Would you ever: Let an app name your baby?

I worry that I have gotten dumber in recent years, as I am fearful of driving anywhere without my phone reassuring me that I’m making all the right turns. How did I ever get around before? And picking a restaurant in another city? Can’t do that without learning what everyone else thinks of the restaurant I’m standing RIGHT IN FRONT OF first. I get why Yelp rhymes with help. It’s so useful!

When I came across an app called NameMyWorld, designed to enable expectant parents to find the best name for their child, I thought, maybe it’s gone too far.

The app, whose tagline is “Changing the way babies are named worldwide” displays this message on it’s website: NameMyWorld helps parents decide a suitable name for their newborns. With an easy to use app interface and tons of features to choose from, it is the best resource for parents to name their baby.

Do we need to change the way parents name their babies?

I think there are two main methods: 1) Honor your heritage by choosing a name from your family tree and 2) ignore your heritage and select a name because you like the way it sounds, how it looks, or what it means. I mean, after a lot of debate with your partner.

NameMyWorld uses numerology to recommend baby names. I don’t get exactly what that entails, and I am not recommending this app by any means. (You get a list of names where most of the letters in the name are hidden, like AM*****, and to “unlock” the actual names, you must pay.) Plus, it’s just a horrible user experience; you must enter the full name and birthdays of the parents and the due date of the baby. It felt invasive.

But, let’s say it was better. The names are ranked by strength of the algorithm’s recommendation. No explanation, just an assertion about which names are Best, Average, and Totally Suck. Could you be swayed by the numbers? What do you think “Critical” means? In the screenshot below Aaron Walker is critical. Gosh, poor Aaron. His name sounds great to me.

If you are looking for a baby name app, there are some free ones that seem less creepy, and have some cool features.

For parents who met on Tindr: Babyname has 30,000 name cards and you can both swipe right and left to like and dislike the names until you find a match.

For parents who love Game Night: The Baby Name Game app allows partners to compare short lists until they find a name that satisfies both parents via a series of playoff games.

For parents who see the world as a flow chart: Baby Names by BabyBump Preg will give you related names to the name you’re studying when you give your phone a shake.

Where did you find your baby’s name?

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Whitney

RookieMoms.com co-founder Whitney lives with her husband, son, and daughter in the San Francisco Bay Area where she writes about parenting, crafts, and activities that moms can do with babies in tow. She and Heather also publish 510Families.com, a site for East Bay parents.