Choosing a name for your newborn baby can be one of the most enjoyable parts of the parenting process … so long as you and your partner agree, that is.
Rarely do couples see eye-to-eye on an ideal moniker straight off the bat, and settling on a name can require months of negotiation, brainstorming, the occasional argument and plenty of googling.
Thankfully, settling on the perfect baby name—one rich with family history, steeped in tradition and entirely lacking in awkward nickname possibilities—can make all the bickering feel worthwhile.
To help you on your baby name journey, there are a host of clever new apps, packed full of novel names and designed to minimise conflict and confusion.
Keep reading to see four of the best. Disclaimer: You don’t have to be pregnant, or even in a relationship, to enjoy them.
BABYNAME APP
Another option that’s similar to the Tinder model, BabyName has over 30,000 unique names and also features their individual meanings and origins.
Cost: Free
KINDER
Billed as ‘Tinder for baby names’, this app allows you to swipe right on names you love and potentially match with your partner, creating an automatic shortlist of names you both approve of. Simply enter your baby’s gender, last name and ideal name origin (Scottish? Swedish?) and Kinder will create a list of options. Super addictive and plenty of fun.
Cost: Free
NAMETRIX
If you want your child to be a professional success, no age is too young to start considering which career they’ll have. Nametrix is based entirely off a gigantic pool of data, and helps you filter your chosen names based on the profession they’re most likely to have, the year they reached their peak popularity, the countries where they are most prevalent and more. Why not get scientific with it?
Cost: $1.99
NAMEY
Perfect for people with really specific requirements, Namey allows you to find options based on filters like origin, first letter, meaning, other family member names
Cost: $4.49
