To talk to your children now their grown up about your name choices!

[whydoesitalwaysrainonme82]

My dd is 10 years old and we were talking about names the other day and she asked if there were other names we considered. I said your dad wanted to call you Lois, but mummy really didn't like it. She said, oh I love that name so much, I wish you had!! She said she still likes her name but not as much as what she could have been called! I thought it was quite amusing and I got a 'told you it was a good name' from DJ!

My mum was so convinced I was a boy in pregnancy that I was David for hours.

She kept asking the nurse where David was because she had just had a baby boy (she had been given pethadine minutes before I shot out) My dad kept telling her they had a girl but she refused to believe it.

They eventually settled on my name once my mum had a good few hours of sleeping off the pethadine and realised she did indeed give birth to a girl.

I had my heart set on Eve for my girl but it was vetoed. Then we agreed on Imogen and then DH went off that. She’s more than happy with the name she ended up with which was my suggestion, a compromise after fending off my ex’s Savannah/Sienna/Jenna type suggestions (no offence to anyone but just not my cup of tea at all). She’s very glad she wasn’t called Eve or Imogen. My twin boys have biblical names, one had been decided for years, the other took a lot more discussion to agree on one which we both liked and which fitted with the first. We literally named them with the two chosen names in alphabetical order as they were born. Weirdly twin b second born (the name which took much discussion) always says he wishes he was called Xander, which was actually one of the exes suggestions I had vetoed so I feel a bit guilty about that.

I wouldn't worry its just a curiosity/phase/something unique, I went through the same my mum told me some of the names she had considered were Gabrielle, francesca and Samantha against my oh so boring name, I just don't worry about it now

My dds are both happy with the names we gave them.

I had boy & girl, first & middle, names picked out for dd1 as I didn't know she was a girl until I had her. She didn't suit my first choice girl's name though so DH & I spent until the time limit we had to register her choosing something else. We went through a few different names before deciding on one that she suited, we both liked & had a connection to when she was born. The original middle name was kept &, amazingly, that also has a link to the day of the week she ended up being born on.

We called dd2 a different name every couple of days after she was born until one seemed right. Her name also has a connection to when she was born so they both now feel like their names have some meaning to their lives other than just being what DH & I settled on

I was going to be either Cassandra or Richard. Luckily, I ended up as neither, but I do have a very average 'middle name' type name.
I really wanted Noah for DS1 and DH wanted Walter... he isn't either of them and he's very happy with what he got.
DS2 has a pretty rare name, we only know one other person with the same name, but one day I found him crying because his name wasn't 'different' enough and he wanted to be called Ezra... 🤷‍♀️

Off topic but when DD2 was about 3 she said something I couldn't follow. After a while it became clear she thought babies came with their name. It took months for her to believe that parents choose their DC's name. Was a lovely little insight into her mind.

DH was very close to his grandma.
Unfortunately she was called Fanny. DD was born day after her birthday. I made it clear that it was not a name that I would use even as a middle name. Just too awful.
My mil was a bit disappointed. She is not British and didn't get the association. Obv Dd is most grateful.

My ma told me (when I was in my 20s) that I was very nearly called Cecilia. Having written that for the first time in my life I’ve connected it to Cecil !!
Anyway I wasn’t. I’m glad although it’s quite a name !

My dad wanted Samantha and my mum wanted Hayley. I'm not overly keen on either of them. I ended up with a very popular name in the 70's (even though I'm an 80's baby).
It's fine, it's never bothered me that much but I wouldn't choose it. I would have preferred something more unusual or more classic as my name is now dated. I thought about that when naming my kids.

When I was pregnant with DS2, I asked (9 year old) DS1 if he liked any names. He said that he liked his own name but the baby couldn’t have that because it’s his. He’s 20 now and still really pleased with his name.

DS2 is very happy with his name too. He thinks it’s great.

I’m glad they like their names because I have always hated mine. I can never remember thinking it was anything other than awful. I really considered changing as a young adult but couldn’t face the guilt trip etc from my parents. I was talking to DH about it recently and mentioned that I have no idea what possessed my parents to choose such a terrible name. He admitted that he’d always thought it was a bit of a crap name but hadn’t said anything (since it is my name and he does like me).

It’s one of those names that will always appear quickly and repeatedly in the ‘names that should never be revived’ threads. Every single one of those posters is totally correct about it being awful.

I looked at my birth certificate recently and saw that I was registered really quickly. Within 12 hours of birth I’m pretty sure. So my parents must have been certain they wanted the crap name they chose.

With Ds we'd settled on choice No 1, and 2.
When Ds was born, C-sec and SCBU, they asked exH if we had a name and he said #2. 5 days later, when I felt well enough to concentrate on it, it seemed too late. But the wild card was Ptolemy, so Ds got off lightly.

With Dd, there was only one name we both really liked so that's easy.

I have told them both if they wish to change their names as adult if they hate them, it's fine by me (I did, not just because I hated it mind)

I wish I'd hyphenated our surnames now. I no longer wish to use my old married one, but don't want a different surname to my kids.

My Dad wanted to call me Esmerelda which I thought was very cool as a child and wished he had. I can confirm now as an adult that I am enormously pleased not to be called Esmerelda!

@SospanFrangipan

I was Eliza until birth, then they went for Lauren, which is pronounced Law-ren.
I like both, but have spent my life correcting people's pronounciation of my name

I would have thought Law-ren is the standard pronunciation of Lauren. What mispronunciations have you encountered?

I was going to be either a Charlotte Jessica but would have been called CJ or Jade, which I’am. Born in the late 80’s so there were others in the school but not my class.

I don’t hate it but would have loved something more unusual.

My children all have unusual first names but a more common middle name (and an unusual one!) to fall back on. They all like their names and they suit them well.

Mum has some proper interesting names lined up for me - luckily dad vetoed them all, some examples include -

India
Chanel
Paris (I was this until a week before I was born)

My dad decided on Adele (I hate my name) which my mum also liked, so I suppose it's better than some of my mums choices!!

@mathanxiety I've always heard/said it 'Lorr-en'

I was actually called Jason for a while lol!!

I was baby number 4, with two sisters and a brother so when my mum was pregnant this time she was pretty sure I was a girl. I was early and had jaundice when I was born so they took me away straight away but the nurse told her I was a boy!! So I was called Jason, until later on another nurse came into see me and realised I was a girl! Thankfully I’m not a Jason!

Never encountered the Lau in Lauren pronounced like the Lau in Laura, except from my Dad. All the Laurens I know say the Lau part like the Lau in Laurel rather than the 'law' sound you get in Laura.

Lauren is just Lorrun isn't it.
It looks nicer than it sounds.

Off the back of this thread my daughter has just confessed that she made herself learn the spelling of her middle name in time for her GCSE's! In fairness it is a very "old lady" name and I don't know of anyone under the age of 80 with it.

I was given a truly awful name. (Seen it mentioned on different threads and people agreeing it is a truly horrible name)

My 2nd name is even worse.

My mother said she gave me the names because they sounded French.

Problem was my mother has a certain accent (most definitely not French) and when she shouted the name out in the street it sounded even more horrendous

I thought there was only 1 way to pronounce Lauren! I've never heard it any other way?

I was born late 80s and was Melanie for a week after I was born but DFs mum and sisters decided they didn't like, it was the worst name in the world ect ect so mum felt pressured and changed it to what it is now, I so would have preferred Melanie, especially as Sporty was my favourite Spice Girl.

Plot twist after all her moaning my aunt went on to call her own DD Melanie

Lauren could be pronounce Laur-en or Lo-REN, but it's just Lorrun. I think it's a bit downmarket.