The Most Challenging Branding Project...Ever

The joy of finding out that we are having another daughter in February was quickly overshadowed by the realization that my wife and I would have to agree on another name for a girl. My last naming experience was a challenge; we didn’t agree on any names. In fact, the tennis match started six months prior to my 1st daughter’s birth and didn’t end until the nurse looked at us and said “Ok, what is her name going to be?”

Don’t get me wrong, we are extremely excited and fortunate to be having another child. However, you have to face the facts that naming a child is a challenging task, especially when you have to get agreement from another person – as in, your wife. This isn’t like picking out the couch in the living room. You can’t put it to the curb in six months and get a new one. You have to make sure the initials don’t spell a bad word or the name won’t subject your child to a life of humiliation. Let’s face it, the kid is stuck with the name for life and the chances of it being bad is more likely than it being a name that sets the world on fire (this doesn’t apply to Hollywood couples, of course).

Cracking the name case has become my hobby. I have to admit that I’m no Sherlock Holmes because my wife rejects my name ideas everyday. Apparently, every name I come to the table with reminds her of some annoying girl from camp. Honestly, I think it’s just another tactic by her to get the name she wants. If you think that is a low blow, it’s nothing in comparison to her teaching our three year old to call her baby sister a particular name (an ingenious tactic, I must admit).

One would think this endeavor might be a little easier for me since we build brands everyday at 20nine. Thus far it hasn’t been, and between navigating my wife’s tactics and rhyming first names with Dean I’ve decided to plead my case to the public in hopes of finally getting a general consensus on the “brand new” name for my new daughter.