Husband is trying to back out of naming agreement

It was a stupid agreement. If he'd chosen a name you absolutely hated with a passion, I doubt that you'd have stuck to the agreement either so the first was probably a name you wouldn't have chosen but could tolerate. I can't see how you can manage the situation now though. If my DH had chosen a name like, for instance, Shardonnay Tallulah or Septimus Quentin for our DC, there's no way I'd have given in, even if I'd been daft enough to make an agreement beforehand! (No offence to people with those names!) Surely choosing a name you both like is just one of the compromises and part of the collaboration involved in bringing up children?

Mary kate will become Mary which is OK if you are v religious I guess. If you're not it's v old old fashioned. Olive is something you eat that sits in the fridge, no?

I love Olive, Mary is nice, as is Kate but not Mary-Kate. I’m not a fan of hyphenated names, sorry.

Olive and Mary-Kate don’t go at all.

I agree with that.

Rather just Mary or better still Francesca.

Love those names. He has to adhere to the agreement.

I like all the names - which I wasn't expecting. Thought one of you would be really out there.
Mary-Kate will be called MK - do you like that? If not, I would flip them

What has your DH suggested?

Mary-Kate sounds like she should be wearing a bonnet and wandering the prairie.

Now this is even more bizarre, as your tastes aren't a million miles apart.

I think most of us were assuming one liked Emma, Anna, etc and the other was going for Wynter-Bacardi or Pepsi-Marie.

Whereas I wouldn't have chosen Olive myself, it isn't a million miles from Francesca.

I too, automatically went "Mary-Kate and Ashley" in my head.

I would never have agreed to Olive. Plus Olive and Mary-Kate don’t go at all.

I think you both could have agreed to use more popular names like Emily or Charlotte that people won’t feel strongly about.

That deal was never ever going to work. U should have gone first at least. Most men I know wouldn't have stuck to their side of the bargain ever. Surely you knew this!!!

Olive is actually really popular now. There are at least 3 in my daughters small primary school and a family member just named her child the same. It’s definitely more up and coming than dated

He’s being a twat, I don’t particularly like any of the names but yours aren’t any worse than his and certainly not extreme in any way. FWIW I think Olive and Francesca sounds better than Olive and Mary-Kate 🤷🏻‍♀️

My head automatically went '..and Ashley'.

I know people who hate my kid's name tho, so I have sympathy. Didn't help that my deaf Nan misheard the name and rang around the whole family with a totally mental non-name, which took me days to correct. I guess from there, the real one was an improvement 😁

I don’t like his name or the names you’ve suggested, they’re all dated or weird. Who calls a child Olive? Athena? Doesn’t even go together. Francesca is way too long to be a middle name.

Both of you need to get a grip.

Can you give an example of the names you wanted for first born and what they are called- no need to do actual names if you don't want, just similar style.

But yanbu if this was the agreement

Mary Jayne.. Nn MJ?

Bowser3000 😂😂😂

Tough shit, that was the agreement and no one made him agree. He can't have it both ways. I dislike all of the names but if l had to choose l would go with yours. Whose surname are they having / had.

I had twins and we ended up picking one 1st name each and middle names were family names. I'm still wistful about my other favourite name -not helped by a character in a tv show l have started watching having that name. We aren't having any more children sadly

You dont think Olive is from an era that has past? I forever think of On the Buses

Sorry, I think his name is lovely, but yours is definitely of an era that has passed and not in a good way.

She will forever be linked to Mary-Kate Olsen or even worse Mary-Kay Letourneau. And Francesca just makes me think of old Italian spinster. And they are weird together. Mary-Kate with an American sounding middle name or Francesca with a Greek or Italian first name would be better.

I've heard this done before - although it's more usually the other way around, with each parent naming children of the same sex as them.

The obvious issue there, though, is if you end up with multiple children of one sex and none of the other.

The first thing I think of with Mary-Kate is the Olsen twins. Not a fan of hyphenated names personally, but it's not offensive. Francesca could be Frankie for short, which I quite like.

Oh well I dislike all of them so. In fact I actually think I prefer Electric Unicorn.

My judgement is, why are you playing childish ass games with your children's names? What happens when you have to make other decisions about them and their lives? Tug of war? Rock paper scissors? Arm wrestling?

Exactly.

I like the shortening of Olive to Liv and honestly, I don't think OP's picks go well together, either.

But what does my, or anyone else's, opinion matter when it comes to naming OP's kid? Literally nothing.

The Dh sounds really stubborn and bossy. I do hope Op sticks to her guns.

I immediately thought of Mary-Kate one of the Olsen twins. This may or may not bother you.