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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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Intothevalley · 08/08/2024 23:54

If I were born a boy, I'd have been called Barnaby.

Which is a perfectly decent name. I think I'd have made a good Barney.

maimeo · 08/08/2024 23:51

Typo, UK not IK

maimeo · 08/08/2024 23:50

Martina, which I wouldn't have minded. They named me a popular girls name in IK, but I changed it myself when I was quite young to the Gaelic spelling which I much prefer.

Kaleidoscope101 · 08/08/2024 23:31

My Dad wanted Lisa Marie after Lisa Marie Presley

urbanbuddha · 08/08/2024 23:27

Chloe or Grace.

MoonlightMedicine · 08/08/2024 23:21

Bernard if I had been a boy.

Moonflower12 · 08/08/2024 23:15

I would have been Truly ( as in Truly Scrumptious from ChittgChitty Bang Bang). I would have quite liked that.
Instead I have a timeless classic. There were 8 in my year at secondary school.

If I'd been a boy, Geraint.

StrawberryKebab · 08/08/2024 23:15

Tracey or Joanne
my actual name is much posher and always abbreviated!

Dreamingofgoldfinchlane · 08/08/2024 23:13

Naomi - hideous.

otravezempezamos · 08/08/2024 23:05

Hannah. Lovely name but there were 3 in my year at school so glad I got a different name.

TheBirdintheCave · 08/08/2024 23:04

Dawn 🤢

Moresummertimes · 08/08/2024 23:03

Emma

ghislaine · 08/08/2024 22:49

Dad wanted to call me Pamela after a character on a tv show. I am not called Pamela.

I would have been Andrew had I been a boy.

OneWildNightWithJBJ · 08/08/2024 22:44

Siobhan or Siobahn.

Edited to say lucky I wasn’t as I can’t spell it!

Mumofgirls2017 · 08/08/2024 22:37

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

Mumofgirls2017 · 08/08/2024 22:36

Clarissa! 🤷‍♀️

BinkyBeaufort · 08/08/2024 22:31

Dad wanted Audrey, Mum wanted Alison, which I actually wouldn't have minded as it took me a couple of decades to learn to like the name they eventually settled on.

Squirrelsnut · 08/08/2024 22:28

Sarah. It was enormously popular at the time. I have 3 friends called Sarah. In the end I got a more unusual name.

CheatingMenz · 08/08/2024 22:27

If I had been a boy, Oliver.
If my DB had been a girl, Antonia
If my sister had been a boy, Westley.

newtomoney · 08/08/2024 22:24

I'm Sara.. but for some reason always be known as Sarah.. why did she name me that way? I have always had an identity crisis as almost every day people asked me if I am Sara or Sarah.. I am 67 now, for God sake I should know my own name!

My alternative name would've been Charlotte and I would've been Lottie so much easier!!

Daisybuttercup12345 · 08/08/2024 22:20

Elizabeth or Robert.

CasaRosas1 · 08/08/2024 22:19

Girl names my mother had picked for me. Georgina, Danielle, Ashley. Alexis or Leigh.

My mother had no boy names picked.

provemewrongthen · 08/08/2024 22:18

Born 1973. If I had been a boy I was to be called Crawford.

Thank heavens for that lucky escape!

Original poster
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

OP posts:
MistyGreenAndBlue · 08/08/2024 22:17

Shona - but my mum decided it didnt go with our surname - or Eve.
I dislike my name but these are worse so... 🤷‍♀️

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