Always a delicate situation, naming a child can become downright volatile if both parents hail from different cultures and want their child's name to represent their heritage. Add in-laws into the mix and naming a child can look more like a clash between two warring factions than a time of joy.

Karen Romine, a licensed marriage and family therapist in Santa Monica, Calif., says it is normal for emotions to run high during periods of change. "Big occasions like weddings and births give people nostalgia about where they came from and gratitude for all that came before, because it has brought them to this blessed experience," Romine says. "Also, it's around these occasions that we have the most tradition and ritual – long, intergenerational patterns of honoring the big picture."

Subconsciously, rituals that have been performed across generations are extremely powerful, even when we don't realize it, Romine says. "When I work with engaged couples preparing for their wedding, they are feeling pulled in a million different directions, but it's more than just being busy and having so much to do and so many people watching," she says. "It's the pulls of tradition that add an intensity, amplify everything, and just my saying so gives them a lot of relief."

Naming a child is very similar. It's something everyone's ancestor has done, and so there's a strong pull of ritual and tradition to pay homage to that which came before.

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