Look up meaning and origin, run the full-name checks above, and say each one aloud with your surname.
- Live with the final three. Use each name around the house for a few days. You may find one starts to feel natural and the others do not.
- Decide, or wait to meet your baby. Some families settle on a name early; others bring two or three to the birth and choose once they have met their child. Both are fine.
Use the name finder to search by starting letter, ending, length, syllables, meaning, gender and origin all at once.
Before you register the name
Once you have decided, a few practical checks are worth a few minutes:
- Registration rules. Rules on which names, spellings and characters can be registered, and the deadline for registering a birth, vary by country and sometimes by state or province. Your local registry office is the authority on both, so check with them rather than relying on a general guide, including this one.
- Written form. Write the full name as it will appear on official documents, including any accents or special characters, and confirm how it will be recorded.
- A quick search. Search the full name online to make sure it is not strongly linked with someone or something you would rather avoid.
- Telling people. Some parents share the name before the birth and some wait. Waiting avoids early opinions changing your mind about a name you were sure of.
Common questions
When should we start choosing a baby name?
There is no deadline other than your local registration rules. Starting a long list a few months before the birth leaves time for it to settle, and for each of you to come back to names with fresh eyes.
What if we cannot agree on a name?
Go back to your priorities. Agree that either of you can veto a name without explaining, and only keep names you both like. If you are stuck between two, use each one at home for a few days, or wait until you meet your baby.
How do we find out what a name really means?
Look up the name and the older name or word it comes from, and compare more than one source. Names with a direct root, like Leo from the Latin for lion, are straightforward. Names that have passed through several languages can have more than one accepted meaning.
Is it a problem if the name is unusual?
Not in itself. An unusual name is memorable. It is worth checking that it is easy to spell and pronounce where your child will grow up, or that you are comfortable with them correcting people.
Should siblings' names match?
They do not need to match, but it helps if they sound good together and are not too similar. Avoid names that rhyme or start with the same sound if you will often call both children at once.
What to take away
There is no formula that produces the right name, and this process will not make the decision for you. What it does is give you a fair way to decide together: agree on priorities, keep only names you both like, check meaning and the full name properly, and give yourselves time. When you are ready to start your long list, open the name finder or browse names by origin.