How to Give Your Daughter a Strong Name

If you're about to become the parent of a little girl, congratulations! You're about to raise a strong, independent and self-confident young woman. To get her off to a good start, choose a name that conveys strength. Here's how to find a strong name for your daughter.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Baby name books and websites

1. Find a name with a strong meaning. Use baby name books and websites to help you out. A good place to look is BabyNamer.com (see Additional Resources below).
2. Choose a name that would look appropriate on a law school application, resume or presidential ballot. If Cricket doesn't sound like the name of a future CEO or senator, you may want to choose a name that sounds stronger.
3. Avoid names that sound too "cute." Kaylee and Lulu and Trixie are cute, but are they presidential? Some names that sound perfect for a little girl sound too cute for an adult woman, so try to choose a name that will suit her in all stages of her life.
4. Choose name spellings that aren't too "cute." Can you imagine a lawyer named Bailey? Probably. But how about Baylee? It's often a good idea to avoid endings such as "ie" (Kellie), "i" (Ami), and especially "ee" (Ashlee).
5. Avoid unusual or weird spellings. Michelle sounds like a great name for a president--but does MaShell? Or Maygun? Feminized spellings of masculine names can look odd as well. A president named Kamryn? Or Jacksyn?
6. Avoid "word" names, especially ones that are unusual. Grace and Faith sound professional enough, but names such as Precious, Heaven, Princess and Chastity might look odd on a law school application.
7. Look for names of strong women you admire. Choose women in your own life or famous women.

Tips & Warnings

• Consider giving your daughter a professional sounding name that has a "cutesy" nickname she can use as a little girl. Alexandra can be Allie or Lexi when she's 4, but can opt for her more serious full name later.