Please help...changing DD name

[rubyred84]

I'm so conflicted over what to do about my daughter's name. She is 8 days old, and we called her Bryony. It wasn't an easy decision...we spent months looking for a name that we loved as much as her sisters name (Imogen), and thought we had decided on Ottilie (nn Ottie). We announced it via text to family when she was born, and the responses we got were "wow, never heard of that before". Literally nothing else. I spoke to my mum and asked her what she thought, she said it was a name she had never heard of and just thought we were setting the baby up for a lifetime of explaining her name, spelling it etc. Also, she hinted it was a bit pretentious. So, after a few days we decided on Bryony, and this is what we have "announced" her as. Cards etc are arriving with this name on.

But I'm now not so sure. It was a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to give her a name. I just don't feel it's a pretty/beautiful name anymore, and I don't know if it goes with Imogen. But I am used to calling her it now (for a few days i called her Ottilie by accident).

I would love others thoughts. Do you think Bryony goes with Imogen? Is Ottilie really that pretentious? Should we have stuck to our guns and gone with Ottilie? Does Ottilie even go with Imogen? Is Bryony a "pretty" name in your opinion?

I was due to register her tkmorrow but ive cancelled for now as we have time. I feel like I need to go back to the drawing board for a bit to make sure we are certain on her name.

Others that have come to mind that are prettier and match Imogen are Phoebe, Freya (a bit of an issue as DH has a close-ish friend who's daughter is called this), Clara....

Im still sad at our family's reaction to our first name announcement...we werent asking fir their opinions, it was the proper announement! So now I'm totally unsure of myself and what to do.

I'm just a bit lost and would really appreciate some help.

I prefer Ottilie, I am really surprised no one has heard of it as it is pretty popular.

I have a Bryony, I love it, also had Imogen on our list, I think they go together well.
Surprised people have not heard of it, it's not that unusual, and is the name of a climbing plant.

Ottilie is lovely. I think among certain generation the name is unusual but it’s quite well known for babies now. I think your family were being a bit thoughtless. Bryony is perfectly nice and whether or not it goes with Imogen (lovely name) doesn’t matter, but it’s sounds fine.

However if you love Ottilie then just change it. It’s a great name and she won’t be spelling it for ever. These days babies are called all sorts of things. Our parents generation seemed to name everyone claire, or Louise in the early 1980’s but these days people are more adventurous so everyone is used to less usual names.

Ottilie is lovely, gaining popularity so I'm surprised ppl haven't heard of it. Go with the name you love.

We named dc2 something I thought was fairly unusual but I love it. At 5 months I'm still having ppl look confused, asking me to spell it, politely saying 'oh.... Where's that from?' which I wasn't anticipating. Not sure of our family's honest thoughts but they haven't been negative! I did think about changing it so I didn't saddle dc with a lifetime of this but I think ppl tend to ask the mum of a newborn baby about the name more than they would a grown child/person.

I teach an Ottilie and a Bryony, both lovely kids. I like both names; Ottilie is more unusual but not out there. Bryony makes me think of briar and I like nature names.
As to your family, I think they were insensitive. Personally I wouldn’t change back now but if you feel in your gut that you want to, do it now while she’s tiny. And ignore any comments, how rude!

I love Imogen and Ottilie, and am slightly less keen on Bryony. IMO it works fine with Imogen, but that’s less important than whether you like it. Do you like Elodie?

I think they are both nice - briar is a lovely nn for bryony while I think ottilie is so cute and not at all pretentious (?) Less keen on ottie. I don't really understand the names going together for siblings thing but I think Imogen can definitely have either. You have time to work it out.

Don't change it just based on other people's reactions, she is yours, they have had their baby naming days.
We had a few raised eyebrows about DS2 name, normal name, slightly less usual abbreviation, inlaws said they would use full name and a couple of times used a different abbreviation, we corrected them everytime, it's his name now, everyone is used to it

I don't understand the need for it to match her sister's name! That's crazy! They are independent of each other.

Ottilie, Tilly for short, is lovely, as are Clara and Freya. I know a Bryony and she gets called Brian, so it wouldn’t be my choice. Why do you care what your family think - choose the name you love!

Match is probably the wrong term...I know everyone interprets names differently, to me, Imogen is a very pretty name, I'm just not sure Bryony is as pretty, maybe a bit more plain. Is it a bit like calling one sister Amelia and the other Brenda? (Extreme example but you get my point)

Bryony is a beautiful name. Really pretty without being frilly. Not overused, not modish. Just lovely. Very much goes with Imogen too. Absolutely the same kind of vibe from both. I can’t see the issue.

(Ottilie is also pretty but a touch more rarified than either Imogen or Bryony and I can imagine the odd person might find it pretentious.)

I like the name Bryony. I prefer it to Otillie if I’m being honest

If you love Ottilie but were put off by some rather odd reactions from others I would go with your gut. If that is Ottilie, go for it! This is YOUR child. Others have had their day, and Ottilie is hardly unusual or 'out there'.

It was incredibly rude of them to criticise your name choices. Both are lovely names and not that unusual at all. Try and ignore their reactions and go with your gut.

Vote for Ottilie! Beautiful name - my mum made a snarky comment about my son's name and it's really hard to ignore these comments from close family - but it's not their baby!
You've obv named her Ottilie in your heart and have been thinking of her with that name - better change now than regret it forever, grit your teeth against the embarrassment of having to announce the name change and focus on enjoying your new baba!

I love Bryony.

I do think both Bryony and Ottilie are lovely names. To me they are both pretty names of a similar ilk.

However, if you and DH both feel that you wish you'd gone with Ottilie I would change it.

I regret my daughter's name but it is far too late to change it. I wish I'd given myself a couple more days before making the decision.

Mumsnet loves ottilie. Its not common so no wonder your family have never heard of it. It is also very pretentious. Bryony is beautiful. Having said that she's your baby name her what you want. I think bryony goes better with imogen.

I would choose Ottilie over Bryony, personally. I know one Ottilie, who's aged 7. Nobody bats an eyelid round here when she says her name.

I think they're both lovely names. We have a Bryony in the family, she gets Bry. Tbh I think Ottilie is more suited to a little girl... Bryony sounds older but that's just my opinion.

Fwiw DD has an unusual name, a lot of spelling & explaining but.... they totally 'grow into' their names so go with your preference

Love Imogen and I love Bryony, I would name my daughter either of these.
Not keen at all on Ottilie.

Would it bother you if people abbreviated it to Tilly, given the bazillions of Matildas?

Go with whatever is in your heart, OP. I changed DD’s name because after living with it for a bit I never felt at ease with it and it became clear that another name was The One.

Honestly OP is change her name to Ottilie (which I hadn't heard of but I think is a beautiful name!) We went with an unusual name for our DS (Scandinavian name, neither of us are Scandinavian but we really loved the name). Despite loving than name more than any others I did feel very nervous in the first few weeks. My MiLs reaction was literally "oh?" with a face of mild disgust and every time she gets drunk now she'll still gleefully tell me how she's had to get used to it. I do have to frequently spell it or repeat it for people but he's 9 months old now and I'm so glad we stuck with our name. It really should be what you want, don't worry about other people! And again, Ottilie is a beautiful name!