When it came to picking a name for our baby girl, it felt like a big, life-altering decision.  I would think, “This is her name. Something everyone will call her, something that will stay with her forever!”

While, it is important to be thoughtful (don’t pick something weird just for the sake of “creativity”), this decision is not something to lose sleep over.

How to Pick a Baby Name

There are SO many resources for picking good baby names… books, websites, apps, and unsolicited suggestions from well-meaning friends. (;

Personally, I started this baby name process by gathering lots of ideas.  I found it helpful to make a huge list (aka spreadsheet…) of any names that were even a possibility.  As I’d come across new ones, I’d add them to my list.

Once I felt like I had a decent number, I shared the list with my husband.  I asked him to eliminate the ones he didn’t like, and highlight the ones he loved, and I did the same.  Then I compared our preferences.

We only had a few mutual favorites so our list was fairly short from here.  Next, I assigned a nice sounding middle name to each name on the list.  From there, we were able to narrow it down to our top three.

Can I Just Wait?

After we decided on our top three, I hit a wall of indecision.  I’d go back and forth, and so did my husband.  I had read that some women chose to name their babies after they had them.  On the one hand it might be helpful, on the other it might add additional, unnecessary stress.

But since I couldn’t narrow it down further (I tried!), I started wondering if we should just wait until our baby was born.  Ultimately, this is what we did!

When my husband and I met our beautiful girl, it was pretty clear which of the three names seemed to fit her best.  It didn’t cause extra stress, and I have zero regrets doing it this way.  Who knows, I might even do it again sometime. (;