This is NPR's Life Kit.

What's in a name?

A name is one of the first gifts a parent gives to their child.

Names are important because they're one of the ways that we mark our place in the world.

They're the first symbols of our identity, and one of the first things we lead with when we meet

someone new. Like now. Hi, I'm Jayana O'Pong. I'm a reporter and a mom to three kids.

As a parent, I know that the baby naming struggle is real. I mean the possibilities seem endless.

How do you even begin to choose? My name is Madeline. My name is Eloise. My name is Cecilia.

My name is Daniel. My name is Molina. Good job.

If you've been through the baby naming process or are going through it now, I'm sure I don't have

to tell you just how overwhelming it can be. Here in the US, parents can pretty much name their

child whatever they want, which seems great until you have to pick one. I wanted to find a

framework to help parents everywhere through this process. The first thing I learned

is that it's supposed to be fun. So much of preparing for a baby is about anxieties. You're

worried about money, about health, about safety. Names should be your chance to just sit back and

dream. That's Laura Wattenberg, baby name expert. And first, she's going to walk us through some

of the social influences at work when naming babies today. Then we'll talk to baby naming consultant

Sherry Suzanne, who's seen it all. I've actually had parents reach out to me in a taxi on the way

to the hospital. She'll share some strategies she uses for finding names for her clients and help

break down some assumptions on some of the best ways to start the process. Names are like art,

and not like science. In this episode of Life Kit, all things, baby names.

Laura Wattenberg is the author of the baby name wizard books and creator of Namerology.com.

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