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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

Do you just know the right name when your baby is born?

18 replies

Rosey3 · 13/03/2011 01:47

Those of you with children already - did you keep a list of names you liked and when your baby was born there was just one that stood out and suited them perfectly? Or were they all suitable and you can't really tell at that age?

Also, people who had already decided on a name before the birth - did you change your mind when your DC was born as it didn't suit them?

Just wondering whether or not to keep an open mind or to stick to one when I find one I like.

Thanks

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madhattershouse · 13/03/2011 01:52

We had the names sorted before they were born...now they just seem to "fit" iykwim! Did have the name willow as girls name for first dc..ds is now 11 and 5' 2" and 8 stone...glad he was a boy..willowy he is not

midtowner · 13/03/2011 02:48

DS 1 - we had two names and when he was born we just "knew" that he was one of them.

DS2 - we used a name DH had wanted for DS1 that I hadn't liked at the time, but had grown on me.

greasychip · 13/03/2011 05:36

Had a shortlist with a frontrunner, seemed right when she was born!

GotArt · 13/03/2011 05:47

DH and I tossed names around before DD was born and when we came upon the one she does have now, given before she was born, it really fit and she really is what we called her and love it. However, we are now wrestling with names as nothing seems to be coming and reckon DC2 will just be called BabyBear, as that's what DD calls babies.

MummyBerryJuice · 13/03/2011 06:28

We had a sort if a shortlist but were utter undecided. When DS was born the MW asked his name and we both said 'DS' in unison while staring lovingly at him. His name wasn't one of the front runners either. We just knew.

Rhubarbgarden · 13/03/2011 07:19

We had two front runners, but the one we picked was just the one I liked most on the day. It wasn't really that it suited her particularly, if I'm honest. In fact, one was a 'blonde' name and one was a 'brunette' name; she's blonde but I picked the brunette name anyway.

meditrina · 13/03/2011 07:30

DS1 named well before birth, and couldn't possibly have been anything else.

DS2 and DD weren't named until they were a week or so old.

PrettyCandles · 13/03/2011 07:46

We had boy and girl names ready for each birth. With nos 1 and 3 I them by their names from birth. With no2 we had not been able to agree on a girl's name, had two ready. The second I saw dd I knew which name she fitted.

I suspect that it may not have been this way for dh, because although he called ds1 by his name from birth, he didn't call dd or ds2 by their names for nearly 24h. I think I may possibly have steamrollered him .

Oddly enough I now think ds2 suits his second name better.

Himalaya · 13/03/2011 08:07

DS1 - we had a list, but the birth (EMCS) was not what I had anticipated so the names were 'wrong' and one of the non-forrunners felt right when I first held him.

DS2 - the name 'came to me' as he was crowning.

In both cases I just 'knew' the name on the day, after all that discussion and shortlisting.

With DS2 we weren't decided on a second name. DH went to the register office and said 'i'll tell you when I get back'!

brightcopperkettles · 13/03/2011 08:44

We went into hospital with 2 girls' names and 2 boys' names for DD - she got named the one that we liked most on the day.

Pregnant now with DC2, pretty set on what we want for either boy or girl again.

Underachieving · 13/03/2011 16:10

I had been brow-beaten into agreeing to the compromise name with DD1 but when she was born she was clearly a (name) so I pulled rank and called her it.

With DD2 we had one boys name from the outset, and it was the only boys name in the world to us. We had a few girls names and it was between my favourite, his favourite or a few that we both liked as to who she would be. She surprised us totally by not being anything like any of them! It took us a good 10 days of non stop thinking about it to find her a first name and we were up to day 40 (of the 42 allowed) to get the middle name too. In the end she was called 2 names we would probably never have thought of without seeing her. I'm not keen on her middle name but it would have broken Daddies heart not to and I wasn't that attatched to my idea so I went with it. It's one Mumsnet HATES.

psiloveyou · 13/03/2011 16:24

Our ds was going to be a Joshua, we had no other names prepared that was the one. He was born at home, straight after the birth he was laying on the bed and dh and I said at the same time "he is so not a Joshua". We called him James. I love the name Joshua but to this day I can't imagine ds being called that.

FourFortyFour · 13/03/2011 16:26

We picked a name we liked and the baby was called that. None of this not looking like an X. I have no regrets about what we have called our children.

catinthehat2 · 13/03/2011 16:38

I had alist of 8,000,000 names, Dh had nothing much, so basically neither of us had a clue

after about a week he said, "What about x?" and we knew it was the right name once we had got to know the baby concerned

BreastmilkDoesAFabLatte · 13/03/2011 16:44

Both mine have been named shortly before conception. So it's a very good thing that we didn't call DD anything alluding to sleep or quietness

But naming a child always has an element of risk. I'd loved to have called DD Grace, but if she were to grow up as clumsy as me, it'd be leaving her open for a lifetime of teasing...

HappyAsASandboy · 13/03/2011 20:01

We knew we were expecting b/g twins and had picked first and second names before the birth. On the morning of the planned section, DH suggested that we use the names between ourselves while in the hospital, but not share them until we went home in case we changed our minds. DTS's name was exactly right, DTD's name was completely wrong. After using it for two days in the hospital, we both agreed she was another name - I can't even remember who first suggested the name She suits the new name entirely.

If we have any more DCs, we'll be doing the same thing to give ourselves a chance to try out the planned name.

Bettyspencer · 13/03/2011 20:33

Both DDs' names were well chewed-over and decided before they appeared (we were much more vague with boys' names though and didn't need them in the end anyway). Both names are pretty but not overly frilly and girly so we thought they would suit any D of ours who should appear. And I can't imagine either of them called anything else.

It would be exciting to choose the name once baby arrives, but I like to plan ahead (too much)and wouldn't trust myself to make a sensible decision in the few days after the birth.

dexifehatz · 20/03/2011 22:22

When we were having our first daughter we just knew she would be Hattie Hope.The only boys name we liked was Thurston [DH big Sonic Youth fan!!].When our son was due we were with Max until DH heard the name Dexter on television [and no this was before the TV series!!]so Dexter Miles he was.Hattie,who was 11 when we were having our third daughter, suggested the name Felicity as she was reading the Malory Towers books.I had secretly decided on Fenella as I thought the baby was definately a girl and would be darkhaired for some reason!But when she was born she was Felicity Faith no doubt.My eldest daughter loves this little bond between them.

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