Start with what matters to your family
A family connection, a word you love, or a sound you keep coming back to can all be good starting points. You do not need a dramatic origin story. Write down three things you want from a name before building a long list: perhaps easy spelling, a particular language, or a connection to a relative.
Say the whole name, not just the favourite part
Try the given name with any second given name and the family name. Say it slowly, as a teacher might read it, and casually, as a friend might call it. Check the initials and decide which everyday spelling you actually prefer. A compound given name is different from the middle-name field on a Philippine document.
Use evidence without letting rankings choose for you
The PSA list tells you about registered births in a particular year. It cannot tell you whether a name suits your child, how many people of all ages use it, or whether a spelling missing from the top ten is rare. On this site, a dictionary word is labelled as inspiration when we have word evidence rather than proof of naming frequency.
Make a small shortlist, then live with it
Save a handful of choices and compare the parts you can verify. Give the list a few days. Ask speakers of the language about sounds and connotations before borrowing a word you do not know well. Your child will make the name their own; a name does not predict a personality or determine a future.