Change baby name at 8 months - please help!!!!

I think you should change it. I really wanted to call DS something else but with his surname he'd have got a lot of stick at school. Now he just suits his name, but I still prefer what I wanted to call him.

Now I feel like an absolute lunatic that I checked the date to make sure it wasn't my thread, but didn't clock the zombification!!!! ha ha at me!

This is so similar to what happened to me I double checked the date of your post to make sure it wasn't mine! I honestly could've written it word for word.

Because the worry became obsessive, dh felt I was being irrational and didn't want to listen to me. I had to calm down quite a bit and present him with calm logic before I persuaded him.

In the end we officially changed his name at 11 months, although had been 'trying out' the new name for a few weeks.

I was expecting some weird comments from friends and family, but got none at all. Of course now (he is 2.5) no one cares less, especially not him!

I have kept all his cards from birth and there is still a picture hanging in the living room with his old name on. I actually think it is quite a cool story and there is no point hiding it.

I would 100% advise you to change it and not give it a second thought. It is very easy and I am convinced you will be so much happier. Pregnancy/newborn period is a difficult time to make such a big choice, I'm sure you will be happier with something you choose now.

Zombie thread.

My mother was christened Catherine and hated it. Aged about 4 or 5 she asked a family friend to help her "get a new name" and together they came up with Katina. And so it has been ever since.
If you hate a name, change it as soon as you can. Especially if you know what it should have been!

Is it Kale or Sage?

After 5 years, I'm sure something has been decided by now.

That is certainly a simple solution and one we used in different ways with 2 of our children. The first was not baptised until he was 5 years old so we allowed him to choose his own baptismal name. The 2nd was adopted when first was late teens so as part of helping him to feel this was his "project" as well he got to choose number 2s baptismal name too.
Of course it is then up to you and dh which name you choose to use. BUT you do need to AGREE on which one to use
Interestingly both names are very much names we might have chosen. ..so well done number one.
Nevertheless. ..if you really want to change it completely ......and you and dh can agree...go for it. Your child you get to choose.

Known as Mary

I am known by s different name to the one I was registered-my parents added one they preferred at my baptism but because of a bit of a mixup on birth certificate my official name is now:
reg;Jane Anne
bapt:Jane Mary
official:Jane Anne Jane Mary
Those arent the actual names but you get the idea!

My friend changed her boy's name at 18 months - why not? If you feel you made a mistake, why forge on when you can easily change it - he is too young to be bothered at all by it?

My friends Dad decided when she was nearly 2 years old that he just couldnt get used to her name and it didnt suit her at all so they just told everyone from there on out they were going to call her by her middle name. Its the only name we ever knew her by!

I regretted ds's name for about a year after we had him. I also became slightly obsessed with it and worried every time I said it in public that people were thinking it was an odd choice. It is also a name which can be used for something else and can be a girls name so I worried people might think he is female!! However, 5 years on and I now love it - it is HIS name and I'm very proud that it is unique and different. My dh never questioned our choice for a minute and wouldn't even entertain changing it so I felt I had to get used to it really.

May06 I think you should talk to DH about it. Try out your alternative for a day or a week and see how it fits. If you do decide to change it I would personally be tempted to leave the original name in as a middle name.

I think if you would like to do this then it is best to clear the air with DH about it. He needs to know how much it bothers you.

If you do change it I would send out an announcement to friends and relatives saying you have changed it and just keep it light and perky. Everyone should just accept this. Although once your DS is an adult he may decide to use the original name or another one. I have at least one male friend who changed his first name, one male friend who changed both names and one female friend who changed her surname plus masses of female friends who changed their surname when they married! So it is not a big deal but I do think you need to discuss with DH and try out your new name first.

I wouldn't worry about people thinking you are mad newmum265 - everyone took my DS's name change in their stride. I seemed to be the only one that thought it was a big deal. At 6 months I don't think he knew his name yet - especially as I hated using it and mostly used pet names anyway. I love his new name

PLEASe tell us the name I am intrigued!!
I actually feel for you. Im going through a bit of an obsession at the mo too with my DS name. It is so common where we live that I now feel myself embarrassed telling people and he is 9 months now. I wish we had gone with our original choice of name but he didnt seem to suit it when he was born. My doubts stared to creep in at 6 weeks and i wish I had changed it then but felt it was too late. Feel its def too late now and people would think i was mad.

Tell us the name and maybe we can set your mind at rest. Bet its not that bad!!!

What would you change it to?

There are hundreds of names where that is the case though!

Mark (dirty stain/mark my words), John (toilet), Lou (loo - toilet), Will (left behind by dead relative/will he won't he), Bill (dollar bill), Cliff (rock exposure), Kurt (curt - precise), Peter (to peter out), Dick (ahem), Matt (small carpet), Jack (lever up a car), Abi (abbey - monastery), Sue (take to court), Dawn (morning), Di (die - expire), Neil (kneel - get down on knees), Rob (steal), Toby (mug), Jim (gym - exercise place), Barney (argue), Carol (Christmas song), Grace (prayer said before a meal), Scott (get off scott-free), Dom (dominatrix). Etc etc!

May06: My name is one which is not an everyday word as such, but there was a certain question (asked daily at school!) which always made my head shoot up because the blending of the last syllable in one word and the first syllable in the next created the sound of my name and I was never really sure whether I was being addressed or not. Frankly, it was such a distraction (and remains so today) and I can remember really wishing my parents had chosen something else!

Am intrigued as to what the name is now you say it is a word.

I think if you are going to do it you really need to do it quickly. The rest of your family will all have got used to calling him that name and will find it difficult to change.

I changed the spelling of DD's name at 11 months. Before she had an "original" spelling and then I changed to the standard one. No regrets whatsoever. Both names are on the long birth certificate, but only the new one on the short certificate.

Also want to ask the same as piratecat. What is it about the name that you don't like?

And do you have an alternative?

May06 - his new name is his legal name, and is on all official forms. The new short birth certificate shows the new name only. Box 2 on his long birth certificate shows the original name, and box 17 shows the new name