Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Baby names

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

What were your babies almost named?

132 replies

Horizonhopper2021 · 15/03/2024 16:49

I have 3 children and I love their names, and now I look back at what I almost called them and I don't think I'd of still liked some of the names now; anyone the same?

my first a little boy would have been either:

Ollie- still love it.

Ronnie- he'd have suited it. And love it still!

Herbie- this was actually my favourite at the time and now I can't quite believe it. Not my taste anymore

if he was a girl he'd have been Polly or Fluer

both I still like, but wouldn't use now.

my daughter came next, and for her we loved

Elora- still love it

Elowen- it's beautiful but wouldn't have suited her I don't think

Edie- I'll never get over my partner hating this name I think it's beautiful 💔

and boys we had Finn, Ozzy and Arlo as front runners

my third and final baby had her name before she was even conceived, but we did toy with the idea of

Izzie- which I like but I'm glad we didn't pick it

and Honey- which I will always love i think and would have suited her she has beautiful golden hair

if she was a boy I wanted Hugo which I stand by, lovely IMO

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
PadstowGirl · 09/06/2024 22:49

Nancy
Nicolas
Dominic

Noseybookworm · 09/06/2024 18:57

When I was expecting 3rd baby, I already had two boys and had convinced myself that this one was definitely a girl! So planned on calling 'her' Poppy. Of course, we had another boy and no name for the first few weeks of his life 😂 eventually settled on Aidan which I still love ❤️ went on to have 2 more boys so never got to use Poppy!

NetMum2 · 07/06/2024 09:53

DS1 was almost Max which my husband really wanted. Thankfully he didn’t look like a Max when he arrived as it doesn’t go very well with our surname!

DS2 we also liked Edward but he didn’t look like an Edward. Saying that, I’m not so sure he looks like his actual name either. I think he looks like a Matthew or James but there’s already both in the family.

AutumnOcean · 06/06/2024 14:10

DS would've been Helena (we found what we were having at the birth).
DD was almost Xanthe (we knew we were having a girl).
Love the actual names we gave them.

Crokepark · 06/06/2024 13:53

DD 1 would have been Shay, Conchubhar, Arthur or Hugh if she'd been a boy.
Alternatively we were thinking Áine or Nora.
DD2 same if she'd been a boy or Réaltín or Áine.

feellikeanalien · 05/06/2024 20:37

DD was almost Rhiannon. We were listening to a lot of Fleetwood Mac at the time!!

Cometcouple · 05/06/2024 20:14

With ds1 if he was a girl he would have been Niamh.

By the time I had ds2 I liked Alice.

Other potential names were Sam/Finlay/Elliot/Alexandra/Cora

Artemis6 · 05/06/2024 11:35

DD was almost a Liberty or an Alexa 😭 both were DH’s ideas.

TwirlBar · 03/06/2024 12:47

Lear is pronounced Lar in modern Irish by the way.

TwirlBar · 03/06/2024 12:36

Medbh is just a more traditional spelling for Maeve which is everywhere on MN at the minute.
Naoise = nee-sha
Lir = Leer
Iarla = eer-la

Lir isn't Leer, it rhymes with fir.

Although
The English translation should properly be "The Children of Lear", Lir being a genitive, but the mistranslation has become culturally embedded (Wikipedia).

CosmicBlip · 03/06/2024 10:19

Re the African/West Indies and Irish exchange: Don't assume malice where there's only ignorance. Not every mistake is motivated by malice, and a good scolding isn't always the solution. I've seen the same thing happen in reverse - someone posts an African name and others assume it's satire then gets piled on. It's normal to be unfamiliar with a culture, even a neighbour. Proximity doesn't guarantee familiarity. Sometimes, it's just a genuine misunderstanding. The perils of online discourse and assumption-based attacks!

ClaireK93 · 03/06/2024 05:03

Emma for girl.

Lucy Long Socks · 03/06/2024 04:53

My bike mad dad wanted to call me Suzuki!. Thank goodness for my mum.

StiggyZardust · 03/06/2024 02:33

Lucas, Felix, Matilda, Claudia

IAmNotASheep · 03/06/2024 02:01

My dh wanted to name ours after roads and places his favourites were

Gloucester and Rochester. To make matters worse our surname is a kind of street so think
Rochester Avenue
Gloucester Mews

FixItUpChappie · 03/06/2024 00:48

I never had any doubt about what I would call my eldest but my youngest was almost an Andy....and I still like it Brew

Lion1618 · 03/06/2024 00:44

DD1 - would have been Sonny if she were a boy. Almost called Mila but DP didn't love it. Had a long list of names when she was born and didn't know the sex. He reckons she chose her own name when he was trying them out on her (wriggled her fingers apparently).

DD2 - again would have been Sonny if a boy. Choosing between Mila and Silva when we came across her actual name, then that was the one.

DS - his name is the only boy name that felt right for both of us (and it isn't Sonny!). If he were a girl, he probably would have been Fern or Sage

mrsnjw · 01/06/2024 19:28

Edie, after my nan. Husband really disliked it. We ended up calling her Evie (before it grew in popularity).

AddictedToBooks · 31/05/2024 10:13

I'm just glad that I was born a girl as my mum and her best friend were adamant on calling me "Bilbo" if I was boy (they were both hippies and my surname when I was born was very similar to "Baggins".

AddictedToBooks · 31/05/2024 10:10

Charlotte120221 · 18/03/2024 13:20

they were nearly Charlie and Laura (pre the Charlie and Lola books...) - don't really like either now.

if they'd been the other way around they'd have been Sophie and George

My ex-neighbour's daughter actually did call her kids Charlie and Lola.

Theoldwoman · 31/05/2024 00:35

Rachel, Shontell, or Juliet

Caitlin, Hannah

Hayley, Charlotte

Beansandneedles · 30/05/2024 21:53

We had Eric and Ginny as the backups. Didn't decided on the name until we'd seen the baby :) I still think DD would have made an awesome Ginny.

mummaoftwogirls · 18/03/2024 19:44

My first was almost Hallie, she just didn't suit it when she was born.
We also liked Freya, Elsie, Isla and Fearne but we went with something a lot less common and not really like the others on our list in the end. If she was a boy we only had one name so she would have been Theo.
For our second DD we liked Adeline, Ella and Eden. Again we only had one boys name we liked so she would have been Levi.

Sash95 · 18/03/2024 19:06

My daughter (Jessica) was going to be a
Harper, Siân, Maya or Alice

Charlotte120221 · 18/03/2024 13:20

they were nearly Charlie and Laura (pre the Charlie and Lola books...) - don't really like either now.

if they'd been the other way around they'd have been Sophie and George

Swipe left for the next trending thread