Can't shake name regret of my 4 year old

Fwiw I much prefer Lily to Thea or Alice.
I really don’t think you can change it now.

@2bazookas, I LOVE this story! Great to have that insight into the mind of a child.

I think it’s a really pretty name. I’ve also never met a real life Lily! She’s likely to meet fewer and fewer as she goes through life, so try not to worry about it just because it’s popular. It’s popular because it’s so lovely.

I chose a name for my stillborn that I'd only registered hearing twice in the past 35 years. Not an unknown name, but certainly not popular. After that I hear it everywhere. I looked it up and the name isn't more popular, even declining in popularity but I guess that I register it now when I hear it.

OP I thought this was going to be something much worse.

Sure, Lily is a very popular name but it's still nice. What makes someone bland or boring is their personality, not their name. The good thing about having a very popular name is that it doesn't say anything about you. If you're a boy called Jaxson then teachers will groan inwardly and assume you are likely to be a delinquent who may end up in jail. If you're a girl called Grace who turns out to be six foot tall and heavy, with huge feet that she's always tripping over, that's going to be unfortunate. If you're called Tiffany or Harper-Rae and you want to be a brain surgeon or a judge then you're going to struggle to be taken seriously. If you're called Colin and you decide you want to be a rock star, well, you will either have to change your name like Sting or style it out like Keith Richards.

Lily is a fine name which will not cause her any embarrassment in life. If she wants to stand out from the crowd she will find other ways. (Hopefully for good reasons rather than bad ones.)

My second name is Lily and I love it! It has the meaning of purity. My first name is very uncommon and often people have a hard time remembering it, I like it and wouldn't change it, but I think having an easy to remember name can have its advantages. Its a beautiful name and nothing to be ashamed of.

It’s her name, not yours and she loves it. That’s all you need to know. As long as she loves it, you have done well.

My son has a very unusual name (although biblical and not weird, I don't think!) and one of the reasons I don't love it anymore is because it is so unusual. People always ask twice and make a comment about it. He is likely to be the only one at his school and I worry he might be teased. So we all worry about something! I gave my younger daughter a far more popular name and I really love it but have already met several others and she is only 2.

Lily is very pretty and it's her name now.

Beautiful name. Don't change it. Is it even possible to change a childs name anyway?

@Whatsyourflava 🤣🤣💓

@thankyougoodbye your comment about a few bevvies really made me laugh 🤣 (not because it’s a silly thing to say, more because it’s probably true). My 4yo would have been livid if I suddenly changed his name out the blue - it’s not going to go unnoticed at that age (I know OP appreciates this already) x

Lily is a lovely name. Doesn't a lot of people think that they could've called their name something else. Age 4 is too old, 4 months yes but I would try and remember why you loved it.

It's a great name. It doesn't matter if others share it. My DS has a top 3 name (after his great grandad) and has yet to be in a school year of giant primaries or secondaries with another.

Lily is such a lovely name. The poster who said you can change it at age 4 probably has had a few bevvies at this stage.

OP I understand completely- during lockdown I have been obsessing over things too so have taken to painting, planting, anything to occupy my mind! In the kindest of ways - let this go it really is a lovely elegant name. I only know one - my niece- who I don't see that often but is a darling child.

I don’t think it’s bland at all. It’s a beautiful, elegant, classic name. She’s not going to have people roll their eyes, or take the mick or get confused over how to spell it. Names like this are popular because they’re lovely. Some kids absolutely love sharing their names with others in their class. The main point here is that your daughter likes her name, she’s really one who has to live with it most so I think that’s the most important endorsement you can get.

And as above..... at least you won’t be looking back in a few years and regretting calling her Khaleesi, as I’m sure some people will!

1. Everyone can spell it - no worries about hyphens etc.
2. Everyone can clearly hear it and know what name it is meant to be
3. Everyone can read it and say it correctly.

On my first day at school I was absolutely gobsmacked to hear the register called and realise another girl in the class shared my name. She was equally amazed; we had both thought we were unique and just could not believe this amazing coincidence . The other one thought we might be twins. To test this out she got her mother to invite me to tea one day after school; We went up to her bedroom and changed into each others clothes than asked her mother if she knew which was which.She did, but wouldn't tell us how she knew. When my father came to collect me , he could tell us apart too.

The next day at school she told me she'd found out how they could tell us apart; her eyes were brown and mine were blue.

She was my best friend for the rest of primary school.

Lily is a lovely name - classic, classy, suitable for a little girl and a sophisticated woman. I know THOUSANDS of kids and only one Lily. This feeling will pass 💕

If it makes you feel any better OP, my DD is the same age and I haven't heard the name Lily among any of her peers, throughout her whole life (NCT/baby groups/nurseries).

I regret my own DD's name a little, not because I don't like it, but it was my close second choice because DH vetoed my favourite. Wish I'd overruled him but hey ho, and she does suit it! As I'm sure your daughter suits Lily 😊

Give her your own nickname - schools usually ask what the given name is and the preferred name.

You could always say it's Lily, short for Tiger-Lily. ;)

OP, it really is a lovely name, please don't mess about with it. I'm sure she's a super little person.

For a pp. A colleague and his wife have recently had a baby. Isaac. I had never particularly liked the name, but when he said that's what they had called the baby, it sounded such a nice name.

luckily, there were no other solid options.

How can there be no other solid options when it comes to a name? Houses maybe, or jobs or living arrangements. But names?

I love Lily

Lily is beautiful and a name I really wish I gave to my dd - someone I know had a girl called lily a few years after I had dd and I realised instantly I massively preferred the name. I therefore also have a fair amount of name regret too. My dd really wants to be called Lola atm. I wanted another name as a child and I’m so glad that isn’t my name these days. So even if you’d have called your dd something else, she possibly wouldn’t like it. I don’t like my name either. It’s just a fact of life. And if your dd really hates it enough when she is older, she can change it or go by her middle name.