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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Changing your mind about names once baby arrives

73 replies

KittyB52 · 16/02/2017 17:42

We are still undecided about baby names for our daughter (37 weeks today!) and quite a few people have said that we will probably change our minds once we see her anyway. This gives me hope about pencilling in the names I love (which DH does NOT love) just in case she suits one of them.

So, please tell me if you chose names before the birth and then decided baby didn't suit them and had to choose something else. Does this really happen that often?

Sorry if this has been done loads before, advanced search still isn't working.

OP posts:

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bingandabong · 17/02/2017 05:27

Bloody phone! Barold mard-arse

Original poster

KittyB52 · 17/02/2017 08:23

Barold Mard-Arse!

Maybe there is hope then, if baby comes out looking like a Beatrice. Hopefully she won't look too much like a Barry...

OP posts:

KlingybunFistelvase · 17/02/2017 08:43

Oh yes you must put Barold on the BC. Gives her the choice of something more formal for that all important CV when she applies to be a high court judge .

Beatrice is lovely though. Hope she looks like one, so you can use it! I know a little Beatrice with nn Bea. I love it.

I also absolutely love Nancy Ramona! Not related to you OP, but just thought I'd say so.

BlondeBecky1983 · 17/02/2017 11:46

My friend and her DH called their daughter Lily all the way through pregnancy since finding out she was a girl - when she arrived they felt she looked nothing like a 'Lily' and changed it!

hlc123 · 17/02/2017 12:08

We had 6 names on our list for our second son, and went with something completely different as non of them felt right

Zoe1983 · 17/02/2017 12:43

We had a shortlist based on expecting a chunky monkey....then when she was born 6lb 9oz and all fair and dainty we felt she didn't suit any of them. In the end, we went for a wildcard suggested by DH that seemed to suit her perfectly.

NapQueen · 17/02/2017 12:46

I had a favourite girls name which I shared with dh early into the pregnancy. He didnt like it. Boys name we both agreed one immediatley. When I was in early labour I lay in the bath with the name book and hollered a few at him. He especially loved that initial first name I had suggested way back.

In the end dc was a dd and we chose two of the three names as her first and middle name. The one I first said being her first name.

I must say I felt an immense pressure to name her as soon as she arrived. I really dont know why!!

Purplebluebird · 17/02/2017 18:42

We chose a name before, and stuck with that :)

HelenaGWells · 17/02/2017 20:19

I have convinced a few people that Barry is short for Barold

In our house it's short for Barrington.

DS had a name, the one and only boys name we had loved for years, both agreed on and never got to use. Then he was born. It did not suit him at all. He was nameless for a day and now has an entirely different name that DH originally hated.

Crabbo · 17/02/2017 20:19

I picked a name and stuck with it - it was the only thing on the list as I couldn't find anything else I liked. DH said no (thought it sounded like a stripper name 😕) until she was born and he changed his mind, said I could choose whatever I liked. I have a friend who didn't choose until she was at the registry office!

SquedgieBeckenheim · 17/02/2017 20:48

We picked DD's name before she was born. Never considered changing it! At birth and the first few weeks I don't think there is any way of knowing what will suit them as they age. They're all wrinkly and no personality showing through yet. They truly are a blank canvas imo.
I may eat my words when DD2 arrives in a few weeks!

urbansprawl · 17/02/2017 21:38

Or Benry? I've always insisted to my little sister (now 29) that Barry is short for Benry.

KarmaKit · 17/02/2017 21:48

I chose two of my three before they were born, and dislike them now. Well, maybe dislike is too strong but I most likely wouldn't choose the same names now. The one I chose after the baby was born is the one I like most, and suits the child best. We had a list of three but none of them were "right" so baby was nameless for a few hours.

mumoseven · 17/02/2017 22:06

With baby #1 I just thought I would call him/her what she looked like! ( didn't know the sex) She looked like ET! I literally had no names ready for her, poor little thing. I ended up with a short list and could not decide, until my mothers birthday in the same month when I took a deep breath and wrote ' love from mumo, mrmumo and babymumo'' And that was that! The other kids had their names decided well in advance to avoid this... It just seemed such a responsibility to name a child.

