When giving your child something as important as a name, you want to make sure it is one that will make an impression. The name you bestow upon your child will be with him or her for life, and it is possibly the best you can ever give your child. If you want to raise a powerful child with leadership qualities, perhaps you might be inspired to name your child after one of Hollywood's most powerful people or one of the most influential people in politics. Check out our list of powerful baby names for your baby boy or baby girl.

Powerful American Leaders

This year marked a major milestone in political history with the election of Barack Obama and his pick for vice president, Joe Biden, the senator from Delaware. The 2008 election sparked feelings of passion in democrats and republicans alike all across the country. If you are planning on raising a future politician, look to Barack's cabinet selection for some names of power. Obama named Tom Daschle as his health and human services secretary and Tom Vilsack as agriculture secretary. Tom is also a popular name of power among the Hollywood set; in 2006 Tom Cruise was No. 1 on Forbes.com's The Celebrity 100, which listed the 100 most powerful names in business.

Janet might be a name to consider for a future female politician. Arizona's governor Janet Napolitano was chosen by Barack as secretary of the Homeland Security Department. Another important female to join Barack's team is his one-time competitor for the democratic ticket, Hillary Rodham Clinton. Barack named her as his secretary of state.

Other important nominations include Timothy Geithner as treasury secretary; Eric Holder, attorney general; Robert Gates, defense secretary; James Jones, national security adviser; Peter Orszag, office of management and budget director; and Shaun Donovan, housing and urban development secretary.

Powerful Celebrity Names

Politicians aren't the only people whose names hold influential and powerful names. The Forbes.com Celebrity 100 list also included some powerful names including: Oprah Winfrey (No. 3), Tiger Woods (No. 5), Bruce Springsteen (No. 11), Paul McCartney (No. 14), Celine Dion (No. 24), Jennifer Aniston (No. 35), Angelina Jolie (No. 36), Jessica Simpson (No. 44), Will Smith (No. 49), Halle Berry (No. 65), Reese Witherspoon (No. 75), Diane Sawyer (No. 78), Wolfgang Puck (No. 89), Mario Batali (No. 97), and Ty Pennington (No. 100).

Powerful Baby Names

If you would rather not take a chance that your child will follow in the footsteps of the powerful person that you named him or her after, perhaps you might be inspired to give him or her a name that means power or strength. Here are a few options:

For powerful baby boy names, consider the following: Ualan, of Scottish origin, means strength and valor. Ulrich, or French and German origin, (or the spelling of Old English origin, Ulric) means powerful and prosperous. In Hindu, Balavan means powerful and Bala, which can also be used for a girl's name, means young strength. Kaapro, of Finnish origin, means strength of God; and Kaimana is Hawaiian for ocean power. Federico, in Italian, means peaceful and powerful ruler, and Folant is Welsh for strength and valor. Tillman is German for mighty, powerful man.

Names meaning power and strength can just as easily be bestowed upon little girls, of course. Here are a few ideas for powerful baby girl names: Adosinda means great, powerful, hasty and excellent in German; and Apolline is French for strength. Brielle is a feminine Modern English name meaning strength of God; and Brienah and Brienna both mean noble and strong in Modern English. Gabriel is French for strength of God; and Gabriela has the same meaning in Portuguese. Nidra is Hindu for powerful goddess; and Naja is African for stoic and strong.

When considering a name of power, take a look at this list. You'll surely be inspired by these names of power in Washington and beyond, as well as names meaning "power" and "strength."

Read More:

Names with Characteristic Meanings

All-American Baby Names

Fashionable Baby Names

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed