By Belinda Goldsmith
Thu Mar 20, 8:31 PM ET

CANBERRA -
Actress Halle Berry’s decision
to call her daughter Nahla had some people perplexed, but baby
experts said it mirrored a trend for unusual names which has
helped create a new profession — baby name consultant.

Many parents have moved away from giving their children
family or unisex names and want their youngsters to have names
that stand out from the crowd — but not in a bad way.

An online survey by specialist Web site Babycenter.com
found 15 percent of parents think the name you give a child
plays a role in their success in life, so it is not a decision
taken lightly — and this has made people seek outside help.

“It used to be more common to choose from family names or
names from the bible, but today’s parents have so many more
choices and many of them are overwhelmed,” said Linda Murray,
editor-in-chief of babycenter.com.

“It can be very stressful. It’s the first big public
parenting decision you make. People want extra help so
consultants have cropped up in the last few years to provide
this service, people who know about the origins of names.” (read more)