Dedicated to Little Love Bug, born Aug 2020
Ok! So you have found out you are going to be a parent but are struggling to choose that perfect baby name. Well, first of all, let me just say congratulations! You are on the ride of your life. If you are looking for any tips, try here. Now, I know for some, choosing that correct baby name is so easy but, if you are anything like me, you will be scouring the internet for the top baby names in the universe. There are just too many to choose from therefore, I thought I might help you out. Here you will find my preferred, top selection of best baby names of 2021.
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What’s in a Name?
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”
– William Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet
Choosing a baby’s name might be one of the hardest and most thought out processes you will undertake as a parent. I know for me it was so difficult. You want the correct name and one that suits them, after all, what’s in a name? Remember this is their name for life. Well unless you name them after a piece of fruit and they later apply to change it themselves. Each to their own!
Your name represents you, as an individual. This is why it is so important to choose the right one. So, how did we choose Tink and the Pup?
Choosing Tink
Obviously I use my son’s nicknames in my blog, I mean, he really wasn’t christened Tink. On that note he is the only one that is actually christened out of the two of them. We never got around to Pup, but then again, in hindsight, the church would probably burn down the second he sets foot inside. He’s the spawn of Satan, at least he acts like it. 😂😈
All joking aside, when we chose Tink we thought we were prepared, we bought a book and everything. (Amazon Affiliate link below) We had a list of 5 top names however, once he was born he did not suit a single one. One thing we did know for certain was that his middle name would be James. This is totally sad I know, but I wanted a first name that would ring well with James. One that could be shortened, kind of like how Andrew James could become AJ. At the time I had CJ in my head. WTF was I thinking, honestly. Thank god we didn’t call him that.
In the UK you get 3 weeks to register a birth. With Tink we were well into the 3rd week before we had even picked his name. For just over 2 week’s he was known as Baby then, one evening we were sitting on the sofa, looking at him and it just clicked. My husband turned to me and said, “What about Tink?” It was perfect and suited him to a tee. We really did cut it close though. Would we make that same mistake again?
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Choosing Pup
Thankfully not!!! In fact, fate stepped in. Kind of! I was lying in the hospital bed after having been induced, bearing in mind that Pup had not been born yet, when it hit us. I don’t think we were even having a serious conversation about baby names. Hell, I think we were watching The Good Dinosaur. My husband, once again, turns to me and says, “What about Pup?” It felt right. Sometimes you just know. We held off till he was born but the second I looked at him I knew that this was his name. It was spontaneous, just like him.
So, on that note, here is my list of top favourite baby boy names for 2021 and no, none of my ridiculous first choice names made the list.
One Mum’s Best Baby Names of 2021 – Boys!
- Noah
Origin: Hebrew
Meaning: A biblical name meaning “rest” or “peace” - Liam
Origin: Irish
Meaning: Derived from the Belgic term, “guild-helm”, meaning “harnessed with a gilded helmet”
Other Information: Short name of William - Jacob
Origin: Hebrew
Meaning: Biblical name meaning “supplanter” i.e. to wrongly take the place of another
Other Information: Derives from the same source as the name James
Variations: Jakob, Jakub - Jack
Origin: English
Meaning: “God is gracious”
Other Information: Originally a nickname for John
Variations: Jac - Owen
Origin: Irish
Meaning: “The Yew Tree” or “Youth”
Variations: Welsh spelling Owain, pronounced Oh-ween - Leo
Origin: Italian
Meaning: “Lion” - Charlie
Origin: English
Meaning: “Free man,” essentially Charlie means freedom
Variation: Charly, Charli - Theo
Origin: Greek
Meaning: “Divine gift” or “Gift from God”
Other Information: Shortened for of Theodore and Theodorus - Archie
Origin: German/English
Meaning: “Archer” or “Truly bold”
Other Information: Comes from the German name Archibald or the English name Archer - Henry
Origin: German
Meaning: “Ruler of the home”
Other Information: In French it’s spelt Henri and in German, Henrik - Michael
Origin: Hebrew
Meaning: Biblical name meaning “who is like God”
Other Information: St Michael defeated Satan and was the patron saint of soldiers
Variations: Mikael - James
Origin: Hebrew
Meaning: “Supplanter”
Other Information: Comes from the same source as Jacob hence they both have the same meaning - Samuel
Origin: Hebrew
Meaning: Biblical name meaning “his name is God”
Variations: Samual, Sameul - Joseph
Origin: Hebrew
Meaning: Biblical name meaning “God will increase”
Variations: Joesph, Joeseph - Anthony
Origin: Latin
Meaning: Unknown – Roman family name
And… Here come the girls…
One Mum’s Best Baby Names of 2021 – Girls!
- Olivia
Origin: Latin
Meaning: “Olive Tree”
Other Information: Comes from the word Olivam - Amelia
Origin: German
Meaning: To “strive” or to “work”
Variation: Amelie (French) - Ava
Origin: Hebrew/German
Meaning: In Latin, avis means “bird”
Variation: Eve, meaning to breathe - Mia
Origin: Greek
Meaning: Scandinavian spelling of Maria, meaning “bitter” - Ella
Origin: English/Greek
Meaning: Short for Helen, meaning “torch” or “light” - Lily
Origin: Latin
Meaning: Comes from the flower of the same name, Lily, typically meaning “pure”.
Variation: Lili - Riley
Origin: English
Meaning: “Rye”, “Clearing” or “Meadow”
Variations: Rilee, Rileigh - Elena
Origin: Italian/Spanish
Meaning: “Torch”, “Light” or “Moon” - Chloe
Origin: Greek
Meaning: “Blooming”
Variations: Chloea, Chloee, Chloey - Zoey
Origin: Greek
Meaning: “Life”
Variations: Zoe, Zoie - Addison
Origin: English
Meaning: Unisex name but with quite a masculine meaning: “son of Adam”
Variations: Addisson, Addeson, Addyson, Adison, Adisson, Adysin - Lucy
Origin: Latin
Meaning: “Light”
Variations: Luci, Lucie - Grace
Origin: Scottish/English/Irish/Latin
Meaning: “Thanks” or “Effortless beauty” - Aubrey
Origin: French/German
Meaning: “Ruler of elves”, quite supernatural in essence - Aria
Origin: Italian
Meaning: “Melody” or “Song”
My Top Picks
There are so many popular names out there to choose from. This is just a small selection of my best baby names of 2021 but, I hope it gave you some ideas. It also gives you a little bit of an insight into the types of names that seem to be topping the baby name charts. For little girls, names ending in “a” seem to be the preferred go to. With boys there are quite a few biblical names still making the headlines. My top favourites include Aubrey, Archie, Charlie, Grace and Riley. Let me know what your favourites are in the comments below. 😀
Resources:
1. Baby Centre – Name Finder
2. Baby Centre – Top Baby Names
3. Mother & Baby – Top Baby Names
4. Names.org
