Maybe you’ve had your baby’s name picked out since that adorably grainy sonogram popped up during your very first ultrasound. If so, congrats! And if your partner liked it too, then you pretty much won the naming jackpot. Because for a lot of us, choosing the name our child will be known by for the entirety of their life can be a daunting endeavor full of doubt, indecision, and endless lists. If you’re in the latter camp, here are a few helpful ways to get those creative juices flowing, put your top picks to the test, and make sure you end up with just the right name without losing too much sleep over it.

Mine your family heritage.

Parent and grandparent names are an obvious choice, but you can go higher up on your family tree for inspiration too. Maybe an aunt several generations back had a name you love today; perhaps there’s a surname somewhere in your lineage that would actually make a great first name too; or maybe a distant relative had a nickname that would make a perfect middle.

Honor your cultural roots.

If you don’t want a familial name, but still want to pay homage to your roots, exploring cultural names can open up a whole new world, whether that’s looking at classic names from your family’s home country, choosing words you like from that country’s language, or even scouting popular figures—artists, writers, revolutionaries—that played a role in your culture’s history.

Get creative.

Having trouble choosing between a few names? Try creating a portmanteau, or play around with hyphenation. 

Try it on for size.

A first name doesn’t stand alone. Make sure you consider your top picks with middle and last names, as well as existing sibling names, possible nicknames, and the initials as well.

Check its popularity.

Just because a name is popular, doesn’t mean you won’t want to use it. But you should at least know what you’re getting into. You may have a chosen name you think is completely unique, but there may be hundreds or thousands of other people out there thinking the exact same thing. Google the name’s popularity, see where it falls, and make sure you’re ok with it.  

Don’t share it, unless you actually want feedback.

If you have a name you love, you may want to think twice about making it known before baby’s born, simply because everyone will offer their two cents, and they won’t always be favorable. But running your top pick by your inner circle of nearest and dearest can help give you a little much-needed perspective.   

Be willing to compromise.

Most likely there are two of you choosing a baby name, and hopefully neither of you wants to strong-arm the other into accepting a hated moniker. That might mean giving up your very first choice, but it will be worth it in the long run.  

Don’t stress.

The more you overthink it the harder it will be to commit! Choosing a baby name can be lots of fun if you can let yourself relax and enjoy the process.

To get you started, here were the most popular names last year in the United States: