I second the emotion on "Jack"... or "John"... or anything that's a relatively common, short, and solid name. Look, everybody wants their child to be "different" and "unique" and "original." It's only natural to feel that, if you pick a name that nobody else has thought of or that honors some hero or yore from great literature or religious glory or whatever that you'll look like a great parent and the kid will look like a leader among the common lot. But here are the facts: if you give your kid a different name, he won't feel unique... he'll feel weird. It's very, very important for kids to feel like they fit in with their friends growing up. They place very high stake in it. And giving them a different name doesn't build character, it builds insecurity. Anybody who tells you otherwise just forgets what it's like to be a kid. Read the bestseller "Freakonomics." In a chapter about naming, the guy has done research into the adult lives of kids who grew up weirdly named. And by and large, they were less successful in their careers, members of a lower income group, and reported greater unhappiness in general. New parents always say, "Yeah, but I don't want him to have the same name as a million other kids in his class..." And that's unfortunate. Because that's EXACTLY the kind of name your kid wants to have. Just a thought. Congrats on the baby! If this is your first, it will be a miracle you never imagined. And a new kind of love that will constantly catch you off guard.

A good strong name.

Lots of smart, astute guys are named Jack. I think that hearing a name over and over again has an effect on a child's personality. Nothing against Mike's - some of my best friends are Mike's, and my Confirmation name is Michael - but every one out there seems to have a few screws loose.

I think Jack is just a great, quintessentially, all-american boy name. Its simple yet strong but has been steadily popular for the last few years. A good site to see the popularity progression over the years is "Baby Name Wizard's Name Voyager". When I had my son a year ago, we used this.

Boring.

My wife and I had a big debate about this name. I feel that Jack is a nickname for John, and that if she wanted to call him Jack then he should be named John. However, she noted that Jack is actually more popular of a given name than John right now, so it is a legit name on its own. However, Jack has entered the top 10 list of baby names, so this kid would probably be stuck with several other Jacks in his class. Overall though this isn't an awful name.