Do you go for something traditional or entirely unique? Do you research name meanings? Or do you wait until meeting your little one before making a decision?
Dad of two, Richard, had a baby boy name picked out well in advance. “After only a few months of dating my future wife at the tender age of 21 we entered the often dangerous conversation of ‘if we had children what would we call them?’” he remembers. “The first name we both suggested for a boy was Ethan. Fifteen years later we had a baby boy; no other name was considered – we still loved the name Ethan.”
But sometimes your baby's arrival can turn your naming plans upside-down. “I always had Florence, my late grandmother’s name, in mind for my baby girl,” says Louise. “However, when my daughter was born she just didn't look like a Florence and the name didn't feel right.”
“My husband looked at her and said: 'What about Grace?' It wasn't a name we had ever discussed before, but it suited her. It was almost like she was born with this name.”
Some parents think very carefully about baby name meanings, like Vinnay. Choosing their daughter's name came after a difficult time and a long wait. “Elianah was born but 7 months premature, and through God’s grace, she thrived and came home. Her name literally translates to My God has answered”. For Edwin, dad of 3, his second child was also a miracle baby, and that's exactly what her name Shamiso means - miracle.
For Vatiswa, mom of 1, she wanted her son's name to define his approach to life, so she chose Khetha, which means 'choose', “Khetha Uthando, Khetha Okuhle", meaning Choose Love, Choose Good.
When considering baby girl names for his daughter, dad of two Garen combined family tradition with literary inspiration. “Researching my late mom's family history, I noticed that all the women for the past five generations had different names beginning with ‘M’. We carried on the tradition, naming our daughter Miranda after a character in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.”
