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Friday, July 30, 2010 |
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Parents try to pick the perfect baby names
Published July 9, 2008
SEGUIN — Cassandra Baldera’s new daughter is a little bit of heaven.
Angelina Neveah Garza, wrapped in a fleecy blanket, looked every bit the angel asleep in her mother’s arms.
“It was really hard deciding on a name,” admitted Baldera, a Runge resident. “My mom really liked Angelina and then Neveah just came along. I heard other people talking about that name and considered using it as a first name. But I think Angelina Neveah sounds good.”
Adolfo Natividad Garza Jr., Baldera’s fiance and Angelina’s father, said Neveah is heaven spelled backward, a fitting middle name for a baby already carrying a celestial moniker.
“It’s kind of a phrase with ‘angel’ and then ‘heaven’ right after,” he said, looking adoringly at his firstborn. “She’ll also have the same initials as me.”
The dark-haired baby girl made her entrance into the world on July 2 at Guadalupe Regional Medical Center. Though Angelina has a unique sound, it is not an uncommon name for girls born in Seguin.
Ida Patterson, birth clerk at Guadalupe Valley Regional Medical Center, said Angel and similar names such as Angelina and Angela are among the top names in recent years for baby girls born locally.
Social Security recently released the list of most popular baby names for 2007 and, while the national and state trends lean toward traditional names like Jacob and Emily, locals seem to be seeking out new and unusual titles for their youngsters.
“For awhile, we were seeing a lot of ‘Abcde’ — you know — A, B, C, D, E,” Patterson said with a laugh. “Right now, the first and foremost name for girls is Serenity. A lot of parents seem to want to name their babies something completely different — not things like Mary or Marie, we don’t really see that.“
Hyphens have also been making frequent appearances, sometimes in non-traditional ways. A recent arrival at GRMC received Addison-Marie as a middle name.
Another baby girl was named Meadow Flower.
However, not all unique names are so nice, Patterson said. In fact, some are downright strange.
“Once, someone wanted to name their baby Satan,” she recalled.
Most parents, however, want their baby to get noticed in a more positive way.
Jayden, a unique choice for boys, has become the most popular name for male babies born at GRMC, along with more familiar names like Michael, Christian, Juan and Issac.
Patterson said boys names seem to lean more toward the traditional, although modern choices like Chase and Cash appear pretty regularly.
“A lot of times, people will use family names for boys. We see a lot of that and a lot of Juniors,” she said.
LaMarcus Jarrell Allen’s name was inherited, not only from his father, but his brother, sister and mother, as well. The little boy was born July 1 at GRMC to Seguin resident LaShaundra Matthews and her boyfriend, LaMont Allen.
“The ‘La’ comes from my boyfriend’s name and my name,” she said. “We also thought LaMarcus kind of went with LaMont. We just wanted something a little different and we thought his name had a uniqueness.”
LaMarcus, clad in a tiny knit cap, snacked on formula while his mother explained the process that went into selecting his name. Matthews said she and Allen wanted their first child together to reflect a merging of their blended family.
“I have a 3-year-old named LaTavia and (LaMont’s) son is Terrell. So LaMarcus has part of her with the ‘La,’ and part of Terrell with Jarrell as his middle name,” she said. “He’s our first child together, so we wanted his name to reflect that.”
While family guided Matthews’ choice, Social Security officials believe that many national naming trends originate with popular culture.
This year, the names of celebrities and their children have risen in popularity including Shiloh (daughter of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie), Miley (as in “Hannah Montana” star Miley Cyrus), and JaMarcus (after Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell), have all risen on the list of most popular names.
Spiritual concepts, including Destiny, Trinity, the locally-popular Serenity and also Neveah, have become more popular for girls nationwide while parents of boys continue an interest in names rhyming with ‘maiden’ to include Caiden, Aiden and the Seguin favorite, Jayden.
Patterson said her favorite part of the job, besides reviewing interesting names, is when parents come to her asking advice.
She often helps parents look on the Internet or in baby name books to find unusual spellings or variations on more common monikers. Generally, parents have three days to choose a name and send it to the state.
“Sometimes they ask for help with unique spellings, like one mother wanted to use Bell as a middle name, but needed help finding an interesting way to spell it,” she said. “Other times they’ll ask my opinion and I get to say, ‘He looks like a ‘so-and-so’ to me.”
Garza said he and his fiance stayed away from celebrity trends and baby name books, but were still able to compile some lovely name choices for their new addition. He said that when you come up with the right name, you just know it.
“This one just seemed to fit,” he said.
Baby Name Rankings
Most popular baby names in 2007
United States:
Boys Girls
1) Jacob 1) Emily
2) Michael 2) Isabella
3) Ethan 3) Emma
4) Joshua 4) Ava
5) Daniel 5) Madison
Texas:
Boys Girls
1) Jose 1) Emily
2) Jacob 2) Mia
3) Daniel 3) Isabella
4) Christopher 4) Madison
5) Angel 5) Abigail
Seguin:
Boys (not in ranked order) Girls
Jayden Serenity
Michael Aubrey
Christian Angel
Issac Arianna
Juan
National and state information provided by Social Security, local information provided by Guadalupe Regional Medical Center.
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