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Original poster

Please help...changing DD name

108 replies

rubyred84 · 04/07/2018 05:31

I'm so conflicted over what to do about my daughter's name. She is 8 days old, and we called her Bryony. It wasn't an easy decision...we spent months looking for a name that we loved as much as her sisters name (Imogen), and thought we had decided on Ottilie (nn Ottie). We announced it via text to family when she was born, and the responses we got were "wow, never heard of that before". Literally nothing else. I spoke to my mum and asked her what she thought, she said it was a name she had never heard of and just thought we were setting the baby up for a lifetime of explaining her name, spelling it etc. Also, she hinted it was a bit pretentious. So, after a few days we decided on Bryony, and this is what we have "announced" her as. Cards etc are arriving with this name on.

But I'm now not so sure. It was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to give her a name. I just don't feel it's a pretty/beautiful name anymore, and I don't know if it goes with Imogen. But I am used to calling her it now (for a few days i called her Ottilie by accident).

I would love others thoughts. Do you think Bryony goes with Imogen? Is Ottilie really that pretentious? Should we have stuck to our guns and gone with Ottilie? Does Ottilie even go with Imogen? Is Bryony a "pretty" name in your opinion?

I was due to register her tkmorrow but ive cancelled for now as we have time. I feel like I need to go back to the drawing board for a bit to make sure we are certain on her name.

Others that have come to mind that are prettier and match Imogen are Phoebe, Freya (a bit of an issue as DH has a close-ish friend who's daughter is called this), Clara....

Im still sad at our family's reaction to our first name announcement...we werent asking fir their opinions, it was the proper announement! So now I'm totally unsure of myself and what to do.

I'm just a bit lost and would really appreciate some help.

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noitsachicken · 04/07/2018 05:47

Don't change it just based on other people's reactions, she is yours, they have had their baby naming days.
We had a few raised eyebrows about DS2 name, normal name, slightly less usual abbreviation, inlaws said they would use full name and a couple of times used a different abbreviation, we corrected them everytime, it's his name now, everyone is used to it

RicStar · 04/07/2018 05:45

I think they are both nice - briar is a lovely nn for bryony while I think ottilie is so cute and not at all pretentious (?) Less keen on ottie. I don't really understand the names going together for siblings thing but I think Imogen can definitely have either. You have time to work it out.

StoatOfManyColours · 04/07/2018 05:45

I love Imogen and Ottilie, and am slightly less keen on Bryony. IMO it works fine with Imogen, but that’s less important than whether you like it. Do you like Elodie?

haverhill · 04/07/2018 05:44

I teach an Ottilie and a Bryony, both lovely kids. I like both names; Ottilie is more unusual but not out there. Bryony makes me think of briar and I like nature names.
As to your family, I think they were insensitive. Personally I wouldn’t change back now but if you feel in your gut that you want to, do it now while she’s tiny. And ignore any comments, how rude!

nosleepnosense · 04/07/2018 05:44

Ottilie is lovely, gaining popularity so I'm surprised ppl haven't heard of it. Go with the name you love.

We named dc2 something I thought was fairly unusual but I love it. At 5 months I'm still having ppl look confused, asking me to spell it, politely saying 'oh.... Where's that from?' which I wasn't anticipating. Not sure of our family's honest thoughts but they haven't been negative! I did think about changing it so I didn't saddle dc with a lifetime of this but I think ppl tend to ask the mum of a newborn baby about the name more than they would a grown child/person.

Ploppymoodypants · 04/07/2018 05:43

Ottilie is lovely. I think among certain generation the name is unusual but it’s quite well known for babies now. I think your family were being a bit thoughtless. Bryony is perfectly nice and whether or not it goes with Imogen (lovely name) doesn’t matter, but it’s sounds fine.

However if you love Ottilie then just change it. It’s a great name and she won’t be spelling it for ever. These days babies are called all sorts of things. Our parents generation seemed to name everyone claire, or Louise in the early 1980’s but these days people are more adventurous so everyone is used to less usual names.

noitsachicken · 04/07/2018 05:41

I have a Bryony, I love it, also had Imogen on our list, I think they go together well.
Surprised people have not heard of it, it's not that unusual, and is the name of a climbing plant.

Candyflip · 04/07/2018 05:39

I prefer Ottilie, I am really surprised no one has heard of it as it is pretty popular.

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