FAQ / Contact Us

• Q
• What are the sources for your name meanings and origins?
• A
• The names, meanings, origins and related names that we present are generally ascertained from more than one source and are commonly accepted (recognizing that some name origins are more disputed than others). If there are multiple reliable meanings, origins, related names, we try to state as many as possible.

  We use a variety of sources online, books and articles for our information. They range from etymology of names and words to baby naming sources, name sources, literature and cultural mythology. Some sources are old, some modern, some ethnic/language specific and some more general. If a name falls into a particular category, for example biblical, then we rely a bit more on sources more versed in that area.

  Although, we do not currently list which specific sources were used for each of the names, you may find similar information by searching similar sources. We will be including a list to our sources in a future release.

• Q
• Why does the meaning, origin, pronunciation listed differ from what I think it is?
• A
• The names, meanings, origins and related names that we present are generally ascertained from more than one source and are commonly accepted (recognizing that some name origins are more disputed than others). If there are multiple reliable origins, meanings, related names, we try to state as many as possible.

  Occasionally if a name has alternate spellings and more than one origin / meaning, we have not included all of the origin / meanings for each of the alternate spellings. Sometimes this was done in error, and sometimes because the name, from a particular origin, is rarely seen in a particular alternate spelling.

  If you have information regarding a name meaning, origin or pronunciation that you would like to share with us, please e-mail us at the contact listing at the bottom of this page.

  Our data is updated and re-checked on a periodic basis. Your information will be reviewed at that time.

• Q
• Why is the word "God" written in the name meanings as "G-d"?
• A
• The policy to use G-d and not spell out the word, was taken in order to present our information in a manner that was respectful to as many people as possible.

  Some religious people do not spell out the word in order to separate it from writing out any word or name, giving it greater reverence.

  Some feel if the word is written out to paper (or in this case printed or for those who apply the same beliefs to epages), and the paper is later defaced or destroyed, it is the same as taking the lords name in vain. For this reason, worn texts that contain God's name, are buried, rather than destroyed.

• Q
• Why is my child's nickname not mentioned in the name listing?
• A
• When initially compiling the name information presented on OurBabyNamer.com, we decided to only list nicknames that were commonly accepted and could be verified in more that one source. For example we may have listed Bob as a nickname for Robert but not I as a nickname for Eileen, although it is frequently used.

  Although this standard makes sense for name meanings, we have decided to relax it a bit for nicknames.

  Our data is updated and re-checked on a periodic basis and we hope to add many new nicknames.

  If you have nickname information that you would like to let us know about, please e-mail us at the contact listing at the bottom of this page.

• Q
• What is the source of your Baby Name Popularity data?
• A
• We get all of our U.S. name popularity data from the Social Security Administration.

  Although the SSA website only allows you to search for names in the top 1000, we provide search capabilites on all of the data which they provide in an easy to read format. The SSA provides data for all names with at least 5 occurrences.

• Q
• Why do you have 0 children listed as the number of children who were born with my child's name for the year in which they were born?
• A
• We get all of our U.S. name popularity data from the Social Security Administration. When providing the data, they have a disclaimer which we have included on the bottom of our popularity page.

  "United States name popularity data is provided by the Social Security Administration. All names are from Social Security card applications for births that occurred in the United States. Data for a given year is not made available until well into the next year. Data reflects what was recorded and has not been edited for errors, so for example the gender associated with a name may be incorrect. The more babies that are given a particular name, the higher the popularity ranking. If multiple names have the same usage, the tie is broken by assigning popularity rank in alphabetical order."

  It is possible that either, your child's statistic was recorded under the opposite gender or there were less than 5 births for their gender that were recorded with the name. To safeguard privacy, the SSA does not include names with less than 5 occurrences.

• Q
• You have 0 children listed as the number of children born with my child's name for the year in which they were born. Can you update your information to reflect my child's name?
• A
• We get all of our U.S. name popularity data from the Social Security Administration.

  For a number of reasons, we do not update our popularity information with data provided by our users.

• Q
• Can my child use their name in hieroglyphics in a school report?
• A
• A Further Distribution clause has been included in our Terms of Use policy in order to prevent the commercial use and profiting from our site content and to require crediting our site in certain non-commercial use situations.

  As long as your child’s intended use of information from this site is for personal use, you should feel free to let her use it. Although we do not require site credit for personal use, we always appreciate it.