How did you decide on a name?

[seashell81]

Hi. I'm really struggling with names. The more names I look at the more I think I don't like any of them! I'm just wondering if i'm too much expecting a light bulb moment where me and DH come across a name that is 'the one.' Is this how it works? I'm especially struggling with boys names. The closest name we've both come to liking is Zephyr (Zeph for short) - I like the fact it's meaning is linked to the elements (it is the west wind in Greek mythology) and that it is unusual but still 'namey.' However me and DH are starting to have our doubts about this name too. I'm due in May so have a while to decide. Just having a bit of a rant really and wondering how others have decided on a name?

We made a list then narrowed it down to two or three and then when DS/DD arrived we picked the name which seemed to suit them best.

We made a long list during the pregnancy, reduced to a shortlist of 10 or 12 by the time dd arrived, narrowed down to two, 24 hours after she was born, then made the final decision when she was a day and a half old as the nurses in the SCBU kept asking what her name was! She quite clearly didn't suit many of the names on the list, but she could easily have been one of 3 names which I would have been equally happy with.

We never had a lightbulb moment, and I spent hours obsessively reading name books and on name websites thinking that "the one" was out there somewhere. In the end she has a name that was one of the first on our list, but never a big favourite - it was just the one that seemed right for her! And of course she couldn't be anything else now, we love the name

Post it notes in the Moses basket - we chose the name that fitted. Didn't rush into it (pissed off MIL so bonus there...) - took us a week or so.

No light bulb moment. Dd baby tag at hospital said Undecided where name should have been. We had it down to two names with middle name sorted already due to family connection. DH decided in end and he picked the right one as her name absolutely suits her.

Very weirdly, I would think of a name, discuss it with DH, then it would make me feel nauseous. We went in to hospital have DC3 ready with the only boy and girl name that didn't make me feel sicky. Don't ask me why baby names have this effect on me in pregnancy but it does help narrow down our choice!

anotherthing that is genius

DH has suggested several names that make me feel sick

in all seriousness, OP, we each come up with a list, veto the ones the other doesn't like, narrow it down to 2 or 3 then decide once they are born. I tend to start with a meaning I like, DH just comes up with names he likes at random.

Had baby girls name since day 1... Nancy... And Albie for a boy however my dp's friend had a baby days before our baby was due and they used Albie... Went into a mad panic as we had no other name... Typical then we ha a boy... Just hours before birth I had said Percy dp said yes it was ok and when he was born I said it was his name and he could never have been anything else :)

DS wasn't named until he was a month I really struggled with boys names and we knew we were having a boy.
In the end we had 2 we liked (well I liked, think by that point DP would have called him sprout just so he had a name). I tried calling him both for a day or so and one just seemed more him.

I came up with a list (I like making lists) and dp picked his favourite

I had a name I loved from a book I read as a teen. When I fell pregnant I suggested it, and DH said no. In the early stages of labour I was in the bath reading out names (strangely only girls names even though we didnt know she was a She) and he suggested my initial girls name he had no recollection of our conversation but it is not common at all so I fail to see where it came into his head from.

We toyed between two other "bath" names for her middle name.

Weve saved the other "bath" name for if this bump is a dd.

I am easily persuaded, but DH is so fussy- yet offers no alternatives!
I found the name Ariana (DD1) while reading a trashy sleb mag featuring 3 little Dutch princesses (Alexia, Amalia & Ariana). I liked the sound of all 3 and DH immediately loved Ariana so I was just thrilled we agreed! The more I said it, looked into it, the more it worked.
For DD2- due in May we have chosen Penelope. I had a huuuuuuuge baby name list on my iPhone notes and I made DH sit with me and 'cull' the names he absolutely hated. He surprised me with Penelope as I thought he would hate it. Strangely this is the name I chose for myself as a little girl when I decided I no longer wanted to be known as my real name lol! It didn't as my name but I feel like it's just perfect for my little girl.