Unique Baby Girl Names

This is another article by Laura Wattenberg who has authored "The Baby Name Wizard: A Magical Method for Finding the Perfect Name for Your Baby" (Broadway; February 2005). A writer and researcher, she was inspired to write the book after becoming frustrated in her search for names for her two daughters.

From Aaliyah to Zara, the range of unique baby girl names is vast to choose from. And perhaps some of those you favour may not be so unique after all. If you're a sleepless parent-to-be with no personal name already chosen, it can look like a vast landscape with no roadmap. To make sure you keep your bearings, here are some basic principles for understanding names and finding that unique one that speaks to your heart.

Rule No. 1: Personal taste may not be so personal

By way of example, not long ago I heard an expectant mother beside herself with outrage. She had just learned that another family in her small town had "stolen" her baby's name! No, she admitted, she had never met the woman. But for years now she had been planning to name a baby Keaton, a name she had personally devised, and now there was another little Keaton right across town. Someone must have told that other mother her own secret, special & unique personal name. Thief!

Chances are this was not really a case of grand theft. That woman had just run into a fact of baby name life: our tastes, which feel so personal, are communal creations. Keaton? Well, it's a surname ending in n - a style parents are flocking to both in the top 100 baby girl names and top 100 baby boy names for fresh ideas that sound like classic names. K in particular is a popular first letter. And don't forget that almost every parent today grew up watching the Keatons on "Family Ties." So just like that outraged mother, thousands of parents across the country have independently "invented" a name for their kids.

We live in an information overload new-age culture that have an enormous impact on our likes and dislikes. That means overlapping tastes and the closer two people are, the greater the overlap. Many of us have had a long-cherished name "stolen" by friends who had long cherished it themselves. It's surely unnerving to discover that the quirky name you've always just happened to like is now a chart topper. What ever happened to unique baby girl names & individual style?

Before you panic and name your daughter Almadele to avoid the top 100 baby girl names, remember that communal taste may be a good thing. That shared perspective is exactly what gives names their style and nuance. It's also the context that lets you define your own style meaningfully. Use the backdrop of your social group, your community and your generation to choose personal baby names that make the kind of statement you're looking for. It's fair to say that parents are the ones who worry about a name standing out; kids are just happy to fit in.

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Rule No.2: Look out for the last name trap

We can see a catwalk model wearing a chic dress that's so gorgeous I could just melt looking at it. But if you're like me, you know darn well that the same dress on my real-world figure would be a train smash. Similarly, I know that the fashionable Irish name Kennedy, paired with my last name Wattenberg, would sound like someone falling down stairs.

With names, just like clothes, the key is to choose the styles that flatter you. Ensure you run down this basic list before you make your final choice. Length and rhythm: Phoebe and O'Leary match in style, but Phoebe O'Leary is a no-no. Watch out for inadvertent rhythms and tongue ties.

The "Justin Case" Syndrome: A perfectly reasonable first name can meet a perfectly reasonable last name and create something perfectly wrong. When you have a name you're nearly sold and picked out, say the full name out loud repeatedly to look for hidden landmines. Include nicknames, too. We don't want an Eileen Wright.

Meeting in the middle: Look carefully where the end of one name meets the beginning of another. Kayla Anders will be heard as Kayla Anders or may be mistaken as Kay Landers for the rest of her life. Annabelle Babcock would just sound like a stutter.

Special cases: If your last name is a common word, it's especially important to avoid alliteration. Jenny Jumps and Willow Wall sound like characters from a children's picture book.

If your last name is a common first name, take care to choose a first name that won't make you sound inside-out. Shannon Grace, for instance, is asking for trouble. And if your last name asks for trouble at the best of times (Rump, Wenk, etc.), you can use the rhythm of a long, rolling first name to draw the emphasis away from it.

Rule No. 3: Other's opinions matter

As a parent, the choice of your baby girl name is entirely up to you. So why should you listen to what anybody else has to say, let alone your crazy friends and relatives?

Consider this: the choice may be yours, but you are making it for someone else. You are the initiator in the matter assigned to handle the affairs of another person who is unable to act because he or she has not yet been born. And those crazy friends and relatives? They are going to be your baby's friends and relatives before long. Don't let them dictate appropriate names to you, but don't completely ignore their advice either. As a group, they represent the society that's going to be hearing, and judging, your child's name for a lifetime and the most often.

You don't have to write a post in every parenting forum or ask every passer by asking for opinions, but it's worth choosing a few level-headed confidantes to bounce your baby name ideas. They might just spot something you missed. Could be the latest cartoon character or something inappropriate in Spanish. If you want to keep the name a secret until the text message birth announcement, they will be honoured to be in on the surprise.

Rule No. 5: Choose name you would like for yourself

This is the top piece of advice I give expectant parents. We all have many factors in mind when we choose a name. We may want to honor our relatives, or our ethnic heritage. Baby naming can also be seen as an opportunity for personal expression. Use whatever criteria you like to narrow down your name choices, but before you fill in the birth certificate, stop and give the name this final test: if you were starting life today, knowing everything you know about the world, is this the personal name you would like to be called? If the answer is yes, you can feel confident that you're giving your baby girl the best birthday present possible, one that will last a lifetime.

Here is the current list of the top 100 baby girl names according to the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and marriages in 2007: