Since you’re open to advice, you might want to reconsider your blink-and-it’s-over maternity leave. I’m sure you realize that babies - just like big businesses aching for a makeover - are all about new beginnings. for Parents to Keep Their Child’s Sex a Secret?) It’s also likely that the name is not “Scott” as in Scott Thompson, the disgraced Yahoo CEO you replaced, or “Sergey” or “Larry” - the two Googleites who couldn’t have been happy to see you jump ship. Of course, now that more than 48 hours have elapsed since Big Baby Boy Bogue’s birth, it’s likely that you’ve chosen a name by now. Or, as Murray advised in a press release, because you’re “also a trailblazer in an industry that’s all about innovation… may want to break out with a more unusual name such as Ryder or Lucas.” At, readers suggested “Homepage,” “Saas” and “Cloud.” Still casting about for recommendations? Linda Murray, Bab圜enter’s editor-in-chief, offers up a “strong, traditional” name like Adam or Michael. And whatever you do, steer clear of giving your new addition a girlie-sounding name: boys named Ashley, Shannon, Jamie and Courtney tend to have more behavior problems in middle school, according to Figlio’s 2006 study in Education Finance and Policy. They’re on the fast track for referral to special education, and they do worse on tests. Your email made it sound like you hadn’t given it any thought when research suggests you should be completely stressing out over your choice of name.ĭavid Figlio, an economics and education professor at Northwestern University who has researched the effect of names on children, made this ominous proclamation when I spoke with him last year about name selection. “Name your kids what you love, but be aware there are consequences.” Certain letter combos are more likely to be given by high-school-drop-out moms, for example, and Figlio found that teachers treat those kids differently. And though we dallied on the name choice - most people learn their baby’s gender during pregnancy and have a name picked out weeks before the due date - we had at least narrowed the options down to two or three choices. Orli means “my light,” and she has lived up to that promise in a big way. Nurses and orderlies nag you to pick a name before you leave, so paperwork for your baby’s birth certificate and Social Security number can be expedited. There’s a lot of pressure to decide on a name before being discharged. We wanted to meet her and see what name we thought suited her we ended up waiting two days, choosing “Orli” right before leaving the hospital. When my third child was born, my husband and I had yet to select a name. I understand not being able to settle on a name. ( MORE: Baby Name Game: How a Name Can Affect Your Child’s Future) Everyone’s going to have an opinion, and most of those opinions are going to be unbelievably bad, distracting you from the real work of figuring out what you want to call this little fella. That’s why asking for outside input is a recipe for a naming nightmare. It had better be something you and your husband really love, because you’ll be saying it a lot over the next few decades. If a name is the first gift you give your kid, it needs to have some serious staying power. It’s a big deal, one word that your son will carry with him forever. You should allot this decision at least as much consideration as went into hammering out your save-Yahoo plan. Here’s hoping you prepared that speech in advance.īut names are pretty important. (Nor have you given yourself much time in the maternity leave department.) In the first grueling weeks of motherhood, as most new moms are struggling just to feed and change their baby while simultaneously coping with serious sleep deprivation, you’re gearing up for your company’s third-quarter earnings call, where you’ll deliver an in-depth overview of your strategy for remaking Yahoo. What with assuming the helm of a struggling Internet behemoth, perhaps you just didn’t have time to come up with a baby name. “We are all very happy and excited,” you typed. Your son with husband Zack Bogue was born late Sunday and was nameless as of Monday when you sent that email announcing his birth and referring to the tyke as BBBB - Big Baby Boy Bogue. Here’s some for starters, in reference to your email dispatched to friends and family crowd-sourcing your baby boy’s name. You’re in for more than a little unsolicited advice.
It’s not every businesswoman’s baby who makes headline news. Follow Marissa Mayer! Congratulations on being at least 8 pounds, 14 ounces lighter today than you were at this time last week.