We will not know the sex officially for a while so this is not a declaration. However I find it hilarious that my husband is campaigning to name the baby, if it is a girl, Jenny.
My foreign born husband walks around quoting Forrest Gump and how we can start naming everything in our house the Jenny 1, the Jenny 2 and life will be amazing if we had a Jenny.
My name is Victoria. I grew up generally with a half a dozen Jennifer’s my age. While I liked Forrest Gump and appreciate the quotes, there is no way my baby will be named after a movie.
I was named after the queen of England, even though my father’s family is all Irish. I had quite a few ‘why would your parents name you that?’ pity questions growing up.
So I know names are important. I struggle with character names. Ariel in the Zoastra Affair, my pink haired alien, went through a dozen names until I looked into the sky and said “I need a name that goes with the sky.” Aerial reminded me immediately of Ariel.
And my baby will not be a pink haired alien where I understand her quirks as I find a name. This baby will come with a blank slate. I don’t know the personality yet. He/she will be a little of me and a little of my husband and her own soul all mixed up.
I have no idea how to pick a name for this baby. None at all. This is harder than any character in a book. Someone real is going to have this label of a name for a lifetime. It’s daunting. How in the world do I pick? How did you pick your children’s names? Did you put names in a bowl and fish one out? (Which sounds so arbitrary and I won’t be doing that.)
Frequently Asked Questions
How do authors come up with character names for their books?
Some authors try dozens of names before one clicks. Victoria, author of The Zoastra Affair, cycled through roughly twelve names for her pink-haired alien character Ariel before looking at the sky for inspiration — ‘Aerial’ immediately reminded her of Ariel. The process involves matching a name’s feel to a character’s personality, something much harder to do for a real baby with no known personality yet.
What should you consider when choosing a baby name?
Choosing a baby name is significant because the child carries it for a lifetime. Key considerations include how common the name is among peers, cultural or family associations, and whether the name has strong pop-culture ties. Growing up with a name others question — or one shared by half a dozen classmates — shows that both uniqueness and cultural weight genuinely affect a child’s experience.
Is naming a real baby harder than naming a fictional character?
Naming a real baby is generally considered harder than naming a fictional character. With a character, an author can revise the name as the personality develops. A real newborn arrives as a ‘blank slate’ — their personality is unknown — making it impossible to match a name to known traits. The permanence and real-life consequences add pressure that fiction writing simply doesn’t carry.
