BABY NAME

“A TINY BABY SWEET AND NEW CAN MAKE THE BIGGETS DREAMS TRUE”

A newborn baby brings a lot of happiness and joy-laden moments in the life of every individual of a family. The day holds special importance when a new born baby arrives. As India is a multicultural land which houses people from all walks of life, religions, races, castes and creeds, so there exists a plethora of ceremonies and customs related to naming new born babies. Every religion follows its own distinct pattern for naming a baby.

The process of naming a baby in Indian context is done keeping various aspects in mind. For instance, in Sikhism, as the baby is born, the baby is imperatively named by picking a proper alphabet from their religious book and all the religious ceremonies pertaining to naming of the new baby are done with utmost sanctity. Similarly in Hinduism, a priest undertakes the responsibility of naming the baby by preparing an astrological chart according to the placement of the planets at the time the baby was born.

Apart from the ceremonies related to the naming of a new baby, a baby name has more significance. A name which is assigned to a baby upon birth goes on to become his identity as he grows up. He is known within the social and professional circles by his ‘baby name’, meaning the name which is awarded to a baby when he was still a ‘baby’.

It becomes imperative for one to respond to ones name. But there are numerous instances which can be quoted wherein the person is dissatisfied with the baby name awarded to him and decides to choose a name of his choice. Baby names actually follow trends. One names a baby according to the prevailing trends and it so happens that by the time the baby grows up, the trends change and so the dissatisfaction factor crops up.

In all it can be said that baby names are a significant part of ones personality and there are a lot of ceremonies attached with naming of a baby as in the case of a country like India. Also what is a striking feature about naming babies is that it follows trends. One does try to be fashionable while naming babies and therefore there exist dictionaries which cater to the needs of parents who want to name their babies. These dictionaries are quite comprehensive sine they contain the origin and meaning of all the baby names listed in them. I feel that the time is not far when naming babies will become a commercial activity in order to make people sound unique. All I hope is that names continue to make some sense too!