Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Better than a Book of Baby Names

When I got pregnant and started thinking about names, I didn't buy any baby name books. Instead I wrote a script that combined pleasant sounds to form a long list of phonetic baby names.

I knew I wanted something with two syllables, and that with a last initial of H, I didn't want my child to have initials that spelled something stupid like "EH" or "AH" or "OH." I also knew that I preferred something that ended with an "ee" or "ah" sound in nickname form.

So I listed out the letters and sounds I would consider, grouped them into four different arrays, and wrote a quick javascript function that would print out all eight thousand three hundred and sixteen combinations of them. Then I sat down with a nice cup of tea and read each of the names out loud.


The full list can be found here:

Baby Name Generator Output: Niki's List of Phonetic Baby Names


My first daughter's name, Kayla, can be found on line #3,084. The script came in handy again two years later. My second daughter's name, Zoe, appears on line #8,225.

That's pretty much the end of the list, though, so we're not having any more kids.

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