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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Have you ever known anyone to change their baby's name more than once?!

17 replies

HasItStartedYet · 14/10/2013 16:31

In the first six weeks I mean.

As in: Baby is called X!
Actually baby is now called Y!
Oops, Baby is X again!

Would you think they were beyond bonkers??!

OP posts:

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SantanaLopez · 14/10/2013 16:35

Nope, just sleep deprived and hormonal

JustBecauseICan · 14/10/2013 16:39

Yes, my mum's cousin. She did it a few times, but she had MH issues.

JustBecauseICan · 14/10/2013 16:40

(the daughter eventually reverted to her "original" name as far as I remember. Was 30 odd years ago)

Original poster

HasItStartedYet · 14/10/2013 16:41

Oh that makes me feel great! Not.

OP posts:

CiderwithBuda · 14/10/2013 16:43

Yep. Baby was X. Then Y. Then Z. He is still Z. We didn't realise at the time but friend had PND which played a part.

Original poster

HasItStartedYet · 14/10/2013 16:48

Oh I don't want people to think that. I don't think that's what it is.

OP posts:

Choccyhobnob · 14/10/2013 16:48

I haven't known anyone do it but I wouldn't think them bonkers, it's a hard choice and you have to see what they suit!

Mim78 · 14/10/2013 17:09

I think your fine as long as you make a final decision soonish.

CiderwithBuda · 14/10/2013 18:06

Well it doesn't have to be that obv but in my friends case we were all a bit bemused about the name changes as she had been so set on a particular name all the way through. Then she changed it. Then she changed it again. Her DH was at a loss as he wasn't keen on the new names at all. It was only a while later with other behavioral changes that we realised that certainly in HER case it was a symptom of PND.

But if you just want to change the name then go ahead. You have to live with the choice after all.

elcranko · 14/10/2013 20:14

I've known people who've changed the name once, not twice though. However, if someone I knew did it I wouldn't think it was weird at all, I would just assume that they'd tried out the names they'd chosen on their baby and decided they didn't like them so much after all. This is why having six weeks to make a final decision is good! If you don't like the name you've chosen OP, then choose something else, no big deal. Don't worry about what other people might think.

Ihatepeas · 14/10/2013 22:06

I know someone who changed their baby boys name about 5 times before they finally settled on one. They wanted to try each name out for a week (but didn't tell any one that's what they were doing) kept announcing the name is Y then a few days later saying oh no that wasn't for us in the end it's def going to be X then a few days later the same again!!

BeattieBow · 14/10/2013 22:11

well my dd wasn't named for 6 weeks - we kept trying different names out.

I was a bit of a laughing stock at school though when she kept having a different name.

I think I was overthinking it a bit in retrospect. but I still couldn't decide and registered her as one name and call her a slightly different one.

I don't think it was pnd. it's just a big decision, that you have to make when you're sleep deprived and hormonal.

AugustRose · 14/10/2013 22:12

Yes I know someone who changed there DD's name 3 times before getting her registered - which they actually managed to wait until 7 weeks before doing as they had to wait for an appointment after new year. The third time was because she decided on a name then rang the registry office a few days before their appointment to ask how common it was so she changed her mind again.

hurricanemum · 23/10/2013 22:12

I had my DD last September. When she was born I was gobsmacked that she was a girl and thought of her as name a - a name that i have always loved but didnt really think went with our surname so had discounted it. we hadn't decided on a girl's name but had both said we liked name b. Left hospital still with no name. DH told inlaws name b as the almost decided name. Cue my DD1 deciding that she liked that name, inlaws referring to her as that name etc etc. Didn't register until 6 weeks was up. Declared the birth as name a plus MN. went home, DH said it wouldn't have been his choice but fine. Cue major panic attack, sleepless night, imagining horrific-ness of her future life with this name. Next day I drove to where I had DD2 and registered as name b plus same MN. Told family, friends etc. One week later I regretted it. At 9 weeks I told DH that I regretted changing. One year later I still don't feel hapy with her name. We baptised her as name b, name a, middle name. I have been suffering from depression since being pregnant. When DD2 was 10 months I finally relented and went on ADs (despite breastfeeding, the reason I didn't want them in the first place). I have been seeing clinical psychologist about this since Jan. It is still very much unresolved for me and I still don't feel happy. Dr is convinced that this issue is fundamental. This summer I felt like I had resolved it and was making a real effort to used registered name. More recently (as the year deadline for changing approaches) I still feel unhappy when I use her name. I just feel it isn't special enough for her (DD1 has v special family name and mn with special sentiment too). I have even though of altering the name change form that the vicar has signed when I take it to the register office. I am telling you all this because I think that it's really hard to know if you are just having a name wobble that will go away, if you have depression and this has just become a fixation or something of the two. The most important thing is that you feel happy when you say the name. I think the decision for me was the hard thing. I could not cope with the weight of the decision and now I wish I had gone with my gut feeling after I had the most wonderful birth experience and was so happy. Now it's all muddied and sh*tty I feel that whatever happens I won't be happy. My DH is very supportive and lovely but we have basically been arguing for the last year and I feel that he has ignored the situation until it gets to a point where he can say (and has said) 'oh it's too late to change it now...'
I have also contemplated changing to a name very very similar to what she is called now just so it is a bit different as I feel that her name as it is is so inextricably linked to this hard period of my life that every time I say it I am reminded of it all. I also can't now think of name a without name b and vice versa.
Hope this all makes sense - I am typing very quickly so sorry for the lack of structure and multiple typos!

Bathsheba · 23/10/2013 22:26

I redthis post a number of years ago and it has stayed with me...

www.ivillage.com/forums/node/87274723

Alexandrite · 23/10/2013 22:43

If you were unhappy with X and changed to Y, won't you run the risk of being unhappy with X again for the same reasons? Can we know what X and Y are so we can tell you which we like?

Britishseamonkey · 03/11/2013 00:06

I think it's fine

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