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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Has anyone ever regretted choosing the name they gave to their child?

27 replies

chocolateicecream · 24/10/2012 16:35

If so then why?

Did you have a name that you wanted to use instead but never had the confidence to use it or was influenced by others, and now regret it?

OP posts:

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BrightenMyNorthernSky · 25/10/2012 20:56

I don't regret DS1's name as such - it is a nice traditional name that I like, and really suits him, but I think I did play it quite conservatively to try to please parents and in-laws (and DH?) and sometimes wish I'd been a bit more confident when naming him. DS2 has a fabulous (IMO), much more interesting and far less used name (although still traditional) which I love, and I really enjoy introducing him to new people whereas I don't quite get that feeling about DS1's name, if that makes sense. I'm also not sure that our boys' names go together very well, and we wobbled a bit over DS2's name for this reason - but it's so much more my naming style that I'm glad we used it.

rainbow2000 · 25/10/2012 21:08

No i have never regretted the names i gave my dc.As i think it suits them and i couldnt think of them with any other name now.

AlexanderS · 26/10/2012 19:22

No, but we put a lot of thought into DS's name before I had him. I don't understand people who wait until they're in the hospital to choose a name! When you're tired and hormonal you're more likely to pick a name you're going to regret, surely?

pickledparsnip · 26/10/2012 19:33

Yes. My ex pretty much bullied me into naming our son after ex's Grandad. It's a nice enough name, but hugely popular and one of the top 5. It has never felt right, and 3 years on I'm still not happy. Get serious name envy on a regular basis.

ProphetOfDoom · 26/10/2012 19:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bamboostalks · 26/10/2012 20:34

Yes because it has become so popular, not that I thought I was trendy Wendy or anything but when the midwife at 3 day visit says, "not another one, that's the 5th this month in this patch alone," you do feel a bit deflated. I'm not awake nights though!

Franke · 26/10/2012 20:37

I don't regret any of the names, but I do regret the spelling of my dd's name. It gets mispronounced - if I'd forseen it I would have used a different spelling.

Natnat29 · 26/10/2012 20:40

Marking my spot and reading with interest. I'm due in jan and although we've picked a name I already feel like I might regret it in the future, it's so hard choosing!

BillysBeastlyBogeyman · 26/10/2012 20:40

I don't regret the name but I wish it wasn't so popular. It's Amelia, which I think is truly beautiful. As do millions of others It was a top 20 name when we had her so not out there but...

girlsyearapart · 26/10/2012 20:43

Not the first name but wish id given my dd1 my mums name as middle name as other three kids have family middle names.

Ds who is our 4th has my dads name as his middle name but if he had been a girl would have had my mums name as middle name and when I told her that she looked a bit miffed..

JambalayaCodfishPie · 26/10/2012 20:43

DD1- not at all

DD2- I regretted it enormously for the first few months of her life. I wasn't entirely sure that it suited her at all.

As she's got older, with more of a personality, I feel as though she's maybe growing into it.

JollyJackOLantern · 26/10/2012 20:45

In 2010 Ds's name was well outside the top hundred. In 2011 (when he was born) it jumped to 60 something.

This pissed me off a bit.

But it is an utterly gorgeous name and suits him as well as suiting me and dh.

bigbluebump · 26/10/2012 22:13

DD's name has become quite popular and she is one of several in her school. That is a bit of a shame and can be a little annoying.

DS's name, on the other hand, is far outside the top 100, even outside the top 500, and, whilst not loved by everyone (on mumsnet) suits him perfectly and he loves being the only one with his name in his whole school (he can just write his first name on anything and there is no confusion ). We love his name and get complimented on it much more than dd's.

Quadrangle · 26/10/2012 23:00

I love my elder dd's name. She is the only one in her primary school. When I picked it i thought it was a classic like Rebecca, Elizabeth, Lucy, Sarah etc, I still think of it like that but I found out from name boards that it is considered by others to be a name from my generation and dated. It isn't an embarrassing name for her to have I don't think, but i think i might have chosen a top 100 name if i had been a reader of name boards before we had her, because after all they reflect what other people will be thinking.
dd2 on the other hand is one of three in her class. so the other exteme. It is very much a classic name. (Was one of the children in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.)

Quadrangle · 26/10/2012 23:09

..and I don't regret it. (forgot to say.)

Original poster

chocolateicecream · 27/10/2012 20:49

Thanks for the responses.

Have been lurking on the baby naming posts for ages now.

Baby naming is such hard work! I am having to do it for the third time now. My two girls names go really well together. My Dd1 is called Ruth and does suit it. The thing is however it does sound like roof. I really liked the name Schiehallion and thought about calling her that but my Dh turned his nose up at it. I'm now wondering if I should go a bit more out there with my third but probably wont choose Schiehallion as it is a bit too different to go with two rather conventional names. This little bean is probably going to be another girl and I have a boys name all sussed too! Typical.

OP posts:

Fluffyfish · 29/10/2012 19:27

No but I wish I'd kept dd's middle name, my second favourite girls name, in case this one is a girl.

thegreylady · 29/10/2012 20:47

Still love Ds name Guy but didn't realise some ( half) wit at school would alter it to Gay on his bag and books. Fortunately ds was not by nature a victim and was irritated rather than upset.

TeapotsInJune · 29/10/2012 21:11

I love my daughter's name but my original choice caused a friend to pull a face - not because of the name per se but because of how it sounded with our surname.

I wish we'd stuck to that name as I love it and have always loved it (Harriet - and our surname isn't Harris or Harrison or even Potter!)

Quadrangle · 30/10/2012 22:52

Is it Marriott?

BackforGood · 30/10/2012 23:02

I don't regret using ds's name, but, on finding how common it was (this was before the days of MN and I didn't know such things as Top 100 lists exsisted ) it influenced my choice of name for my next 2 dc. I don't think he's ever belonged to any group or class that didn't have other people in it with the same name.

Ummofumbridge · 31/10/2012 15:14

I occasionally regret my dd3's name. It's a name I've loved for years which has become insanely popular recently.
I was torn between her name (Ava) and Anna for ages but went with my heart. I still adore her name but hate that there are so many around.

flakjacket · 31/10/2012 15:18

Wish I'd had the confidence to give my son his second name as his first name. It now causes confusion sometimes because we use his second name and always have...

MoelFammau · 31/10/2012 15:20

I have waves of loving it and wishing I'd been brave enough to tell the in-Laws to bog off. DD's name was very much a compromise.

It's Robin, by the way. I wanted Patricia after a very dear friend who died - loved the idea of a wee Paddy pottering around the place. But I also like Robin and am starting to use Robbie a bit more.

TerracottaPie · 02/11/2012 14:52

Love DC1's name even though it's constantly mispronounced and has to be spelt every time. And even though my Nan has only just learnt to say it (DC1 is 9)

Also love DC2's name. But I keep hearing it called by other mothers now whereas before that never happened. It's just increased in popularity I suppose. The other part about her name is that we spelt it with the Germanic spelling rather than French as we liked how that looked much more. But in the current trend of unusual spellings of names I do worry that people with think her name is spelt that way it is to be 'different'. But I don't worry that much

And DC3 I adore. Even though I still liked it when he was born it took a short while in my head for it to become 'his' name but it most definitely is now.

Back to the drawing board we go again for DC4. Can't wait. I hate trying to pick names!

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