I write articles about baby names, blog about baby names, give advice about baby names... in other words, I think about baby names quite a bit every day. So when I went on vacation to St. Croix several years ago, my aim was to take a break and intentionally not think about names for a bit.

But when I looked at maps, I saw locations like Christiansted, Frederiksted, Anna's Hope Village and Judith's Fancy.

Two of the beaches we visited were Isaac's Bay and Jack's Bay. As we walked around town, we spotted buildings like the Althalie McFarlane Pederson Library and the Ingeborg Nesbitt Clinic. We also toured the (very pretty) St. George Village Botanical Garden.

We met tour guides named Brice and Wendy, shopkeepers named Bittan and Nicole, and other locals named Amarylis, Barry, Lymuel and Whittier.

Skimming through a Virgin Islands real estate guide, I noticed agent names like Eldon, Fortunata, Honnie, Lad, Lauritz, Mucki, Roland and Rupertha.

I wasn't focused on finding new names, but I still ended up serendipitously discovering really interesting names all around me.

So if you're stumped for a name, I suggest taking a vacation. Not a literal vacation, of course, but a vacation from your baby name search.

Stop thinking about baby names for a week or two. Instead, do something you find relaxing and enjoyable. Read a book; ride a bike; go shopping downtown.

As you're doing these fun things, you'll come across character names, street sign names, names written into graffiti... and maybe, by not searching, you'll happen to come across the very name you've been searching for this whole time.