Growing up, one of my favourite hobbies was imagining different names for myself, my siblings, cousins, and friends. I would ask friends if they had middle names, or what their parents would have named them as the opposite sex. This always prompted fun conversations and silly nicknames which brought me a lot of joy. I was also fascinated by surnames and what cultures or countries they came from. Before the internet, a fun pastime of mine was flipping through baby name books and circling the ones I liked the best.

Fast forward to adulthood. When people around me started having children I noticed a common element of stress and worry about choosing a name, or in some cases, regret over already chosen names. While discussing this, I discovered all kinds of reasons for these feelings and wanted to help. See my “Why use a (B)NC” tab for all the details. Curious about this experience, I started researching baby names, trends, top name lists, and cultural practices around baby naming and enjoyed it even more than playing name-games as a child.

Once I became pregnant, I was elated at the opportunity to choose a name for my own baby. I had a few top picks but really took the time to explore all the options. I considered so many elements that may never cross one’s mind such as character length, initials, pronunciation, rhyming, and of course all the different spelling options that have exploded in popularity in the 2000’s. Ultimately, I arrived at the perfect name that our family loves, and I receive compliments on all the time. However, perhaps ironically, although I am a baby name consultant, so the name I used would speak to my style and ability, I am first and foremost an advocate for child safety and privacy. I always encourage my clients not to share their children’s personal information or recent photos publicly online. As such, I do not share the actual name I chose for my child (but that doesn’t mean I won’t secretly recommend it for you if I think it suits your preferences).

I have spent years doing extensive research in the fields of Onomastics and Anthroponymy. Using this knowledge, I combined the concern I had for families stressing about the baby naming responsibility, and passion I have always had for names and started providing heartfelt, and meaningful name consultations