The majority of my friends have gotten married and have started families. With the exception of a few of them, most have given their children very normal and appealing names.

However, my best friend from high school spent the nine months of her pregnancy scouring books to find unique baby names. She was determined that her child would not have a name that anyone else would have. At first, I thought that was creative and wonderful, but soon she started naming some unique baby names that would make your head spin. I wont name any of them, but I believe that some of them were just letters that she took from the alphabet and threw them together.

• Baby worries dog Applegate
  
  BABY WORRIES DOG APPLEGATE
  


• Baby found in S.C. after being snatched in N.C.
  
  The baby was returned to his mother later Wednesday. Davis said Jalleel Xamir Howard was found around 2 a.m. Wednesday, about 15 hours after he was taken from his mothers car in a Monroe, N.C., doctors office parking lot. Lonnie Cecil Buchanan, 41, of Monroe has been charged with kidnapping and is being held in the Union County, N.
  


• Baby flamingos hatched at Busch Gardens
  
  Seven baby flamingos have hatched at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay and are now on display with the adults in the Bird Gardens area of the park.
  


• Baby bongo born Monday at Virginia Zoo
  
  A baby bongo was born at the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk on Monday.
  

Finally, in her quest for unique baby names, she did manage to choose a name that was unique but not too farfetched. She altered the spelling of it a tad and was more than happy with what shed invented. I think her husband was just relieved that she finally settled on one particular name. What is really ironic is that everyone, including my best friend, ended up giving their daughter a nickname anyway. Go figure.

As a psychiatric assistant, I get to meet some very interesting individuals. I get to meet people who didnt have to look very far to find unique baby names. One of my patients was a sweet little boy name Lemonjello. He pronounced it quite uniquely but when I questioned his mother on the spelling of his name and why she choose it, she simply said that when she was pregnant, she ate lots of lemon jello. Therefore, he was named Lemonjello. Talk about unique baby names. The poor child. I cant imagine putting a person through that for the rest of their life.

There is a certain amount of joy in finding unique baby names. But, keep in mind that this isnt something that can easily be changed. You arent the one who has to grow up and go through the school years with a name that can be mispronounced and mocked. Whats so horrible about some of the names that used to be so popular in past years that have faded out as time has moved forward?

Another one of my friends is a teacher. She named her two children very common names because she was constantly complaining about looking over her student lists at the beginning of each year and having more and more of a problem pronouncing names and figuring out what gender a particular name is. Why? Because parents are so adamant about finding unique baby names. No one stops to think about the issues that may arise when you are looking for unique baby names. Considering the fact that your child will have to go through his or her entire life with a name that you deemed unique, choose wisely. Perhaps you may want to toss aside the unique baby names books and find something a bit simpler.