Of parents and how they select baby names

By Shaan Moledina 
Mother & Baby had to get to the bottom of the sheer volume of “-aden”centric baby names in our database! 

We even asked mums whether any of their friends had kids whose names rhymed with “den”. Here’s what they came up with: Aden, Aidan, Aiden, Alden, Ayden, Branden, Brayden, Hyden, Braden, Brandan, Brayden, Caden, Cayden, Gerden, Hayden, Jaden, Jayden, Jorden, Jordan, Kaden, Kayden, Palden, Raden, Rayden and Zenden. 

Top “dens” in M&B’s straw poll
8 Kaden/Kayden/Caden
7 Jaden/Jayden
7 Aidan/Aiden/Aden
 
Chloe, for verdant and blooming, is a very popular girl’s name - we found 13 such sweet names in our files. As for Chinese names, it’s unmistakable that names with “En” rule the pack. We found 25 in all these variations ? En Qi, Yi En, Hui En, En Ze, Si En, En Xi, En Huei, Enxy, En Kuan, Jia En, Jing En, Yu En, Zhi En, Shi En and Jn En! 

Aidan Ong
“Aidan means little fire and since mine was a thrilling pregnancy with lots of kicks, jabs and elbows from the baby, I knew he’d be a fiery little one!”
Joyce Teh, 30, marketing communications executive and mum to Aidan, 9 months. 

Jaden Lamiroy
“I wanted a name close to my grandmother’s, Jane. And after watching Pursuit of Happyness, I fell in love with Will Smith’s son’s name, Jaden, which is probably as close to Jane as I could get!” 
Cheryl Lamiroy, 29, general manager and mum to Jaden, 13 months. 

Hayden Lau
“I first came across the name while watching an advertisement on TV. And since my husband had both a customer and a shop by the same name, we associated the name with success, and now, our hope is for our little boy to achieve a great deal in life!”
Nicol Goh, 25, administrative and accounts assistant and mum to Hayden, 12 months.

Nicole Chiang En Qi
“The Chinese character for “En” combines  two characters (reason) (heart) meaning kindness and benevolence. We wanted our little one to grow up with these qualities, so we went to a geomancer to check if the name was suitable for our baby.”
Diana Soon, 36, marketing manager and mum to Nicole En Qi, 9 months. 

Chloe Lim
“We chose the name Chloe after the fictional character, Chloe O’Brian, in the US TV series, 24. In the show, Chloe displays extraordinary mastery of computer hardware and is loyal to her friends. As both my hubby and I are in the IT industry, we can relate to the character.” 
Jennifer Chua, 31, IT consultant and mum to Chloe, 17 months.

It’s In The Stars Geomancer Yvonne Teh-Fong of Five Arts Consultancy explains how auspicious names are picked.  “A baby’s name can only be selected after the child is born as the birth date, birth time and gender are required elements in the naming process, though the baby need not be present. Only auspicious names are selected for each baby - the selection depends on the child’s pillar of destiny, known as ba zi in Chinese, which determines the elements, number of strokes and pronunciation. Auspicious names are not selected based on current trends or popularity but on how it blends with the child’s ba zi. However, parents do play a part in selecting certain characters, which may explain the creation of certain trends.”  Yvonne Teh-Fong charges $200 for a baby name selection.

The Game Of The Name
Mother & Baby mums sure put a lot of thought when picking their children’s unique names. 

Eevee Tang
“Eevee is named after the rare and extremely lovable Pokémon character of the same name. Plus, we liked how the Eevee is spelt, it’s a palindrome.”
NAME THAT DIDN’T MAKE THE CUT: Valencia.
Isabelle Lek, 28, banker and mum to Eevee, 12 months. 

Callisto Chua
“We love astronomy and since my husband likes the planet Jupiter a lot, we decided to name Callisto after one of Jupiter’s four major moons! As a bonus, the name, which is of Greek origin, also means ‘most beautiful’.”
Agnes Chew, 30, associate engineer and  mum to Callisto, 13 months. 

Jevontae Goh
“After trawling websites and narrowing the choices down to names beginning with D, J, K and V, we decided on Jevontae. However, my in-laws call him ‘jia peng tay’ which means “eat rice with tea” in their Hokkien dialect!”
NAMES THAT DIDN’T MAKE THE CUT: Devlen, Kynan and Svend.
Tay Boon Hin, 25, mum to Jevontae, 15 months. 

Ravel Lai
“Ravel is named after Maurice Ravel, a neo-classical French composer. His name is pronounced rah-vel, not rabel, ray-ver, rah-ver or rebel!” 
NAMES THAT DIDN’T MAKE THE CUT: Amadeus and Alanine.
Linda Sim, 32, pharmacist and mum to Ravel, 13 months. 

Melker Lim
“We actually wanted the name Ryan, which means ‘little king’, but felt it was too common and picked the Hebrew name Melker instead, which means king as well!”
NAMES THAT DIDN’T MAKE THE CUT: Caelan, Jaden, Jonass, Rance and Ryan.
Constance Goh, 34, administrative officer and mum to Melker, 12 months. 

Trafford Ong
“My wife and I are Manchester United fans and Old Trafford is the name of the club's stadium. We were both also university classmates in Manchester in the UK, and Trafford Centre was our favourite hangout for shopping and movies!”
NAMES THAT DIDN’T MAKE THE CUT: Brighton and Carter.
Andy Ong, 29, research consultant and dad to Trafford, 3 months. 

Zinon Wong
“Fascinated by Greek mythology, we loved what Zeus represented ? wise in counsel and a protector known to have an impounding sense of justice ? which is why we felt that Zinon, which means ‘gift from Zeus’, was perfect for our strong, miracle baby!”
NAMES THAT DIDN’T MAKE THE CUT: Seth and Julian.
Camille Chew, 20, homemaker, freelance bartender and mum to Zinon, 8 months. 

Ezekiel Koh
“After trying for 12 years to conceive, my prayers were answered when I became pregnant. Then, in my twentieth week, I was told my baby’s size was below average. As I prayed, I came across this name which means ‘strengthened by God’, which is what I needed at the time for my baby.” 
NAMES THAT DIDN’T MAKE THE CUT: Gabriel and Ezra.
Eileen Lee, 38, sales support representative and mum to Ezekiel, 17 months. 

Legal Tender
According to the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority, if you regret your frivolous choice and want to change your offspring’s name, you can change it via a deed poll - a legally executed document - once your child has passed his/her first birthday. While the new name shown in the deed poll will not be reflected on the birth certificate, it can be used for all official transactions, including school registration. 

If you have any comments or practical suggestions, write to us at editor@family.sg 

- Mother & Baby
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