Top Baby Names for New York City and Tools for Picking a Cool Name

5/3/09 - By Anna Fader

A rose by any other name might smell as sweet, but would it have self-image issues, would it get sick of everyone misspelling its name or that there were three other kids with the same name in it's class? Would a rose want a trendy name, an unusual name, or maybe an unusually trendy name, as is popular now. Picking a baby name can be hard, but the good thing about living in New York City is that just about anything goes. You don't have to worry that giving your child an unusual name will lead to teasing. Actually I don't think kids in New York today know that certain names are unusual...cool, unconventional names are more common than traditional names.

If you are researching baby names in New York check out these sites that can help you pick a good one, find baby name meanings, plus find out which names are top most popular in New York City.

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My favorite site for finding baby names is Name Berry. This site, started by the authors of several definitive baby naming books including The Baby Name Bible, has thousands of baby names to choose from and you can search baby names by gender, style (classic, avant-garde, stylish, vintage, etc), first initial, meanings, popularity and more. But, the thing that makes it really unique is their hot baby name lists. Name Berry has dozens of name lists cleverly categorized to inspire you. I particularly like the "Colonial Names for Boys" (or girls) which has some cool names that haven't been overused lately. Cornelia, anyone? Other lists include lists like "If you like Amanda" which give you alternates that aren't so overused, names for blond babies, names that boys think are cool and dozens more. The lists are great for inspiring baby name ideas and very helpful for finding cool names that aren't a dime a dozen.

Another fun baby names web site is the Baby Name Wizard which allows you to track the popularity of a name over time as well as by location and other features. Fun to play around with.

Most baby name sites have the lists of most popular baby names released each year by the social security administration, but you don't need to know that there would be 10 Madisons in your child's class in Iowa. You need to know if there will be another Oscar in Pre-K here. Luckily NYC.gov publishes the most popular baby names in NYC, even dividing it out by ethnic group.