Relief Package for Baby Namers

With the economy tanking and the presidential campaign getting nastier, what’s a forward-looking, optimistic baby namer, who wants to project a warm, welcoming, positive sense of the world to her innocent little newbie, to do?

First, and most obvious, stay away from bugaboo names like Fannie and Mae and Freddie and Mac and Morgan and Stanley.  And definitely don’t take the Palin path–avoid names like Tank, Trip, Dip, Slip, Slump, Slide, Smash and Crash.  Instead, look on the sunny side, and here are a few ways of doing that.

PICK A NAME WITH A HAPPY MEANING.  There are lots of choices that mean or connote happiness, hope, friendliness and good luck.  These include, for girle, Amy, Beatrice, Bliss, Blythe, Bonnie, Edwina, Farah, Felicity, Gioia, Hilary, Joy, Leticia, Merry, Nadia and Sunshine, and for boys, Asher, Auden, Bellamy, Darwin, Felix and Rafiq.

PICK A NURSERY RHYME NAME.  The innocence of bygone childhood could be re recaptured by returning to a simpler Mother Goosey name.   For girls: Dolly, Jenny, Jill, Lucy, Margery, Mary, Molly, Polly, Rosie; for boys, Georgie, Jack, Peter, Robin, Simon, Tommy, Willie.

PICK A NAME FROM THE LAND OF DISNEY.  If, indeed, Disneyland is the happiest place on earth, what better domain to pick a happy-ending name from?  Among the many to choose from–  Female: Ariel, Aurora, Belle, Bianca, Briar Rose, Cleo, Esmeralda, Fiona, Flora, Jasmine, Lilo, Nala; Male: Buzz, Eric, Gideon, Gus, Hercules, Jafar, Mickey, Sebastian, Timon, Toulouse.

PICK A VIRTUOUS NAME. Despite all  obstacles, you want your child to be truthful, loyal, kind, honest and prudent. You can telegraph that positive message from the get-go by choosing a name such as Amity, Charity, Grace, Honor, Hope, Faith, Justice, Mercy, Patience, Prudence, Serenity, True, or Verity.

PICK A SERENE WORD NAME.  Macho basketball superstar Allen Iverson recently named his fifth child Dream, one of the calm and comforting word names starting to come into favor.  Dream was hardly heard outside the comic book world until rappers Sole and Ginuine used it for their daughter in 2002.  Their other daughter’s name, Story (also used by Jenna Elfman), has a similarly calming, storybooks feel, also shared by such word and nature names as Fable, Haven and Prairie.