By Deanna Testa

The first and most important decision you’ll have to make as a parent is naming your baby. Don’t take this lightly; it is an essential part of your child’s identity. Names are the way people identify and remember us. People judge us by our names on resumes and applications and often make assumptions about who we are simply based on our name. Here are some things to keep in mind when choosing a name for your newborn…

Take time to find the perfect name and say it out loud along with the surname. Look up the meaning and origins of names to get a better understanding of all the connotations you are about to bestow on your baby. Be careful not to choose a name that is too loaded, which would be impossible to live up to like Jesus, Hamlet, or Moses. Think about what you want the name to represent for your child, whether it is a reminder of your heritage like Mika or Javier; or an idea to live up to like Joy or Bliss.

Don’t get hung up on being unique, names can be simple without being ordinary. Try changing the spelling of common names like, Mackenzi to Mckenzy, or Connor to Konner. This way your baby will have a name people are familiar with, but a spelling all their own. Spelling words backwards has become popular in recent years with names like Neveah, which is Heaven spelled backwards.

Check the social security name registry for the most popular names of the year to see what other names have been chosen recently and which haven’t. This is a good way to choose a name that is timeless and will continue to be popular when your child grows up, rather than a name that is trendy this year but you might quickly grow tired of.

Naming your baby after the place it was conceived, or the place you and your husband met sounds romantic in theory, like Paris, Juno, or Sydney; but Boise Idaho, Copenhagen, or America…not so much. Ashlee Simpson named her son Bronx Mowgli and Victoria Beckham named her eldest Brooklyn.

Naming your baby after a historical or political figure is inspiring but can back fire. Naming your newborn Barack might be too hard to live up to, but naming you baby after one of the presidential daughters, Malia or Sasha, might be a nice and subtle way to honor the first family.

Lately, there has been a fascination with unique and eccentric names. Celebrities have been notorious for choosing very strange names for their children, singer Gwen Stefani named her son Zuma Nesta Rock, Julia Roberts named her son Phinnaeus, and Nicolas Cage named his son Kal-El after superman. Angelina Jolie named her little tykes Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shilo, Knox and Vivienne. Giving your baby a name that no one else has is quite special, but you have to consider that your baby has to live with this name for the rest of his/her life. They will have to endure it on the playground for years, and afterward on college applications and resumes. If you give them a name like Pilot Inspektor, which is what actor Jason Lee named his son, think about the implications of growing up with that as your name.

Most importantly though, all that matters is you and your partner choose a name that you both love. Don’t worry about following trends or traditions; just choose a name that you think is right for your baby.