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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Baby name regret - Isla or Eden?

60 replies

GingeGee · 08/06/2022 12:55

Following advise from another thread I made!

Long back story but I'll try and make it short and sweet. My daughter is 4 months old, I missed the majority of just over the first month of her life due to being hospitalised with Sepsis from the birth. Obviously due to the deadline she was named what my partner wanted her to be named rather than Eden that we'd agreed on before she was born, I went along with it at the time but since getting better I realise I still am not the biggest fan of Isla, its not remotely like the name we had planned and I'm struggling for nicknames, so here I am.

I've thought long and hard about this since around her being 6 weeks old when I finally started to get my bearings. I know the process of changing the name. I'm also aware of the possibility of PND but I genuinely don't believe that's it, I've seeked help regardless and I am currently having therapy sessions but this is still niggling me.

So it would be very much appreciated from some non-biased people what there opinions of the names are? But also it would be even more appreciated if I could hear people's stories or if you know of people who have changed there's child name and what life is like after the change? Did you feel better or did you regret bothering changing it?

OP posts:
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GingeGee · 08/06/2022 14:01

@ouch321 I never thought of that. Funnily enough though me and my partner both have religious names but we're both atheists.

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GingeGee · 08/06/2022 13:59

@Awwlookatmybabyspider same! don't get me wrong Isla is pretty sounding but so are so many other names. I think if it wasn't so popular I might've been able to sell it to myself more and feel better about it.

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Nap1983 · 08/06/2022 13:58

Sorry you’ve had such a tough start to motherhood. I love the name Isla, Eden is lovely too although much less popular.

TropicalBlueberries · 08/06/2022 13:56

How unfair this whole situation has been on you.

Why did your DH take it on himself to make that change?

Both names are beautiful. Both bring to my mind a very beautiful intelligent caring person, with strong personality.

ouch321 · 08/06/2022 13:55

Don't like Eden myself.

Strong religious connotations with wicked Eve in the garden blah blah blah.

Isla is nice.

GingeGee · 08/06/2022 13:54

@SummerInSun I think that's exactly it, because there's so many factors I'm struggling to untangle it all to work out what's for the best.

He did say that she looked like an Isla after the birth, and I think hormones, drugs, exhaustion I went along with it to see how I felt not realising that the pain and illness I was going through wasn't normal and then the period I was planning to see how I felt I missed completely. I had to learn to get used to it once she'd already been registered and even though I did get used to it I can't help wishing she'd have been called Eden. I think that's one of the factors that I liked about it, because it isn't overly used and I think that's what puts me off Isla is seeing that it is so popular and to me she's now my one and only so it seems even more fitting.

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Awwlookatmybabyspider · 08/06/2022 13:51

Eden is gorgeous. Its so delicate and gentle sounding. I really don't get the hype with Isla.

GingeGee · 08/06/2022 13:40

Thank you for that @SycamoreTall that's really kind of you!

I was at the registration, but I'd only been discharged I think a week before, so I still wasn't well. Wrapping my head round being a first time mum and trying to get my body and bearings in order I think was all that was on my mind, its all a big blur from birth to about a month after being discharged.

I guess my biggest worry is that since everyone around me including my partner is content with the name Isla, I just don't want or hope that my LO begins to wish or prefer that I'd have kept her original name once she's older or feel embarrassed of me for messing around with her name. So I think I'm seeking reassurance of some sort from other mothers that I'm not the only one who thinks Eden is preferred over Isla.

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SummerInSun · 08/06/2022 13:36

Really tough one. Must be hard to disentangle how you feel about the names from your grief at missing those early weeks of your daughter's life. And if you and your DH had agreed a name before birth, it was outrageous of him to change it when you weren't able to be involved. Changing the name won't change that or give you those weeks back.

As you ask, I prefer Isla as I've never heard of Eden as a name, and it might be easier for your daughter later in life for that reason. BUT - it doesn't matter which I prefer, or which any other stranger on the internet prefers. It matters whether you feel the name is a nice fit for your daughter. I have massive name regret with my second DS, because his name is too popular and doesn't work well with our surname. But he just is that name to me now - I couldn't imagine him with a different name. So although I wish we'd picked differently at the start, I wouldn't dream of changing it now. Doesn't sound like you feel that way, though.

SycamoreTall · 08/06/2022 12:59

That sounds so difficult, I'm sorry you went through all that.

The key thing for me is not the names themselves but the fact that you missed the registration because you were so ill, and you feel like your voice wasn't heard. That's enough to definitely change it, for me. No one will think it's strange.

So, I don't want to give an opinion on the names themselves. They are both fine.

Maybe keep Isla as a middle name if you want, but don't feel you have to.

All the best to you.