WAY OUT PARENTING: THE DO’s AND DON’Ts OF NAMING YOUR CHILD

You may be asking yourself, “Why cover that here? I have five books on baby names," but those books don’t address baby naming do’s and don’ts for gay parents. Names have a way of coming back to haunt us. How many of us wish our parents had just taken the time to write our initials-to-be down on paper and looked at them before bequeathing them to us? How many of us would be less traumatized today had our parents shut the baby name book and spent five minutes anticipating all the cruel innovations a creatively malicious mind could think up based on the name they had chosen.

Gay parents must be particularly careful about the names we give our children. Our children already have enough baggage to inspire the malicious minds of their schools’ lowest common denominators. There’s no excuse for adding fuel to the fire. So let’s review the rules for gay fathers and mothers to be.

Rules for Gay Fathers-to-Be: Naming Your Daughter

You need a strong but feminine name, a name with character. For you, this task doesn’t need to be hard. Simply list all your beloved female icons and choose one of their names. Each of them embodies traits you have long admired, and any of them will provide an aura of drama and celebrity to your child. In the unlikely event that you are a gay male who has no personal female icons, choose from the gay approved list below.

Rules for Gay Mothers-to-Be: Naming Your Daughter

A word of caution: You may find yourself tempted to name your daughter after a famous female role model in history. There is nothing wrong with this—unless you choose the wrong famous female role model. So here are some names to consider—and some to avoid.