Would/Has anybody changed their baby name choice/s based on an opinion on here??

[Pregnantagain99]

Just curious really, i see alot of threads asking for opinions and then people changing their minds on a name they've stated they love just because someone has said they don't like it for whatever reason.
It's interesting to get opinions and not that i have anything against people asking whether someone likes a name and why but for me even if every person slated the name i loved i'd still stick with it if that was the name i loved. The same with my family, some of them haven't liked my shortlist of names but it hasn't stopped me considering any of them, they can like it or lump it lol.

I changed my mind on combination names. I love Amalise which is a combo of Ama and Elise and also Avienne which is a combo of Ava and Vivienne. I still find these names beautiful but I realized combo names are not well received. I still chose a name many dont like despite people's opinions (Harlow, I'm also American) though. People will like and dislike whatever you choose. It's honestly up to you at the end of the day.

People didn't love the name I chose for my DD when I posted my shortlist. But in real life it's had nothing but lovely compliments. (nobody has ever heard of it either!)

I have my mind changed on my original top choice name on here not because people didn't like the name but because they made me realise quite how popular it is. Have been in love with the name Evelyn for a long time nn Evie but didn't realise was quite so widespread at the moment until I came on here. Put me off using it tbh. Saying that at the same time OH wasn't overly keen either and then the name we have chosen which we both liked grew on me at the same time.

I might if someone spotted a massive problem with a name, like it means something horrible in a language of a country I visit regularly, or the initials would spell something embarrassing. I wouldn't just because the majority didn't like it aesthetically.

Yup. Once before we knew the gender, when several pages worth of posters told me very, er, enthusiastically that I couldn't name my unborn child Boris. (I have a Russian husband, in my defence.)

And again after DD was born - we were totally scrambled so I posted a photo and asked for opinions on our shortlist. One poster came up with a combo we really loved, and went with. Another (inadvertently) came up with her nickname, which we still use.

And fwiw a foreign friend based in the UK chose a name that really doesn't work here for her DD, and I don't think she's realised - but I see the half-smile on people's faces whenever she introduces her. I really wish she'd asked on here!

All fair points 😁 I suppose the fact that the names I like aren't too out there so they can't be slated for sounding strange in certain countries, having odd meanings etc. Although not everyone loves the name of my children and that's fine with me.

Rachelhaydenberk1 i have seen your thread and I live in England and know that Harlow is a place but I still love it as a name. It wouldn't put me off people saying that's what they associate it with.

If it's just that people don't like it because it's not their taste you should stick with it, but it is good to know about popularity, what it means to certain people/what it's associated with, any initial problems, combination with siblings names etc.

Also, sometimes pregnancy hormones can go a bit wild and have you seriously considering twins called Bert and Ernie. It's probably a good thing for someone to point out that you may have gone mad.

The thing with Harlow, isn't that it's a place name, it's the type of place. If you don't live near then it's not a problem. There must be a bit of a crappy town near where you live that you wouldn't name a baby after? It's just the same for those of us who live near Harlow! It's never going to be name for a person to me.

The name we choose was completely slated on here. We still used it, because the reason it was slated, was not a reason of concern to me.

Although we spend hours in advance thinking about names, once your baby arrives whatever you settle on will soon be 'their' name and you won't be able to imagine them being called anything else. Even family members (usually grandparents) who don't like your choice generally come round when the name is attached to a cute, little person! I do think it is a bit of a waste of mental energy agonising about how a middle name sounds with your chosen first name because you rarely say the name like that, beyond initial birth announcements.

I asked on here because we are choosing a name from a different culture. I wanted to see how people might pronounce and perceive it. I don’t think I’d have changed my mind unless there was something really embarrassing that I hadn’t anticipated.

In general, the name threads here simply make me realize that I don’t share the same taste as a lot of MNers. I still enjoy reading them though.

It didn’t change my opinion on DC2’s name but it gave me the confidence to actually use it. I was worried people would think it was a bit try hard/out there, but in reality it’s had nothing but compliments and it certainly doesn’t stick out where we live (expat community in Middle East)

I do still wonder if we went with the right spelling though... there are 2 ways and while we technically went with the ‘correct’ one, I sometime think it doesn’t look right

I agree with @Crabbyandproudofit - Once the baby arrives and has its name , it is its name and I think so much more time is spent worrying about what to call a child before it is born that any time spent worrying about the name afterwards. I am quite old so did not ask for opinions here. I once and once only asked my SIL ( who is lovely btw) an opinion on one name I liked for DS. It was Guy - I thought a nice classic name - she immediately said " Guy the Gorilla". At that point DH & I decided we were not going to discuss any names until Ds was born I do think there is a point in asking about names which may have a problem you haven't thought of ( e.g. spelling etc) but by and large if you get through the main problems of not having initials which spell something tease worthy etc most normal nice names will be fine.

I’ve read people’s opinions on here out of curiosity and particularly to see if there are any glaring associations I’ve missed, but it hasn’t made me changed my mind. I’ve never posted them for that reason, I just look up the reactions on other threads! It’s more of a mental preparedness for the comments I may get.

DC1: some people think it’s lovely and classic, some think it’s posh and snobby.
DC2: quite inoffensive, nice enough and occasionally gets recommended but no one feels strongly for or against.
DC3: some people think it’s a fabulous name, some think it’s a bit old as they associate it with a particular TV personality that hasn’t been on screen for over 40 years (not even on repeats).

So, that has prepared me well for the potential feedback depending on who I’m talking to but hasn’t changed my mind at all. The reality is there are 1000s (millions, presumably?) of possible names out there, yet finding one you (and your DP, as applicable) really likes and can imagine using for your child, every day, for the rest of their life, and taking into account possible nicknames too, can take time! So once you find one that just ‘clicks’ I think you just have to go with it, there will always be people who love it, hate it or feel indifferent.

Once they’re in nursery/school you also find that you’re surrounded by all sorts of different names and in reality, no one cares what someone else’s child is called, the only time I ever see a reaction (usually online, not IRL) is if someone appears to have gone for a very creatively spelled name (eg using ‘x’ instead of ‘cks’ where the latter is usually the case, maybe the name incorporates a colour or fruit or something otherwise not considered typical name territory).

No one else actually cares if there are three Amelias in the class or a child with [name] plus hyphen whatever. The only thing with having a popular name is the surname tends to get used a lot. I’m always amused by my 6yo reeling off what he’s been up to with school friends, as there is just one boy in the class that gets called Firstname Surname as there are two in the class and for whatever reason he was the one to be ‘surnamed’ and not the other, so it goes something like, “Today I played football at playtime with Charlie and Ahmed, and then we did art and I made a picture with Jack Summers and Evie.”