Why do people say: "See what the baby looks like when he/she arrives" on baby name threads?

I don't agree with that advice much either. because my kids would be called shockingly tiny baby or yellow juandiced beanie or something if I'd done that.

Just decide, and your child will grow into the name.

Waiting until you see the person can backfire tbh.

My friend named her DD Isabella. She chose this name as when she saw her, it suited her perfectly. Strong name, for a little girl with very dark hair and darker complexion etc. if she had been a fair baby she wouldn't have been named Isabella. She told EVERYONE this story ad nauseum when her DD was born.

Fast forward 3 months, her DD's black hair has dropped out and she ends up the fairest, palest little blondie you've EVER seen.

TrillianAstra -- that explains a lot of names.

I think it means 'wait til you are overwhelmed with hormones and sleep deprivation and you will feel as if you are divinely inspired and be able to pick one easily'.

If one of mine had looked like a fannie I would have put her right back where she came from.

We had a shortlist and a probable name, but I was wavering because it called up a very particular image of a red-headed, 'Welsh-looking' child and I wasn't sure it would fit. When he arrived, he looked exactly like that image, so that was that, but if he'd been blond or dark or looked more like my non-Welsh OH, we'd have had to have a rethink.

Well my first DD had her name changed as she 'didn't suit it' although to be fair we had picked a boy name after being told at the scan we were having a boy and to be honest the lack of a penis when she was born meant it just wouldn't work.

Aw, thanks Sossiges !

Agree with hpoo too. I had a short list for both baies, but it really wasn't until I got to know them a bit that the names they were meant to have came to us. It isn't so much what they look like, but what they 'feel' like, the energy of a name. And how you feel when you say it and cuddle them.

Hammington Poo Excellent post!

HammingtonPoo I think that really sums it up for me and when people ask I do say we will decide when we see her as if I say I am not saying it starts a whole round of oh no, but you can me ect ect which I cant be bothered with!

We'd whittled the shortlist down to 2, maybe 3. The one I thought we'd go for didn't suit. I can't put my finger on why. But seeing her really did decide it.

I had a c-section, so baby came out all smooth and perfect looking, but also a whopping great red head - which indeed jinxed all our delicate girly names, she just needed something more robust!

NoodlesMam, Dd's father chucked Gaia into the mix but I didn't like it steered him away from it , Hannah was also a possibility, but we chose a completely different name for her.

Neither of my Dc's had the scrunched up or swollen look and neither did they look like Winston Churchill.

I named DD1 while I was high on diamorphine in labour. I didn't know the sex at that point but was laughing saying I'm having a girl and calling her Lauren, it was a girl and the name stuck. With DD2 we found out at 20wk scan that we were having a girl and had picked a few names. I really liked Gaia but it didn't go with our surname, we both liked Hannah and Eleanor but decided on Hannah. When DD2 was born, we did name her Hannah, we'd refered to her for so long as Hannah that it felt strange to change it but to be honest she didn't and still doesn't look or act like a Hannah, more like a Tilly or Millie I would say. I think you should give it a few days, let them un-scrunch and then decide!

Our DD was going to have Melanie (dark one) or Hazel as a middle name (both family names). She was white blonde. Just didn't suit them!

We hadn't really decided on a name for DS2 before he was born. All throughout the pregnancy, though, I kept dreaming of a very blond haired 2 year old named Andrew. I knew deep down if the baby was born with light coloured hair I'd name him Andrew Gregory.

As it turned out, he was born with very dark hair and DH named him Edmund Ian. He's two now, and it still suits him :)

I had a first and middle name selected for our DS1. When he was born he didn't suit the name - my DP and midwife shook their heads so we had a quick rethink and it was quick cos' another name jumped out to us both.

For DS2 we had a short list but again when he appeared he was nameless for the day whilst we tried to gins one suitable. To be honest I had days when unsure it was right for him when he was a baby. But as his personality comes through it suits him totally.

I don't think it's so much waiting to see what they look like, as waiting for that moment of reality when you actually have your new little bundle in front of you in the flesh. Sometimes all those fantastic names that you'd attached to your dream of a child were too fanciful or heavy or daring or dull when faced with the reality of your beautiful baby. If people are asking for opinions on Mumsnet between certain names then it's likely they don't have a preference so suggesting that they "wait to see what they look like" is a fair way of suggesting they keep their options open.

My DD would be called Goblin or Prune if I waited to name her.

I had chosen a girl's name but wanted to wait and see what she looked like before deciding. For some reason the name I chose didn't seem to suit a fair-haired girl, just a dark-haired one.

As it turned out he was a boy so wasn't a problem.

All I know is that when DS2 arrived he definately wasn't a Patrick. He just didn't fit a Patrick - there was no Patrickness there. We had an emergency re-think.