Forget Jacob, Michael, Emily and Emma, the most popular baby names in 2006 according to the Social Security Administration. These days, parents want their kids to have names that set them apart from the rest of the pack, and a few are taking it to the extreme by hiring a baby-name consultant. Yes, a baby-name consultant.
For $95, BabyNames.com will set you up with a half-hour phone consulting session to find that perfect name for your little one. If that’s too much time and money, you can pay $35 and they’ll suggest 12 names based on a list of preferences you can check off on the site. Do you want you trendy or traditional? Ethnic or biblical? How about a name of your favorite place? (Please, just not Paris.)
But if money is not an object, you can shell out $475 to pay a numerologist to see if your favorite name has “positive associations,” like one California woman who wanted to test ‘Leah Marie.’ Lucky for her, the name had good vibes.
For $35, I can get a few baby name books AND a frapuccino. For $95, I can take a couple of girlfriends out to a nice dinner where we can brainstorm about baby names. Give me $475, and I can visit far-away relatives to learn more about the names of all my family members (always a good place to start a name search). And there’s always the internet and the library where I can get information for free.
So hire a consultant to pick the perfect moniker for my kid? Not my style. What about you?
By Farah on 06/29/07 in Columns, MomFinds, Pregnancy
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June 29th, 2007 at 12:15 pm
Flipping through baby books and making silly suggestions is part of the fun of naming a baby. I wouldn’t want to give that away to some hired consultant.
June 29th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
I’ve been running a poll about this on my baby naming blog, asking readers if they would pay $475 for a baby name consultant. The response so far? Out of 29 respondents, 93% checked the box ‘not in a million years!’
The poll is at www.babynamesgarden.com/blog if interested.
June 29th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
Add me to the ‘not in a million years’ category, too. Not only does it seem to take the fun out of the process like Darren mentions, but if you start by outsourcing the naming of a child before he is even born, where do you stop?