19 Signs You’ve Found the Right Baby Name

By Pamela Redmond Satran

How will you know when you’ve found the right name for your baby?  You’ll just know, some might say — but you might know that you know for sure if you experience one of the following 19 signs.

1.  Without even trying, you find yourself calling the baby by one of its nicknames.

2.  You doodle it in different handwritings on your notebook, just like you did the name of your first crush when you were 13.

3.  You suggest it to your partner and he or she can’t even think of one solid objection.

4.  In fact, your partner’s only real complaint is that they didn’t think of it first.

5.  There are no embarrassing celebrities, evil characters, or sappy songs connected to this name.

6.  You realize that if your mother doesn’t like it, you won’t care.

7.  You imagine the teacher calling it out in class, and don’t imagine your child cringing in response.

8.  The three people you’ve ventured to tell it to haven’t asked you how to spell or pronounce it.

9.  You tried it out on your tacky cousin Cheryl, and she hated it (definitely a good sign).

10. It sounds like it was invented to go with your last name.

11. You can think of at least three middle names that sound perfect with it.

12. You looked up the name’s meaning, and it’s nothing horrific.  Or if it is, you consult other sources until you find one that assigns it a better meaning..

13.  You’ve tried it out in your favorite font on the birth announcement website, and you love the way it looks.

14. When you imagine finally revealing the name, you picture your friends being surprised and impressed — and a little bit jealous.

15. You are truly afraid that Brad and Angelina or a Kardashian is going to get to it first.

16. It goes great with all the names you might consider using for future children.

17. You’ve stopped thinking of your pregnancy in terms of weeks and now divide it into the time Before and After you discovered The Name.

18. Now when you try on one of your other favorite names, it doesn’t even come close to sounding right.

19. You can’t imagine your child with any other name.

How did you know when you’d found the right name?