Ever feel like you’re a baby name klutz and that there are other, infinitely smarter baby namers out there who do everything right and magically arrive at the perfect name with no fuss or wrong turns?

Not true.  Here are the five most common mistakes even the smartest baby namers make.

1.     They try to psych out the Social Security list.

There’s something about naming a baby that can inspire even the most math phobic among us to turn to the Social Security list of most popular names and try to deconstruct it with the precision of an actuary.  But baby name ups and downs depend on much more than statistics, and you can drive yourself crazy trying to psych out the numbers in search of the name that’s unusual but not too weird, stylish but not in danger of getting overpopular.

How better to find names that achieve the golden mean?  By consulting nameberry, of course.

2.     They’re afraid to tell anyone their name ideas.

Many parents today keep their favorite names secret in fear of namenapping or harsh critiques, and that can be a smart thing in some cases.  But it can also keep you from learning a name’s pitfalls, such as that nobody can understand what you’re saying unless you spell it, or that it’s prone to mispronunciation, or that there are three little girls with that name in the local nursery school.

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