What's in a name?

In my job I get to meet so many families - having now photographed over 130 newborns (and counting!) and many toddlers, tots and tweens!  I love meeting so many different people and their families, and I love to find out why people want to have the photo shoot – sometimes it’s just to capture a stage in their child’s development, and sometimes it’s to capture images of family members, who maybe live abroad and time together is all the more precious.  Whatever your reason, photographs at any stage in life are so incredibly important, as they capture an age and a moment in a persons life which is then preserved forever.  

​With meeting so many newborns, the baby’s name is one of the biggest decisions that the parents will make once baby arrives, or in my case, before my baby arrived!  For my first daughter we had the scan to tell us the gender – as my husband felt he needed to be able to bond with the baby (as he really wanted a girl!), and he had his heart set on the name Darcey.  Thankfully I loved this name too, and so when we found out our baby was a girl, she was already named before she was even born!  Naming a baby is such a big responsibility and many questions arise when deciding, such as, does it rhyme with anything?, what are the initials, do I know anyone with that name?, what does the name mean?  Without realising the meaning of the names of both of my daughter's names (Darcey and Layla) mean 'dark' or 'night' - and funnily enough they were both born late in the night!

Every year the most popular boys and girls names are published and so for 2019 the list of most popular names ‘so far’ include Olivia, Sophia, Lily and Mia and for boys, Muhammed remains at the top followed by Oliver, Noah and George.  For more information on the top names for 2019 so far please click here .  ​But the names of the babies that I have photographed this year have really varied and there hasn’t been one common name at all!  I've picked a selection of the names of some of the newborns from 2019 - so if you need some inspiration for your new arrival take a look at the list, and the interesting meanings to some of these names as well!

Boys names and meanings:
​Jeevan - Life
Sebastian - Revered
Bertie – Noble and bright
Brodie – A little ridge
Harry – Estate ruler
Ralph – Wolf counsel
Ammar – Long lived
Jude – Give thanks
Caspian – From Qazvin, Iran
Rory – Red haired king
Arthur – Noble and courageous
Caleb – Faithful and bold
Rocky - Rest

Girls names and meanings:
​Sidney – Wide Island
Clara – Bright & clear
Trinity - Triad
Millie – Mild of strength
Madeline – High tower
Freya - Noblewoman
Annabel - Loving
Izzy – Pledged to God
Naira – Full of light
Violet - Purple
Estella – Star
Charlotte - Petite
Mila - Gracious

Some people name their baby after a relative, or from a film character (I know Elsa and Anna and Charlotte have gone up in popularity over the years!), or from a book character - naming a baby isn't easy and it usually takes a lot of time to decide what name is best!  You will be pleased to know that in the UK there aren't as many restrictions as to what you name your baby - in Iceland, for example, there are a list of 3,600 names to choose from - take a look at this short clip to see some of the names that have been blocked in recent years! <click here>