6 Steps to the Perfect Baby Name

Blend Your Two Favorites
Agreeing on a name you both love is cause for a happy dance; if you and your hubby like different choices -- not so much. "Getting to choose a child's middle name isn't the same," says Laura Wattenberg, author of The Baby Name Wizard. You could take the "you name this baby, and I'll take the next one" route, but that assumes you'll have more than one child and requires one partner to have a lot of faith (and patience).

"It's tempting to think, I'm giving birth to her, so I should get the final say, but remember that the name is a powerful bridge to bonding," Wattenberg explains. "No one should have to cringe when saying their child's name!"

A good compromise: Do a combo. "I liked Lilliana and my husband liked Ella, which is how we got Elliana," says Krystle Bailey, of Atlantic City. This is trendy, Wattenberg says: "It started with celebrity mash-ups like Brangelina, but parents are now applying it to baby names." Names that have lots of vowels work best as hybrids -- even for noncelebs.

Bypass a Family Name
It's always a nice tribute to name a child after a beloved grandpop, but while some old-fashioned names are back in a big way (think Jacob, Sadie, and Ava), others aren't (sorry, Arthur). "You can use your relative's name as a middle name, or consider names that are similar," suggests Marcia Layton Turner, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to 40,000 Baby Names.

Ginger Anderson, who lives in San Diego, went both ways for her son. "We knew we'd give him Chase as his first name, and we wanted his middle name to be from my side of the family," she says. "Problem is, my family tree is overrun with Virgils, Elmers, and Richards -- not exactly my taste." So she joined the first syllable of her dad's name ("Ri" from Richard) and the second of his middle name ("Lan" in Alan).

You can also commemorate, say, your Uncle Donald, with what Wattenberg refers to as the "nicknamesake." Not into Donald but like Don? Choose a different name with the same nickname -- such as Donovan -- and you've honored your uncle in style.

If you want to acknowledge your dad or uncle but are expecting a girl, try gender bending; just add an "a" to a traditional male name. Or play around with letters. "My grandma Olga died four months before my son was born," says Sarah Gobel, of Shoreview, Minnesota. "With some clever rearranging, we got Logan."

Put Last Names First
Mary Lynn Murphy, who lives in Pelham, New York, named her daughter Dempsey, her mom's maiden name. Many parents take this approach, says Wattenberg, although there's a limit to the surname-as-first-name trend: "You're not going to find lots of little Rosenblatts running around!"