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Baby names

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

Original poster

What were you nearly called?

237 replies

Abigail47 · 08/08/2024 19:13

I was nearly called Deborah or Scarlett.

They were in my parents top three names.

Then they finally chose my name.

I feel a bit of a connection to those other two names.

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Bloom15 · 09/08/2024 18:10

Pamela!

My DS would have been Phoebe if he was a girl

NameChangeAndLifeChange · 09/08/2024 17:52

Timothy!!!!

What a dreadful name.

challys · 09/08/2024 16:40

Camille (Jane Helen middle names)

Ahreepdeepdeepdeep · 09/08/2024 16:36

Eve.

I was so glad as a Teenager I wasn't called Eve, but as an adult I love the name now!

50shadedofmagnolia · 09/08/2024 16:32

Mary 😳 and what makes it worse is ima twin born near Christmas and he was going to be called joe 😂.
I'm so glad they had a rethink

NoEscapingMe · 09/08/2024 16:26

Mum wanted to call me Cynthia. Thank the lord my dad objected

kfellover · 09/08/2024 16:13

Megan. If I was a boy I would’ve been Daniel.

SingingSands · 09/08/2024 16:12

I was called 'Lauren' for a week!
I would have been Lauren Gayle which is a lovely name.

JazbayGrapes · 09/08/2024 15:30

Maya!

KeepSmiling89 · 09/08/2024 14:06

If I was a boy, I would've been called Angus Bruce or Bruce Angus...can't remember the other girl names that came close though...will need to ask my mum.

My brother chose my middle name. He was 5 and, not long after I was born, said to his nursery teacher that he had a new baby sister called Lucy. The teacher told my mum when she picked him up but they hadn't actually chosen a name for me yet!😆

PrincessHoneysuckle · 09/08/2024 14:04

Rebecca
Ruth
Samantha
Rachel

FiferPiped · 09/08/2024 14:04

Jennalong · 09/08/2024 06:38

My other girl name was to be Anne .
If born a boy Andrew .

Exactly the same for me too.
But my Grandad said Anne was boring and came up with another A name, which my parents went for instead.

RosesAndHellebores · 09/08/2024 14:02

Petra (what I got isn't great tbf but at least it wasn't the Blue Peter dog!). Born 1960 for context.

Had I been a boy, Zachary. Pretty put there for 1960.

My DC's names are timeless classics!

Crikeyalmighty · 09/08/2024 14:01

Juliet

user1492757084 · 09/08/2024 13:50

Louise
Bronwen
Dan

solounderthesun · 09/08/2024 13:01

Charlotte Louise but Dad didn't want that and I got another Gt Aunt's name instead which is unusual but not that rare. I do have a unique surname - I've never met or heard of anyone outside my immediate and small family with it!

AddictedToBooks · 09/08/2024 12:32

My mum wanted to name me "Carmelia Marcella" after a character in a book she was reading whilst pregnant with me - I'm secretly gutted I didn't get this name!

My dad wanted to call me "Donna Marie" - I didn't get this name either, although he did get "Marie" as one of my middle names - the other is "Elizabeth".

My mum and godmother were both insisting that if I was a boy, I'd be named "Bilbo" and my maiden name was very much like "Baggins"

Thank goodness I'm female - my given name is actually one I always despised with a passion as a child as it was unusual but it seems to be liked by most people who hear it.

BobandRobertaSmith · 09/08/2024 11:49

Mumofgirls2017 · 08/08/2024 22:37

If been a boy, Adrian. My sister almost called verity

I would have been Adrian and was almost called Verity! I don’t have a sister though so there must be 2 sets of parents with similar terrible taste 😂

IsItTimeToRetireYet · 09/08/2024 11:20

Carol. And my birthday is very near Christmas. Lucky for me, my parents’ friends pointed out how that was going to play out!

Amdone123 · 09/08/2024 11:16

@Magpiecomplex 🤣🤣

Magpiecomplex · 09/08/2024 11:14

Sibyl. Glad I missed out on a lifetime of Fawlty Towers jokes.

Justcashnosweets · 09/08/2024 11:01

Laura or Angela. I would have preferred either over the name my parents actually chose.

FunnysInLaJardin · 09/08/2024 10:57

Amaryllis, Lisa or Geraint.

Thankfully I ended up with Abigail!

Purplecatshopaholic · 09/08/2024 10:54

I was very nearly Myfanwy. It’s Welsh and my dad was Welsh. It’s a lovely name but I was brought up in Central Scotland and probably would have struggled, lol.

TheBirdintheCave · 09/08/2024 10:49

Abigail47 · 08/08/2024 22:18

It's funny that we all end up what we are called because one parent overrules the other.

My dad's choices were overruled by my mums

Not in my case. My mum and dad agreed on two names and my mum said my dad could pick which one he preferred as she loved them both and couldn't decide.

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