When you picked your name, did it just feel right?

[LittleBoyJuly2020]

Hello all, I'm having a baby boy and I've spent months looking through thousands of boys names. I honestly dislike them all ...I had no idea I'd struggle so much. DP is the same, neither of us could find a single name we even half liked.

Then the name 'Owen' came to me and it instantly felt like 'the' name. Since then I've felt 100% sure that this is the right name for my little boy. DP likes it too so we're both happy.

My question is, did any of you struggle with a name but when you found a name, you instantly knew it was the right one?

Also, do you like Owen?

Meh kinda... I was 95% sure about the name we picked. When I was in labour the nurses asked what name we had picked so I told them and from then on they kept referring to DD by that name but it felt weird because I hadn’t been doing that myself. Anyway when she was born she 100% suited her name so I was finally settled on it.

Oops I meant midwives!

Love the name Owen.

Didn't know what we were having. We had chosen a girl's name quite early in pregnancy, but could not agree on a boy's. Fortunately we had a girl.

DH was the one who suggested the girl's name, so was 100%. I was about 80% on it, especially when DM told me directly that she didn't like the name. Initially we weren't going to share our name choices, but I couldn't keep it a secret. Fortunately it grew on her within the week, and she loved it too.

The second I was told baby was a girl. That was that. There was no other name for her.

Owen's on my list as a Welsh name which my English DH might just agree to, so yes, I like it

I think you just get a strong feeling. Eira is my favourite name for a girl. I suspect DH won't agree to it, but whenever I see it written down, or see someone say they have one I remember why I love it so much and it's a strong feeling of "that's the name I want to use".

Do you have a middle name for Owen OP?

@CaffiSaliMali No middle name, DP and his siblings don't have middle names so he's not fussed. Owen goes great with his surname though so I'm happy without a middle name too.

Eira is beautiful! Girl names are so much easier (and nicer!)

My first (a boy) I was going through reams and reams of names and OH vetoed every single one. About a month before due date I suggested a name, he said yes and that was it, it felt right and we were done.

Second (another boy) I loved the name Sebastien right from the start, and literally no one else liked it. I refused to budge and eventually everyone came around. As soon as he was born everyone was talking to him calling him Sebastien and I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I thought I’d get used to it since I’d been the one to push so hard but after a week I just blurted out (in tears for some reason) it wasn’t his name and we had to think of something else! My MIL said the same thing had happened with her son, she’d had a name in mind the whole time she was pregnant but changed her mind when he was born. The name she’d wanted but didn’t use was it for me. The second she said it I knew it was my boys name and that was that.

My third (a girl but didn’t know when expecting) we couldn’t settle on a name for a boy or a girl for love nor money. One evening I went to bed at around 7 months pregnant and as I closed my eyes a name popped into my head, it was a girls name, it was beautiful and I knew that was exactly WHO was in my tummy. I was right :)

My fourth, I fell in love with name after name and then went off them all again really quickly. A name kept cropping up, almost like signs and I thought if I said it out loud it would take away how I felt about it. Odd because I’m not superstitious or anything at all. I didn’t tell anyone, not even my OH. When she was born I knew it was the right name and OH loved it as soon as I said it, and it’s absolutely her name :)

We’re now expecting our fifth and final. I’ve got two girls names I like, but nothing for a boy yet. Nothing feels quite ‘right’ yet but I’ve learned over time that it will come when it comes x

I think Owen is lovely 😊

@MoonBlood I love your post! Thank you for that

I especially loved what you said about your third because that's how I felt, felt like the little boy growing inside me was Owen, it just clicked and I knew that had to be his name! Thankfully DP agreed and we're both surprised because neither of us seemed to like ANY boy names

@LittleBoyJuly2020 :) I’ve often said that it doesn’t feel so much like we pick a name for a baby, it’s more like they already have one, you just have to chance upon it. More like ‘remembering’ something that’s been on the tip of your tongue for a long time just out of reach than you ‘deciding’ it, if that makes sense. It’s the most accurate way to describe how I felt for each one at any rate. Good luck with everything 🥰

It sounds like you have found your name! Owen is lovely.
Our first DS we took ages to decide on his name but it instantly felt right when he was born and I never once questioned it. 4 years on and I couldn't imagine him being anything else.
DS2 is only 7 weeks old and I think about name every day. It has never felt right. We couldn't agree on a name and in the end decided on one 3 days before he was born but its not my naming style really.
I suggested changing it but my DH looked so disappointed and there isn't another name we can agree on anyway. It does really bother me though and I'm hoping that feeling fades.
I'm weirdly name obsessed though so it was always going to be tricky. If we are lucky enough to have a DC3 I will approach things very differently!

We agreed on girls names both times and they were always going to be that name (although we had a few backups for one and a second choice for my second daughter that I sometimes feel sad we won't get to use and also it's more unusual like #1 name) but we didn't know sex of baby and we didn't share the names before birth.
First time round hubby told me at 32 weeks he didn't like Fergus anymore and wanted Felix I said no way. Second time we had Otis for a boy but baby was a girl.

I have an Owen. I still love it after nearly 7 years. It suits my kid perfectly.

A few points in favour:

No nasty stereotypes associated with it - you won't get crowds of MNetters throwing their hands up and shrieking "the horror, the horror!!'

Works for a little boy and a grown man

Easy to spell, read and pronounce.

Timeless enough to be known/accepted by everyone, but not overused and everywhere. DS is the only one in his class.

You have great taste, OP

Owen's nice, classic and not overly popular.

Have named three children. With the first two I dithered and we were about to give them names we liked well enough but that didn't feel 'right'. Then in each case 'the' name came to us and still perfect 15 and 12 years on. Our third was named from 8 weeks of pregnancy and has always been 'the' name. Still perfect. Interestingly, neither dc2's nor dc3's name were contenders for the previous child.