PrudenceDear · 17/02/2017 22:24

We took ages to decide on ds1s name, he was several days old. I think in my heart it was always his name but I just needed to get used to it first.

DD has the name DS would've had. I love it.

Ds2's name was met with a few incredulous looks and remarks. I had a slight panic over it at a couple of weeks but he certainly suits his name!

cochineal7 · 17/02/2017 23:46

We only ever had girl's names for some reason, so when DD was born all was well, and she suited her name. When DS was born though, we were again ready with a girl's name, but had again not settled on a boy's name. We named him, but very soon realised he did not fit his name. We decided to change it, and we did, when he was about a week old. Thankfully we had not registered him yet, so that first name will only ever be in the hospital records. He definitely suits his name now!

Doofas · 18/02/2017 07:10

We had no names chosen, ummed and erred between two names, decided on a name when do was two days old. Realised at about eight months old that we only really called him by the other name (using it as a nick name) so added it as a middle name.

cece · 18/02/2017 07:23

We changed our minds with all of our DC.

DD - got a name from the reserve list

DS1 - hadn't agreed a boys name prior to birth. We had a massive list of girls names. He got a compromise name as we have very different views about boys names. It was the only boys name we could agree on.

DS2 - we had agreed on one boys name prior to birth (just in case he was a boy). Didn't use it as he didn't look like an Edward. Midwife suggested a name when he was a week old. So we went with that!

skerrywind · 18/02/2017 07:33

I don't know how anyone can name a baby before birth.

I wanted to meet my babies and find out how they looked, what their little characters were like before we names them.

We had short lists, but they went out of the window when we realised that none were suitable.

skerrywind · 18/02/2017 07:37

They're all wrinkly and no personality showing through yet. They truly are a blank canvas imo.

I disagree. My babies were very different creatures- even at a few minutes old.
My DS was sleepy, calm and placid in the early hours and days following birth, he is still a calm easy going individual, DD was squirming her way out of the birth canal and was massively animated, soaking in her surroundings- she has retained that energy and zest for life.

snowone · 18/02/2017 07:37

We had 2 names in mind for our DD - we had had about 50 throughout the pregnancy all which got vetoed at some point. I find girls names soooo hard to like forever!! Good luck choosing

IfUPlease · 18/02/2017 10:53

DD (one week old!) was given a name we came up with 24hrs before she was born - we spent 9 months going over and over names and then her name occurred to me and that was that. DH officially named her an hour after she was born as I had had enough!

SuperBeagle · 18/02/2017 10:55

I find girls names soooo hard to like forever!!

This is my issue too. I find it near impossible to find a girl's name that I love for more than about two weeks. Boys names are a breeze.

TheDowagerDuchessofDenver · 18/02/2017 13:57

We had a shortlist of four, but secretly I was sure DS would be X. When he arrived we realised in horror that he didn't look like any of the names on our list and DH started saying he thought he looked like an Arthur, which wasn't a name either of us had suggested at all!
Anyway, we decided to sleep on it, and the next morning he looked much smaller and less puffy, and suited two of the names on our list - X and Y. X was still my favourite, but I had to agree with DH that he definitely looked more like a Y.
Now I'm really happy with his name -and it still suits him!

OhTheRoses · 18/02/2017 15:02

DS1 was going to be Hugo
DS2 was going to be Oliver (he died sadly)
DD was going to be Oscar

None of the children were given the pg favourite. DS2's middle name was Louis and Louisa was a front runner at one point, I just couldn't get my he's around doing girls. Oddly the name we chose for her was very similar, phonetically to DS2 and quite subconsciously. From contacts with other mothers who have lost babies this is quite common.

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