The lists for the most popular baby names of 2007 have recently been released. I always find naming trends so interesting and brought you the top baby names of 2006 last year, so I thought I’d do the same this year.

First of all though, let me remind those of you who are actively making adoption plans, that you still have the right to name your child. Yes, the adoptive parents will be your child’s parents and they have legal rights to change his or her name to a name of their own choosing.... more

So, you may be thinking, if I name my child can the adoptive parents change his/her name? Yes, the adoptive parents will be your child’s parents and they have legal rights to change his or her name to a name of their own choosing. Sometimes adoptive parents may keep one of the names that a birthmother gave her child. They may keep the first name a birthmom gave him and use it as middle or do something with his name to acknowledge the name she chose as well. With the more open adoptions of today, adoptive parents and birthparents... more

In my recent post about regrets, I mentioned that one of my few regrets is not giving my son, Charlie, a name of my own choosing. I’ve heard a few other birthmothers mention that they are saddened they did not give their child a name of their own choosing as well, so let’s look at this dilemma a little closer using myself and my situation as the example.

Why do I regret not giving Charlie a name of my own choosing? I can’t really put my finger on it and tell... more

Why You Should Choose A Name

Yesterday I talked about baby names. I received a few comments as the result of that post and wanted to expand on them….

Jenna wrote,

“Could you write more on why it is important for those who DO choose adoption to name their child? Munchkin was only ever Munchkin to me... and I kind of regret that. Not that we don't all LOVE the name Munchkin which is still a nickname...”

First... more

As a child or a teenager, did you dream up names for your future children? I did! I came up with these really crazy names as a teenager. I was a tree hugger and ocean lover and wanted to name my children after the ocean. I’m almost embarrassed to admit the hideous names I came up with. Ok, ok I will tell you the names but let’s keep it our little secret. If I had daughters I wanted to name them Oceanianna and Dolphina. Of course, I was only going to have daughters, like I could control that, right? But when you are a teenager, you have it all figured... more

As you consider whether to entrust your child to adoption, you may be daydreaming about what things would be like if you kept your baby. A very normal part of this process is picking out names.

It makes sense to name your child, even if you do plan to proceed with adoption. After the adoption, the baby gets a new, “amended” birth certificate that effectively erases his or her original identity and makes it appear as if he or she had been physically born to the new parents. The name the new parents choose will go on that document. Your chosen name can go on the original... more