Parents on baby name regret
A new Mumsnet survey revealed that nearly a fifth of parents would in fact pick a different name for their child, if they could - see the full results below
|
Have you ever regretted the first and/or middle names you chose for any of your children? |
|---|
| Answer options | Response percent |
| Yes | 18% |
| No | 82% |
|
If yes, when did you begin to regret your child's first and/or middle names? |
|---|
| Answer options | Response percent |
| Within the first six weeks |
32% |
| When they started nursery/school |
23% |
| Other (please specify) |
16% |
| From before he/she was born - I've always known it was the wrong choice |
12% |
| After a couple of days |
8% |
| When they became a teenager | 5% |
| The moment he/she was born |
3% |
| When they became an adult |
0% |
|
If yes, for what reason(s) do you regret your choice of first and/or middle names for your children? |
|---|
| Answer options | Response percent |
| It’s too commonly used | 25% |
| It just doesn’t feel right | 21% |
| I have never liked it - I was pressured into using it | 20% |
| It’s not distinctive enough | 11% |
| It causes him/her problems with spelling/pronunciation | 11% |
| It doesn’t suit him/her | 11% |
| Everyone calls him/her by a shortened version of the name, which I don't like | 6% |
| I have never liked it - I don’t know why we chose it | 6% |
| There’s been a shift in public perception of the name since my child was born | 3% |
| I worry that he/she won’t be taken seriously | 2% |
| A celebrity has used the name for their child | 1% |
| It turns out that his/her initials spell out an embarrassing or inappropriate acronym | 1% |
| Other | 34% |
Have you changed any of your children's first and/or middle names? |
|---|
| Answer options | Response percent |
| Yes | 2% |
| No | 97% |
Have you at any point considered changing your children's first and/or middle names? |
|---|
| Answer Options
| Response Percent
|
| Yes | 9% |
| No | 90% |
| Don't know / Not stated | 2% |
Do you know anyone who picked a first and/or middle name for their child, then changed it? |
|---|
| Answer options | Response Percent
|
| Yes | 25%
|
| No | 73% |
| Don't know / Not stated | 2% |
|
If you could go back, would you pick different names for any of your children? |
|---|
| Answer options | Response Percent
|
|
Yes
|
17% |
|
No |
75% |
| Don't know / Not stated | 8% |
|
Do your children like their first and/or middle names? |
|---|
| Answer Options
|
Response Percent
|
| Yes - all my children like their names | 55% |
| N/A - too young | 33% |
| Some of my children dislike their names |
7% |
| Don't know / Not stated |
4% |
| No - all my children dislike their names | 1% |
|
How would you feel if your children took the decision to change their first and/or middle names once they became an adult? |
|---|
| Answer options | Response Percent
|
| It’s their name, so their choice | 22%
|
| It would take some getting used to, but I’d respect his/her decision and use the new name | 67% |
| I’d be devastated - I could never call him/her by a new name | 8% |
| Other | 3%
|
| Not stated | 0%
|
Survey of 1362 Mumsnet users in June 2016. The data has not been weighted.
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Last updated: about 2 years ago