Almost invariably, name-hunting parents are looking for something appealing but unique, Wattenberg said. That’s a tough standard, given that appealing names are generally popular by definition. As a result, baby name books have become thicker and thicker, with the record-holder currently swollen with 140,000 names. (The catch, Wattenberg said, is that these enormous name dictionaries usually count every possible spelling of a name separately, inflating their totals.) [The Name Game: Quiz Yourself on Popular Monikers]

The problem with this name explosion is that psychologists don’t necessarily find that having more choices is better. To explain this phenomenon, Swarthmore College researcher Barry Schwartz coined the term “the paradox of choice.” Schwartz’s research suggests that the more choices we have, the more stressful those choices become. And even if we make a perfectly serviceable choice, we’re more hampered by regret.

That’s what Wattenberg says she sees in advice-seeking parents with name remorse. Some are frustrated because their unique baby name keeps getting mispronounced. Others learn of some distressing association with the name after they chose it and stamped it on Baby, she said. But most parents she hears from simply feel that another choice on their top 10 list would have fit their baby better.