Top Baby Names Of 2008

Freddy? Sam? Ikea? Why IS it so difficult to name a baby?

We knew we were in trouble when my mother phoned to say that anything beginning with a ‘K’ was out of the question.

‘Just awful, all those K names! Kevin and Keith and Ken and Kieran,’ she said. ‘And not Louis! I can’t bear Louis. And you can’t have Charlie — far too many Charlies in our family already. And William and Matthew have gone.

‘In fact, what you should call him is Thomas David John — Thomas because it’s a nice sensible name, and David and John after his grandfathers. But, naturally, I wouldn’t dream of interfering.’

She was referring to my much-longed-for first child. My son. Who is now two-and-a-half weeks old and, despite endless helpful (and a few less than helpful) suggestions, remains nameless.

It all started at 4.39pm on Thursday, July 21 when he was lifted, kicking and screaming with a red face full of fury, to meet me and my husband, Miles.

‘Oh my God, it’s a boy!’ we chorused. ‘A boy! How can that be?’

In retrospect, it was perhaps a bit silly to be quite so shocked. There were only two alternatives, after all. But for some daft reason, we were utterly convinced (and no, we were never told the sex) that he was a she. Which meant, while we had the perfect name for a girl, we never got round to thinking of any boys’ names.

And then the dithering began. Things started well.

‘How about Freddy?’ said Miles. ‘Or Sam, or Alexander, or Joe?’

All nice, we agreed. And left it at that, as breast-feeding and general healing and sleep took precedence.  ‘We’ll decide in a bit...’ And so passed the next couple of hours. And the evening. And our first night in hospital. And the next day.

Meanwhile, Miles popped out for The Penguin Book Of Baby Names, and our medical notes were updated to include ‘Baby Davis’ (my married name). And every time a nurse popped in or someone came to visit, we discussed it some more.

‘Barney? Bobby? Henry? Does he look like an Arthur?’

‘Not Arthur — Arthur went last month.’ (A friend recently chose it for their newborn)

Never mind, we thought. We’ve got ages to come up with something splendid. Weeks. Six weeks, to be exact. Six weeks to settle on a name and register his birth at Chelsea Town Hall before we’re fined £200 and covered in shame. After all, how hard can it be?

What are the best baby names for my cousin? » Baby Names Advice ...

If those names are ones you might want to name your own children, why are you giving those suggestions to your cousin? My advice is to give her pretty names that aren’t names you would maybe like to name your own children. Anyway, I’ll rate the names out of 10.

Sophie ~ 5 (Pretty, but waaaay too popular right now.)

Irene ~ 6 (not bad,pretty middle name)

Aurelia ~ 2 (don’t like this one)

Roselle ~ 2 (don’t like it)

Jonas ~ 5 (ok)

Levi ~ 6 (ok)

Bryant ~ 8 (cute! I like this on the best!

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