I promised DH he could name the baby. Now I've changed my mind.

[JakeyMom]

When I was pregnant with DS1 I had my heart set the name Jacob. DH hated it and used to come up with all these alternatives but I had my heart set and I promised him that if he let me call DS Jacob he would pick the next DC's name. I PROMISED.
So fast forward and I'm pregnant with DC2 and naturally DH has been considering names. He was under the illusion that we would be having a boy and had already picked out the name Adam which I was fine with. However, it turns out we're having a girl which has totally thrown DH off course.
He's now decided he wants to name DD after his GRANDMOTHER(!!!) as she brought him up. It's an AWFUL name for a child (Blanche) and I just can't bring myself to agree. The name makes me shudder, it reminds me of coronation street. I've told him I hate the name and it's disgusting for a baby but he won't budge on it and is digging his heels in. AIBU to go back on my promise for the sake of our DD?

[soundslikesomeone'sgranny]You make your bed? You lie in it[/soundslikesomeone'sgranny]

There are sooooooo may clichés I could trot out right now. You've walked into every single one of them.

my nana is agnes. i'll be using it if i ever have a girl. i love 'granny' names. maybe not maud or mildred but most of the old ones i like.

Of course by calling your DS Jacob you gave your DH carte blanche to call your DD whatever he wanted

She was in the right when she named DS despite DH's objection, now he is a twat for doing the same - and with her promise he could do sa.

Ah, MN at its non partisan finest :)

And IMO Blanche is a nicer name than Jacob too....

This may be best resolved in the post-labour, lovely newborn phase. He should be immediately aware of what you've gone through to bring the baby into the world and much less willing to force a name you hate on the baby. Then you can work together to choose a name you both like.

Why on earth did you insist on a name your DH hated in the first place? You must have known he would pick an absolute stinker the next time in retaliation (and he most certainy has).

AwayWithTheWeeFolk inspired! I nearly choked!

I love old lady names, but I've got to say I don't like this one.

BUT regarding the bullying comments - DD has a Blanche in her reception class. None of the children have commented on the name, to them it's entirely normal. There's also a Albie, Wilf, Elsie, Clara, Kitty and Edith in the same class so I guess old man / lady names are just normal to them.

Isn't choosing a baby's name something that requires agreement on both sides. You shouldn't have got into this in the first place by making such a promise and should have insisted on compromise. You can't bleat about it when you caused the situation in the first place.

Or give her a middle name you like and always insist on using it rather than Blanche. My stepdad and all his siblings all go by their middle names rather than their first names because their parents were very odd.

Sorry, but...

Jacob makes me think of cobwebs. (Jake is nice tho)

Blanche makes me think of glamour, individuality, Golden Girls and the book Katherine by Anya Seton.

YABU and your DH has great taste in names!

You'll be carrying it for 9 months AND bringing her into the world - all he did is fertilise and egg

Charming, never ceases to amaze me, only on MN so many entitled women think they have more right regarding children than men simply because they can be pregnant. Pregnancy only lasts 9 months - bringing a child up lasts a lifetime. So it should be a joint decision regarding naming a child as he/she will be a joint responsibility. OP should never have insisted on using a name her DH hated and equally now he shouldn't insist on using a name she hates. Compromise.

Urrgh..yuck, seriously, I would divorce before I would allow any child of mine to be afflicted with such a horrible name. Does he hate the child?....he must be joking, nobody could seriously consider Blanche!..

Another who actually rather likes Blanche here! You might be able to sell it as not suitable if she turns out to be dark, there was a little Raven in dds reception who was white-blonde and clearly never going change much, and it would have made so much more sense if she'd had black hair.

I think it's quite a nice name personally, maybe wouldn't be my first choice but it's pretty and unusual, and it's lovely that he'd want to honour his grandmother in this way, especially as she was such a big part of his life.

You're being a bit unreasonable here, especially as you insisted on a name he hated for your DS. Might be worth asking if he'd compromise by using it as a middle name though?

how will it be pronounced?

French way - or living in England, trying to say it when reading out the register way?

Blanne -ch
Blawn -ch
Blarn - ch

Bianca would be lovely?

Of course by calling your DS Jacob you gave your DH carte blanche to call your DD whatever he wanted

www.babyhold.com/option,com_fireboard/Itemid,66/func,view/id,4479/catid,2/

does this help?

Another one here who thinks YABVVU I'm afraid - you did the foot stamping thing and got your own way despite knowing that your DH hated the name, so while it's unfortunate that you hate the proposed name for your new DD, it's kind of tough. If you're sure that he's not chosen a joke name to tease you, and it's one he genuinely wants then you have to keep promise. And hopefully learn to compromise should you have DC3!

And regarding whether Blanche is or is not a nice name, take a look at the baby names threads here...I have never seen such a collection of pretentious stupid names in my life on some of them. I think some people forget they are naming children not a pet really.

At this point I'm affronted on baby Blanche's behalf :)

The more I think of it the more I think Blanche is a kick-ass name. As well as Blanche Dubois and Blanche from the GG (bloody love the Golden Girls) apparently Blanche Scott was the first American woman avaiator.

Blanche Neige - is Snow White in France...could help you try and see it differently!

To be fair though your DP hated the name Jacob presumably he has different feelings now, maybe you will too?

I wanted to call DC3 Tuesday, if he'd been a girl. Everyone thought it was mental hormonesbut I still like it. XH was oddly not keen. [puzzled]

Anyway, Blanche is not in and of itself a horror IMO, but I think there is an awful lot of scope for mispronounciation. What would the pet name be?