Many people choose to put their mothers' names inside of some kind of design; perhaps a rose or another flower or an object such as a dagger or a halo. Most people place a band in the center of the design and have the tattoo artist write their mother's name on the band. Instead of using a common design, choose a design that reflects your heritage or your mother's heritage. If your mother is Celtic, for example, you could use as your background design a Celtic knot or an Irish claddagh. You could then ask the tattoo artist to write your mother's name inside the knot or claddagh. If you are Jewish, you could write her name inside of a Jewish star.
In order to augment your mother's name with an appropriate, yet creative design, you could try using an image of something that reminds you of your mother. That design could be related to her job or to a hobby of hers. For example, if your mother is a librarian or loves to read, you could ask the tattoo artist to place her name either in the cover of a book or as the title of a book. You could make the title something simple like "The Story of Eileen," or something to that effect. If your mother works with computers or spends a lot of time on the Internet, her name could appear on a computer screen.
In order to differentiate yourself from most people with mom tattoos, and still create a tattoo with meaning, you could try to recreate a moment or an event that you shared with your mother. Perhaps you went on a trip somewhere that was a favorite event in your childhood. You could have the tattoo artist write her name inside of the flag of that city or country. Or perhaps you could bring the tattoo artist a photograph from either that time or another significant moment and have the artist recreate that photograph on your skin.
If English is not your mother's native language, then you could ask the tattoo artist to write her name in her original language. You will probably have to bring the tattoo artist a photo of what your mother's name looks like in that language. Alternatively, you could ask for tattoos of both of your names in your mother's native language. You could also have your mother's name written both in her native language and in English.