Don't Panic!
My friends, Janet and Tim, were only one week from giving birth to their first baby girl when I received a very urgent phone call - you guessed it, they still couldn't decide on a baby girl name. As a mother of two boys, I was ecstatic to lend a helping hand.
Janet and Tim, a nurse and a lawyer, wanted a baby girl name that would lend itself to friendly nicknames and project a bright future. Janet ran track in college and her teammates called her Jan - she enjoyed the camaraderie that came from having a nickname and wanted the same for her daughter.
While Janet and Tim liked many popular baby girl names, they wanted something a little more unique. I was just about ready to rattle down the list of baby girl names, when, to my dismay, Janet and Tim told me they had ideas of their own.
Pretty quick, I realized the problem wasn't so much that they didn't know what they were looking for, but more that they knew a little too much of what they wanted. After perusing the internet on a daily basis and being bombarded with the most popular baby girl names out there, they were having a little trouble making up their minds.
Out of all the popular baby girl names they liked, some of their favorites were Emily, Sarah, Sophie, Jennifer, and Abby. Among these, Emily and Sarah are both listed among the top ten most popular baby girl names. While Janet and Tim were fond of both names, they were anxious that their daughter might be one of two, or even three "Emilys" or "Sarahs" in the classroom. Also, these two popular baby girl names weren't particularly conducive to nicknames, so they were out.
With only three names left, Sophie ended up as the big winner. Sophia means "wisdom" in Greek fulfilling Janet and Tim's need for a name with a promising future, AND, just as important Sophie could be shortened to Soph (pronounced Soaf), or spun into "So-fast" if she happens to be a runner like her mom, or "Sofie-clese" like the philosopher Sophocles if she happens to be a lawyer like her dad.
If about a million popular baby girl names appeal to you, like my friends Janet and Tim, don't panic - the perfect baby girl name for your daughter is out there. As long as your daughter's name means something to you, you'll be sure to find peace of mind.
For more ideas, check out our articles on unique baby names or baby name meanings.