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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 babies really look like a certain name?

37 replies

Babylove2015 · 01/01/2015 21:05

I'm getting obsessed with baby names. My husband refuses to discuss baby names with me, saying " wait until it's born and see what name suits it."
I rather pick names now , as I'm thinking it will grow into whatever name you choose.

A new baby looks like a baby to me. So I don't understand how they look like a certain name?

What do you guys think?

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tinkerbellvspredator · 01/01/2015 21:06

Yes they all look like Winston Churchill

Yorkshirelassreturns · 01/01/2015 21:50

Yes I think he is right. We had picked Felicity for our daughter but when she arrived she was very dark and grumpy/serious so a sunny name meaning happiness just didn't suit her. Even though she is now a mischievous and bubbly little toddler, that name still wouldn't have been right for her whereas her chosen name really suits her personality. However, a more generic name could suit more babies. I think it depends on the name really. Good luck x

Annbag · 01/01/2015 21:57

This reply has been withdrawn

Withdrawn at the poster's request.

TobyLerone · 01/01/2015 22:01

I think they do look more like one name than another.

Make a long list and pick from it when the baby is born. It's more fun that way, anyway :)

shoobidoo · 01/01/2015 22:05

I agree with you - no baby 'looks' like a collection of letters!
We give babies a name so they can be identified, and people make their name, not the other way round.

We chose our kids' names after finding out their gender at the 20 wk scans.

TimefIies · 01/01/2015 23:12

We have a short list to pick from when baby arrives. To me, some names suit some looks - e.g. Fraser has curly hair, Hamish has curly hair & pink cheeks, Bruce is well built, Ethan is skinny - entirely subjective of course!

It's a big ask to come up with a name from scratch when you're exhausted and haven't even begun to discuss each other's preferences!

Orangeisthenewbanana · 02/01/2015 08:38

I agree with you. I've also always wondered how a baby can look like they suit a name or not! We had one name for each sex and that was it. Perhaps if you're not 100% decided on which name to use, actually seeing your newborn is helpful in making the final choice though?

There's nothing wrong with not having absolutely decided before baby arrives, but agree with pp who said that you should probably have narrowed it down to a few before the birth. Many couples have very different ideas/tastes as individuals, and the discussions can get quite heated, judging by threads on here! Not something you want to be dealing with in the first few weeks with a newborn! Congratulations on your pregnancy

SurfsUp1 · 02/01/2015 08:47

DS1 was born with brown hair which then fell out and left him with hair so white he looked like he was part polar bear.
DS2 was born with blonde hair which later went very dark.

It doesn't matter what they look like when they're born as it rarely bares and resemblance to what they will look like 3 months later, and then they'll be totally different again at 1, 3, 5 etc. Choose the name for the name.

LordJabuJabu · 02/01/2015 08:56

I'm with your husband.
Ds1,3, IS his name.
Ds2, 1, really isn't. We struggled for a month to name him & he def isn't his chosen name (or any of the others we tried on him)!

Drquin · 02/01/2015 09:05

No, I don't think they do.

I think some folk use that logic at the outset to convince others of the choice of name. Then later of course it all sounds odd ..... You call the baby "Steven" and everyone visits "Steven" and coos over him ...... At some point you say, "ooh we thought of calling him Jim at one point" and everyone goes "ooh no, he's definitely a Steven".
It's bit because he doesn't look like "a Jim" it's because you've got used to calling him Steven. Had you called him "Jim" originally, everyone would declare he "looks like a Jim".

Drquin · 02/01/2015 09:07

"Not because" not "bit because"

LetTheRiverAnswer · 02/01/2015 09:15

Yes, I think certain names can seem to fit more once you meet the baby. Not based on looks so much as temperament sometimes though. Ds1 has a quirky name id liked but decided was too unusual and chosen another name. Once he was born dh and I both decided he was the first name-he's a quirky character . Ds2 was a very very quiet calm baby, he needed a gentle name. Ds3, however, was named in advance because by then we'd run out of ideas . Al ll their names work as well as each other, as it happens

GotToBeInItToWinIt · 02/01/2015 09:17

Yorkshire Felicity was on our short list and when DD was born we just knew that was the right name, she seemed to be born with a smile on her face! She's been happy and sunny ever since. I do think babies suit/don't suit certain names.

LynetteScavo · 02/01/2015 09:31

We had a name picked for ds2...when he was born it just didn't suit him, and I dave him a completely different name, which suits him very well.

LynetteScavo · 02/01/2015 09:33

And when DD was born the midwife said "she's such a sweet little baby she needs a flower name"

At the time I was . With hindsight she was right

AuntieStella · 02/01/2015 09:36

Agree with previous posters: nearly all caucasian babies look like Winston (Churchill), Ross (Kemp) or William (Hague). Or perhaps 'howling orange in a wig'

shoobidoo · 02/01/2015 11:03

I wonder why so many babies in the 70s looked like a Steve or Clare, and loads of today's babies look like Harry or Ellie!

GotToBeInItToWinIt · 02/01/2015 11:07

shoobi obviously I chose a name I thought suited her from a pool of names that I actually liked! She may well have looked more like a Sharon or a Michelle than a Felicity, but from my short list she was definitely a Felicity.

Linguaphile · 02/01/2015 13:47

I think every little baby girl looks like a Rosie, no idea why.

We have twin girls and had decided (based on kicking and movement patterns, etc) what their personalities were probably going to be, and we named them accordingly when they were born. However, after 12 hours of properly looking at them, it became abundantly clear that their names should be swapped because they each looked like the other's name! To this day, they still really suit their names both in looks and personality.

flowerygirl · 02/01/2015 13:52

I always think babies look like fleshy pink blobs (in a nice way!) so I don't understand the 'wait to see if it suits the name' mentality either!

LynetteScavo · 02/01/2015 18:16

But my two DSs looked very different as newborns! DS2 just wasn't a Hugo, much as I love the name. Hugos are solid, sturdy blokes. DS2 was too delicate to be a Hugo. DS1, however would have made a great Hugo, or George, or Bruce.

spiderlight · 02/01/2015 20:38

We'd decided on a name for DS and then I went right off it because I could only picture it suiting a very Welsh-looking, red-headed, rosy-cheeked farmer's son of a baby and DH and I are none of the above (apart from me being Welsh). When DS popped out, he was very Welsh-looking, red-headed, rosy-cheeked and looked as if he'd be hefting haybales about before his first birthday, and I couldn't imagine him being called anything else! None of the other names we'd picked would have been 'him' at all, even though on paper I actually preferred several of them.

Iliveinalighthousewiththeghost · 02/01/2015 20:48

Yes they can. Some people really do come with a name, and others never grow into their name.

Mrsgrumble · 02/01/2015 20:53

That's so cute spider

We did decide on names but I think our dc look like their names- they are classic though

For really bubbly, cute, funky names maybe you would need to see the child

longestlurkerever · 02/01/2015 20:53

I agree with you OP. Surely in your hormone induced fug you would decide your newborn needs a really cute name to suit him or her, and then they'd be lumbered with a cutesy baby name when they're grown up?

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