How to choose a baby name

Choosing a name for your child can become, at best, an exercise in indecision, and, at worst, an exercise in manipulation, as meddling family members and friends chime in. Here's help:

Decide whose opinion matters--and whose does not. Your spouse, and possibly your older children, should have a say. If you don't want advice from others, don't bring up the topic around them, says Pamela Satran, coauthor of Cool Names: for Babies.
Make use of creative new Web sites such as www.justbabynames.com. This one allows visitors to search for names that mean "blessing," for example. If you want a name that starts with a certain sound, you can do a "starts with" search.
Whittle your choices down to five to 10 names. Then go to the Social Security Administration's Web site (www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames) to find a list of the most popular baby names in your area. If you don't want your child to get confused with six other Jacobs in his kindergarten class, avoid names that appear on this list, says Ann Douglas, author of The Mother of All Baby Books.
Cross off names that are overly trendy. Names like Winter or Jet will be dated by the time your child starts school, says Douglas. Put them to the teasing test. What does the name rhyme with? What do the initials spell? Older kids can be helpful here.
Choose a name that will grow with your child. "What's cute for a baby may look silly on a business card," says Douglas. It may help to actually write the name on a business card.

Once you pick the name, mum's the word. "If you would be even remotely upset if someone expresses disappointment in your choice, don't spread word of the name before the baby is born," says Elizabeth Lyons, author of Ready or Not ... Here We Come! "If you leak the name early, those with strong opinions will spend up to nine months doing everything in their power to convince you to change your mind."

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