Waiting to see if baby looks like one name or another ??

[Violet5]

Just a quick question for anyone who might have found themselves in a similar position.
Both me and my husband are really undecided on what our sons name will be, he's due the 14th of this month. We have 3 or 4 names we both really like, Ben, James, Liam and Aiden. I think both our favourite has become James but i'm really put of by the fact a lot of people have said he'll get Jimmy and some of my elderly family have already refered to him as 'little Jimmy' which i really don't like. So i'm leaning towards Ben (Benjamin)although my husband still prefers James (and i still like it too).
As we can't decide we're thinking of waiting until he's actually born and trying to decide what name he looks like he suits then.
I don't know if it'll turn into a recipe for disater if we can't agree though.

Has anyone waited to see their baby first and felt they looked more like one name than another or do people not put much stock in that ?
Any thoughts apreciated

[meggy69]

for dd1 I just new that I wanted to call her Isabella it was a name I had loved since I was a child, I was just relieved when I mentioned it to my husband and he said he loved it too! With my darling son we also descided before the birth.

However dd2 was a bit different I loved the name Lola but my husband loved Felicity which I quite like but...
On the day of her birth, I was holding her in my arms about 10 minutes after she had been born and my husband said "she is definitely Lola" and she became Lola!

With this baby we have one name for a boy but two for a girl so will probably do the same again.

Also, in regards to James, this is my brother's name, I think it is a lovely name perfect at all ages. He has never ever been called anything other than James, apart from when he was very little my sister and I called him Jamesy.
Ben is lovely too.

[Violet5]

Thanks meggy

[CharlieBoo]

LOVE James....m brother is James and my dp is James....neither have ever been called anything different...its a complete classic name and suits all ages...much prefer it to your other names...

[Goingspare]

If I'd waited to see what DD1 looked like, she'd have been Alan, which is my dad's name. A friend had a name ready for her son, then decided he didn't look like a Henry and spent about 3 weeks waiting for 'Joshua' to emerge.

I know a few young Jameses, two of whom are called James and one Jim (which I like, but I agree about Jimmy).

There's no accounting for older relatives, whatever you do: my DD1's middle name is Catherine (goes well with Alan), and before DD2 arrived, MIL said, 'Well, as you've already used Catherine, I don't suppose I'll ever get my Katie' (er, whose Katie? ). You might just have to be firm.

[EmmieA]

James is James, I'd never call him Jimmy, can't think why anyone would. Lots of people have lots of associations with names, if they "change" his name to Jimmy, just politely correct them.

[Ooopsadaisy]

I think classic names like James or Benjamin suit anyone.

We did wait to look at the baby's face and see a bit of identity before we finally decided though on names, although we were pretty sure.

No-one should call a James "Jimmy" without consent. It's rude. I have a Joseph and it wasn't until he was calling himself Joe that everyone started to refer to him as that (including us).

[SaorAlba]

DF is called James and I have never heard him be called any shortened version of it. His name is James, not Jimmy or Jim.

[Woodlands]

We did that - we had a girl's name waiting but had a shortlist of 5 boys' names, with Thomas as the number one. When he was born he didn't really look like a Thomas and in fact we went for James. We're aiming for Jim or Jimmy as a nickname but in fact I think Jamie is the more common nickname these days.

[Violet5]

Thanks everyone goingspare know what you mean lol, i would have called my daughter Graham if i was waiting to see who she looked like so i see your point.
Maybe it's because i'm from the north east that i'm used to James being shortened to Jimmy (i live in the South West now) and maybe its more of a generation thing too as i grew up with all the James's i knew getting Jim or Jimmy for short but possibly it doesn't happen as much these days (or in diff parts of the country), as it seems that from the replies on here it doesn't really happen anymore .
Thankyou for replies.

[NinkyNonker]

We did, we has three names we loved equally but with a leaning towards one for various reasons...we decided when she appeared. The other 2 are in the pot for the future!

[SE13Mummy]

My DH is someone who has a habit of calling people by the name he thinks they look like...

So, when pregnant with DD1, we'd narrowed it down to three names and waited to see which one she looked like. I didn't want to give DD a name only to have he known as something completely unrelated. Apparently she looked more like a Harriet than a Bethany or Felicity.

The theory didn't hold for DD2; we knew that if I stayed pregnant she would look like her name because it was chosen for its meaning.

[verycherry]

DS3 was going to be Jack but when he was born he just did'nt look like a Jack - but he does have Jack as a middle name.

He became something we had not considered but it just suited him.

With DS4 we did'nt really discuss names until the night he was born, we thought we had better start thinking about names as he'd be with us soon and sure enough he was born 3 hours later.

His name completely came out of the blue, had never even thought of it before!

James is a lovely name, its DS4 middle name.

Good luck with it all, how exciting having a new baby for christmas. DS4 was born, practically under the christmas tree, on 30th dec last year ahhhh its so lovely and goes soooo quickly.

[Fennel]

Mine would all have been called Potatohead if we'd waited to see what they looked like.

[Violet5]

Thanks verycherry we can't wait, it's my eldest daughters birthday today, as schools are shut we've been out sledging this morning, although i could only watch and supervise this year

[thereisalightanditnevergoesout]

Hmm - DD1 looked a bit Mike Tyson and DS looked like Rickie Hatton!! Obviously I give birth to boxers!!

I don't think 'Mike' or 'Tyson' would suit our now very delicate and pretty 5 year old girl though!

[HappyAsASandboy]

We knew we were expecting a boy and a girl and picked out two names from our shortlist before the birth.

We the didn't tell anyone else these names while we were in hospital (2 days) to see if we'd got the names right. We had one of them right, but the other just didn't feel right after using it for 2 days, so we changed it

No regrets about the new name, or the one that didn't change

[MentalFloss]

I thought I knew absolutely what all my DC were going to be called before going into labour but only DS1 actually got that name (Albert).

DD1 was going to be Charlotte but she just didn't look like one she ended up as a Elizabeth. (after 3 days)

DS2 was going to be James but he was just so dark and broody that I had to go for Tristan because he just looked like a Tristan.

DD2 was going to be Viola because I really wanted a Shakespearian name but then the song on the radio when she was finally born (home birth) was Kissing You from Romeo + Juliet and I thought it was a sign so she became a Juliet.

[muminthemiddle]

Op completely agree with you about not liking Jimmy, that put me off James too. But I do agree with the poster who said if you always call him James then most people will too.

[MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic]

Not quite the same, but we changed DDs name after she was born because we didn't think it suited her (it made sense at the time!) She was Sofia from the 20wk scan right up until we actually saw her, and then I we decided it just didn't work (my sister got the call that I'd had her, and then did the ring round telling everyone 'Sofia' had been born, not knowing we'd nixed it - we got a few cards with that name ) DD had no name for a day or so whilst we came up with something that would suit her. Sometimes it's best to keep a bit of flexibility in your choices!