BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Baby Names Most important factor in choosing a baby name?

When it comes to picking out names, which factors are most important to you? (You can choose up to three answers.)

Meaning

Sound (how well it goes with a surname or sibling names)

Origin (e.g., Celtic, Germanic)

Popularity (e.g., rare, somewhat popular, very common)

Image (e.g., classic, old-fashioned, trendy, whimsical)

Associations (i.e., famous bearers of the name)

Tradition (i.e., it's a family name)

This is the first time I've tried to post a poll, so let's see it if works...

Most important factors in choosing a baby name? multiple choice, up to 3 choices

Meaning (21%, 5 Votes)

Sound (33%, 8 Votes)

Origin (8%, 2 Votes)

Popularity (4%, 1 Votes)

Image (13%, 3 Votes)

Associations (17%, 4 Votes)

Tradition (4%, 1 Votes)

Total Votes: 24 Voting on this poll ends: 01/17/08 09:31 PM

Meaning, Sound, and Origin. Also it's uniqueness (we dont like common names).

Our usual pick is something that is Celtic, sounds good together with siblings and middle names, and has a strong meaning (like our son Seamus is named after my best friend who died in 2004. His name was James, and Seamus is the Celtic form of James... or has a religious significance... like if we have a daughter, her name will be Rhiannon, which is Welsh and named after a Welsh goddess).

In Iran we have to choose Iranian or Islamic names, no foreign names allowed.
For girls mostly Iranian and for boys nearly half and half.