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AIBU?

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Original poster

To ask why people announce baby names before it’s born?

195 replies

LLBandTTC · 11/02/2020 22:44

I don’t remember the last person that I know who had a baby and didn’t announce the name before it was even born, I don’t understand why you would? What if baby is born and they don’t suit it, etc? Just interested to know if anyone here has announced their babies name before birth and if so, why? (Not a dig, just curious)

OP posts:
Singlebutmarried · 11/02/2020 22:46

We didn’t. Had no idea if the name would suit her til we saw her. Also didn’t know if boy or girl. Luckily girl as we had no boys names at all.

SleepingStandingUp · 11/02/2020 22:47

Because everyone keeps asking?
Because even if newborn baby doesn't look like a Flotentina at birth, they Change dramatically as they grow?

Aureum · 11/02/2020 22:49

I knew the sex of my baby and I announced the name at about 5 months. My grandad died and there was no question that the baby would be named after him. It was non negotiable - whether he suited the name didn’t come into it, my mind was made up.

Icanttakethiscrapanymore · 11/02/2020 22:50

We didn’t !
Good job to. I was set on calling ds Fred/Freddie and took one look at him and he just wasn’t a Fred. He ended up with a name that had not even made the short list.

Original poster
LLBandTTC · 11/02/2020 22:50

It just seems like all element of surprise is gone, everyone seems to have gender reveals and then stick the chosen name on Facebook months before the baby’s born. I can understand telling close family etc but I mean like putting it on social media more than anything

OP posts:
TheQueens · 11/02/2020 22:52

No idea! Not my cup of tea and definitely not something I did/would do in the future! Seems to be an American thing...

sunfloweryy · 11/02/2020 22:52

To claim it so that nobody else who has a baby first can ‘steal’ it

MamaGee09 · 11/02/2020 22:53

I don’t understand when people say when they looked at the baby and they didn’t suit the name they picked or they didn’t look like a (insert name) , I just find it very bizarre . How can a child not suit their name.

excitedforbaby9 · 11/02/2020 22:55

We almost lost our boy at 21 weeks after my waters broke. After that we decided to call him by his name as he is our son and a person after all! If the worst did happen we wanted him to have an identity, not just another baby

CommunistLegoBloc · 11/02/2020 22:56

I know I'm probably BU but I find it takes some of the joy and excitement out of the announcement. 'The baby's here!' is always lovely news but there is pleasure in the new details. If you already know it's a boy called Joshua James then it's just not as exciting!

Original poster
LLBandTTC · 11/02/2020 22:58

@communistlegobloc that’s exactly what I think!

OP posts:
oldfashionedtastingtea · 11/02/2020 22:59

It just seems like all element of surprise is gone,

There isn't an element of surprise, it's either a boy or a girl and it will have the same name as plenty of other people.

TerfTerf · 11/02/2020 23:00

We did this with DC2 (although social media hadn't been invented yet) - we knew the sex and chose the name and wanted DC1 to involved before the birth. Our surname is hard to match to first names and most of the good ones had been taken by relatives so we picked the one we liked best and made sure everyone was used to it before the birth so there was no likelihood of anyone saying they thought we should have picked something else. DC1 loved telling friends and nursery staff about their baby sibling.

DH was keen to know both babies' sex as "there's enough surprises already in having a baby, why wouldn't we find out this thing if we can?" I couldn't argue with his logic!

[DC2 is now 16 and loves the name😀]

FoxFriend · 11/02/2020 23:00

We didn’t. Not because we worried about her not ‘suiting’ her name, because I don’t really get how babies are supposed to look like any name in particular. But I am very indecisive and have a long history of changing my mind at the last minute.

ELM8 · 11/02/2020 23:03

Yep I think a lot of people do it as @sunfloweryy said to "claim" the name, especially if you are at the time of life where all of your friends are having babies.

We didn't even find out the sex and certainly didn't talk about potential names with anyone, mainly because I couldn't be arsed with unwanted opinions.

Even now we have a 3 month old we still are keeping quiet about the other names we liked in case we have another (not that I'll be thinking about that for a long time so I'm sure we would have changed our minds on names we like by then anyway!)

Heartofglass12345 · 11/02/2020 23:05

Because it's nice, because they are excited maybe?
I find it more weird that people keep it a big secret like it's some sort of MI5 operation Grin

Snowflake9 · 11/02/2020 23:06

I am with you OP. My best friend announced her DS name and now hates it and says it doesn't suit him. He's a year old.

With mine, we didn't know whether it was a boy or girl and we had a few names we liked but didn't discuss with anyone. When DS was born, it took us 11 days to name him as we just couldn't decide! It baffles me how people can choose without seeing the baby first.

Also, I am probably the only one I know (bar my sisters) who didn't find out the sex. People were so shocked when they would ask if I knew and I said no. I wanted the element of surprise, I wanted the neutral clothes to begin with.

I wouldn't find out on the next one either.

Original poster
LLBandTTC · 11/02/2020 23:06

But for those who do it to claim the name, what if a friend then names their baby ‘your’ name anyway?

OP posts:
LowcaAndroidow · 11/02/2020 23:06

We knew what the name was going to be by 20 weeks so told anyone who asked! Didn't realise I was meant to keep it a surprise (for who?) Confused

Though one DC we didn't announce the name until they were about a week old because we couldn't decide.

Original poster
LLBandTTC · 11/02/2020 23:07

Also how can anyone think a baby would just suit any name going? Of course some babies won’t suit certain names

OP posts:
x2boys · 11/02/2020 23:08

Babies all.look like squashed old men not sure how then can suit a name or not 🤔 and once you have named your baby they suit their name because that's their name ,13 and nearly 10 years on i can't imagine my boys being called anything other than what they are .

Snowflake9 · 11/02/2020 23:09

Generation of impatience, as my grandfather puts it.

"Looking at menus before you arrive at the restaurant online"
"Googling every thing, it's an instant generation"

He has a point.

LowcaAndroidow · 11/02/2020 23:09

I didn't name any of my children based on what they looked like as a newborn either Grin What a bizarre thing to do!

alphajuliet123 · 11/02/2020 23:10

We chose the names well in advance and told people if they asked. With the first one it was a definite, and I'm glad we mentioned it because we later found out a cousin was planning to use the same name (which would have been ok but I'd have felt weird if her baby had been born first - in the event mine was born two days before hers).

Second time around we had a very short list with a clear favourite. Again we openly discussed it if asked and most people liked it. Would have changed it if it hadn't felt right on the day though.

DappledThings · 11/02/2020 23:11

I find it more weird that people keep it a big secret like it's some sort of MI5 operation

Me too. We never announced anything as in made a social media post prior to birth but if anyone asked about the name we just told them. Didn't volunteer the information but didn't refuse it either.

I find a bit weird and smug when people say they have decided on a name but they are keeping it secret. Just seems like trying to make it a bigger deal than it is

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