If you have a healthy pregnancy, then you can expect to have nine months to come up with a baby name. If your baby delivers early, or you and your partner cannot decide on a name, or you are pregnant with your second or third child, then you may have considerably less time to pick a name for your baby. So, what do you do? There are many options to choose from if you haven’t picked a name for your new bundle of joy.
Ask anyone in earshot
Regardless of if you are in route to the hospital with your partner, paramedic or Uber driver, you should ask anyone around you for baby-name advice! When you are not experiencing contractions, you can also ask your doctor or nurses for their opinion on the names that you are considering.
You can also get creative and ask them if there are any particular names that they love. You never know, the name of your cabbie’s niece may be the perfect name for your new baby!
Browse a baby book
If you find yourself laying in the hospital bed and it is not quite time to push, you can open a physical or digital copy of a baby book to search for a potential baby name. You and your partner can also download the app Babyname, which allows you and your partner to sync your phones so that you both can swipe right for “yes” and left for “no” for baby names that you come across, kind of like a dating app but for baby names. It can save you and your partner time when deciding on a name you both enjoy.
Name them after where they were conceived
If your baby was conceived in a cool-sounding city, like Austin or Brooklyn, you might want to choose it as your baby’s name. Sure, your child will most likely grow up being grossed out after knowing where they were conceived, but the city or state’s name may end up being the perfect baby name.
Ask your older children
If you or your partner have children, you may want to ask them to name the new baby. Who knows, they may have a favorite TV, movie, or book character that may be just right. If not, you may learn some creatives names NOT to name your child, which can be entertaining as you go into labor.
Pick a random letter from the dictionary
If you and your partner cannot decide on a name, see if you can decide on a letter of the alphabet, which may bring you to a particular name. Open your baby name book or app and randomly select a letter. If you both agree, start browsing the names for that letter until you find one you both like.
Ask the mommy blogs
Moms are good at banding together, especially when there is a mom in need! If it is coming down to the wire and you worry that you will deliver your child without a name, you may want to turn to the internet. If you have a few names that you like that you cannot choose between, ask your favorite mommy blog to vote. If you cannot think of one name, let alone more for people to choose between, ask them for last-minute name suggestions!
Turn to social media
It seems that people share every detail of their lives on social media these days. Why not join the fun and ask your followers on name advice?
What happens if you do not pick a name before the baby is born?
It may seem like the end of the world if you do not have a baby name picked out before your child is born. However, you do not have to pick a name ahead of time. The hospital will not keep you until you name your child. Therefore, if needed, you can spend a few days with your new baby at home before you pick a baby name.
