Name regret - does it ever go away?

[everythinginthegardensisrosie]

My DD is now 5, so there is absolutely no way I would change her name or let on to her that I feel like this.
Ever since we named her I've had namers remorse. I suffered from horrendous pnd after her birth which made me completely paralised in decision making and made it very hard to name her. Even after recovering from the pnd, I still feel like I made a mistake and I've let her down. The rest of the family have solid names such as James, Will, Anna, Lucy, Edward, George etc. I gave her a very fashionable name which I hear everywhere. I wish I had called her a classic too.
Just want to know if there are others that feel like this and if the feeling passes with time. She is very much her name now and it does suit her so I'm confused as to why I can't move on.

That's good to know Rosie, hopefully you can reassure yourself that it is a popular classic. Like little women

everard - if it's "Hayley" then it's not a made up name. Hayley Mills is named after her mother, Mary Hayley Bell

OP, if the name is Eva then I am very biased as I have one and think it is a lovely name!

OK, not a made up name, but judging by what you can read on Wikipedia, it was originally (in the Mills' case) a surname, passed down through the family. I believe the Mills were supposed to be the first to make it a girl's given name.

I liked it because 'ley' is old English for meadow and I am very English myself and love the countryside so thought naming my daughter after a hay meadow was a beautiful idea, but all of that was missing the fact that the name had only a brief popularity which will date most of its bearers in decades to come.

But thanks for the votes of confidence, and fortunately I could definitely describe my daughter as artistic and having flair, so hopefully people who know her will have a positive impression of the name. As I said originally, the name becomes the person, not the other way around.

I know lots of Hayley's in their late 30's and 40's and I really like it v unusual for a teenager. My Yonngest has a total compromise name which suits perfectly but was pretty much chosen as a process of elimination. I'm fairly indifferent to it, neither love nor hate it but there are 3 in the school year with the same name but can't imagine that any other name would suit. My eldest 2 have names I love.

If it helps, I sometimes think I could have thought more about my DD name. I had PND too (god that's hard to admit) but they grow into their name and become it, honestly. hope this helps x

Ok I realise this is a zombie thread.. Sorry!! But I feel the need to add to it a little. This is outing but ok . My parents called me Emmeline . To date I have been called Emma Emily EmaLINE EvALINE and many many others. I hate my name . Utterly hate it as no matter how many times I correct people they never listen and continue to get it wrong . We had a DD so we thought long and hard and called her Thea only for an American cousin to pronounce it Theya . I did laugh at that though as its about the only way to get her name wrong.

www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/aug/31/mothers-chose-wrong-name-child-poll

So this thread was revived & is now being quoted in the press. I am very surprised at the list of most regretted names.

Mottled - I think that's from the survey that the panel did. It was on here a couple of months ago

I'm suffering now from total naming regret. But I can't find an alternative I am 100% sure of 😞

I think as long as she likes it then it's okay. I was given a common name that was already going out of fashion at the time. I hated it. It could be shortened and everyone including my mother did and I loathed it. If you ask people what my name conjures up they always say short, fat middle aged woman!

It's quite bizarre as though I've never called myself by that shortened name by mother still uses it to everyone.

Recently we talked about it and it was interesting as she had actually wanted to call me Ellen or Helen names I much prefer but the family were all dead set against and I ended up with my name as a compromise.

I changed it by deepoll the day I turned 18.

I am trying to decide on names now and it is so hard. So I really think you shouldn't feel,bad about it at all. It sounds to me like she really likes her name but it's not written in stone. She could always change it if she wanted. If I had known at 18 that my mother had really wanted to call me Ellen then I would have changed it to that as I really liked it. Sadly we didnt talk about it at the time and I went for something random.

Growing up I always disliked my name, because it was the most popular name that year (and several years before and after) and so it seemed like every other little girl at the time had my name....however, when my mum later told me what her alternatives were I am so bloody glad I have my hideously-overpopular, slightly-dull-yet-sensible, professional-sounding, great-nickname-opportunity name!

Think something like - I am named Jessica, the alternative was Blue

I'm sure your daughter likes her name, or will at least learn to like it. If it's a popular name now it will become one of the classics when all of those children grow up! By the sound of it, it's sensible and won't hold her back in any way! (just remember, alternatives aren't always better!).