Naming your baby is never an easy task, especially when you realise you're probably going to have to come to a compromise on that one-of-a-kind name you love, but that your other half absolutely loathes. One mum has found a nifty solution to this dilemma, inspiring others in the process.
Revealing the "nerdy" naming method she and her husband opted for when choosing their own son's name, the clever mum explained that they began by setting up a good old-fashioned spreadsheet, just as though they were putting their heads together for a work project.
They then inputted 1,000 boys' names into the spreadsheet, with each parent assigned a column where they went through every single name on the list and gave a number based on their personal preference. Adding a score of one meant no, two was a maybe, and three was a yes.
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Taking to Reddit, where she goes by the username u/PassThePrenatals, the smart mum recalled: "After we'd both done that we added another column to add up the values for each name. Six meant we'd both said yes, Five was a yes, and a maybe etc. Then we had the spreadsheet display the names from highest ranking to lowest- a shortlist was born!"
She continued: "We repeated the process with our shortlist to give us a couple of frontrunners and then chose from there. Worked like a charm. Also, it didn't take nearly as long as you'd think to go through 1000 names!"
The couple decided to name their son Ronan in the end, a name they were both "so in love" with. Now others are looking to follow suit and set up similar spreadsheets of their own.
One approving name nerd commented: "My wife and I did something similar with the top 1000. (1) Pared it down to 100 candidates that either of us said yes to. (2) Put those on two sets of index cards and forced us to pick only 20. (3) Found the matches in the top 20 and then picked from there."
Another applauded: "If you've found someone who'll happily engage in such a ridiculously nerdy method, you have found your soul mate and you're going to be a great parenting team!"
Did you choose your child's name using an unusual method? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
