Dateline Boston — The family I nanny for is expecting. Whenever I hear that someone is pregnant, I start thinking about baby names. What an important decision to make! I love thinking about names.

I always hated my name growing up. Alex. All throughout my elementary school years I heard, “That’s a boy’s name!” Or people thought I was saying my name was Alice. When someone asked me my name, I started saying, “Alex, with an X.” Now, in professional settings, I call myself by my full name, Alexandra, so people will know I’m a woman. Such are the trials and tribulations of having a unisex name.

The last time I named something was a couple of years ago. We got two kittens, a boy and a girl. Many years ago, when I had male and female kittens, I named them Samson and Delilah. I found out after the fact that the original Samson and Delilah were lovers and not brother and sister. Whoops.

This time around was easier. We named our kittens after the creators of our favorite TV show, The Amazing Race. Our boy would be Bertram (Van Munster),and our girl would be Elise (Doganieri). Even though we chose their names long before we met them, I can’t imagine them being called anything else. Bertram sounds big, and boy, is he. Elise has a wispy sound, and she is indeed a delicate flower.

Now my charge is going to have a brother. I asked what the parameters were for a name, and was told it had to be Jewish, preferably from the Old Testament. My search was made easy with the help of the internet, which I didn’t have access to when I named Samson and Delilah. I came across some great names. Ezekiel is cool, but that’s the dog’s name. Lev? That’s the cat’s name. Gideon? Already in the family. Jeremiah? He was a bullfrog.

And then I found it. A name that was cool, rolled off the tongue, and unique, one I had never heard before. Naftali. I texted the parents and told them it had been decided. They laughed politely. I don’t think I’m going to get my wish.

I’ve grown to love my names, both Alex and Alexandra. Yesterday I heard someone call her daughter Alexandra. I turned to the girl and her mom and said that that was my name too, and that there was a woman who worked at the CVS across the street also named Alexandra. The girl smiled. It felt really cool that there were three of us in such a small area.

Choosing a name is a big deal. Most of the time, it works out. If it doesn’t, change it!

Ms. Vaillancourt may be contacted at snobbyblog@gmail.com