Changing babies name at 9 months

[jabice]

Ok so we called our youngest a really, really common name. We didn't realise at the time that it was in the top 5 until we had been calling her this name for about a month.

No other name suited her. We kept trying to think of new names and to be honest, I was so hormonal that it brought me to tears to think of changing her name.

Anyway, now I keep thinking that we've made a mistake. There is a name that we really liked for her, but when she came out it just didn't suit her. I'm now torn as to whether to consider changing her name.

We've had loads of personalised gifts with her name on etc and it feels way too late to change her name, but I'm starting to regret the name we have called her. Any advice??

We also have a 3 year old who is obviously used to her name, so might be unfair to change it

Personally I would just let it go and get used to her name, I can't imagine a new name sticking in my head as the right one after nine months. That said, if you are going to do it, it's naturally best to do it now before she is talking and used to that name being her identity.

Personally I wouldn’t change her name now, for the reason you’ve mentioned here of it being a popular name. The name you’ve chosen, the name by which everyone knows her now, is one you love, regardless of its popularity, and one which suits her, or you’d not have chosen it in the first place.
It’s very unlikely she’ll ever be the only one of any given name, and it doesn’t matter imo that a name is popular.

I think its too late surely? Your 3y old would be so confused. Are common names the end of the world?

Remember too that the ones in the top 5 now will be mainly school age - won't necessarily be the same names cropping up when she is at school. These things are very "in year" I think.

I have 3 children, 3y apart. The oldest who is a teen knows loads of boys, from school and outside sports, seemingly all called Ollie or Thomas or Sam. None called Harry. The middle one's year, 3 years down, there are still some Ollies but no Thomas or Sams. Harry crops up a lot there. the youngest one, another 3 years down, knows no Thomas', only 1 Sam and 1 Ollie and is surrounded by Harrys.

I wouldn't at this point.

Can you eke a nick name out of it that is less common?

My daughter's name is outside the top 100 now but when I named her i think it was about number 66. I've read on here that it is boring, too frilly, too unusual, too common.

I think when they get out there in to their own worlds you get a bit more perspective. Olivia might have been the number three name for example but it's still more than possible that they're the only Olivia in their friend group, or even year at school.

Personally I wouldn't change it at 9 months, my DS responded to his name quite a while before that point. It would be incredibly confusing for both her and your 3 year old.

I would also worry that you've already discounted the new potential name once for not suiting her. If you were to change it now what's to stop you worrying about being 'wrong' again a few more months down the road?

Thank you all! You are probably all right! We absolutely loved her name when we called her it and it just suits her so much.

You're right. Does it really matter that it's popular? I've been trying to think of a nickname for her, so maybe that is the right route to go down. It's quite a hard name to get a nickname for, but any ideas welcome.
Her name is Isla.

Isla is a lovely name and certainly not common where I live. A nickname seems a good way to go as an alternative I have had many nicknames over the years so they can change.

I know statistically Isla is popular but I don’t know any. It’s a gorgeous name and it’s on our list!

Isla.
Ava.
Mia.
Isabella.
Sophia.
Grace.
Lily.
Freya

Presume it's one of these. They're all pretty. I wouldn't worry too much. You could if you really, really put thought in to it find a nn for all of those which is both instinctive and not too ludicrous a stretch.

eg Sophia - > Fia
Olivia -> Livia /Livvie
Isla -> Lyla or Zyla

Isla us a beautiful name however if you wanted a complete different sounding nickname you could use River after the river Isla or another name connected to the meaning.

I personally wouldn't change it though it's popular for a reason

Isla's a gorgeous name but doesn't naturally lend itself to a diminutive form.

You could always change it to Lila/Leila as sounds so similar, or even have that as a nickname.

So out of those 3 school years I mentioned there was one Isla! And I know 1 baby Isla out of all the recent births. And one younger sister.

I wouldn't class Isla as a common name round here I don think?

Oh Isla is lovely!

If you wanted to make it rarer you could nick name her Zylah. I just googled and it means gift from god (so many names seem to mean that! and it only has one L)

Lyla is just as popular I think.

I really wouldn’t worry about it being popular. My dd has a name which was top 30 when we named her and now aged 6 there is another one in her class, but no other multiples of other girl names! There are a couple of multiples of boys names, which aren’t top 5 either. Plus there is so much more variety in names now that there is only a tiny percentage of even the very top names.

I don’t know a single Isla and it is a lovely name . As a pp said these things change year on year, so you could have picked a name outside the top 100 that suddenly takes off in popularity. It is quite unpredictable.

It's quite a hard name to get a nickname for, but any ideas welcome.

To be honest the very best nicknames are the ones that form naturally.

E.g.
A toddler who loves wotsit crisps called wotsit.
A small baby called dot in relation to her size.
A baby who grunts a lot called piglet.

Wait for her personality to develop a little more and you'll probably find a nickname develops unintentionally.

There is also a name, ''Twyla''
I forgot about that. I actually know a Twyla.

Isla is a beautiful name. Once you get past nursery and primary it's much less noticeable if a few children have the same name. My son knew 3 other people with his name when he was little, he knows none now.

Lovely name, there is only one Isla that I have ever come across

or if you have any Scottish or Irish gra then Eilidh (eye-lee)

Shiloh?
but that is too Brangelina for me, and I think another celebrity used that name. I believe it has some significance that makes it more than a celebrity name.

It’s a perfectly nice name - you chose it because you liked it. It’s popular because others like it. It really doesn’t matter. Okay - there may be another child in the class with the same name, but so what? And it can happen with names that aren’t that well used as well, because it’s just the luck of the draw. I’d definitely stick with it.

It's a lovely name!

As an 80s born Sarah I feel qualified to state that having a well used name is TOTALLY FINE. I resent my parents for lots of things but my name certainly isn't one of them

I like Isla. It's perfectly possible that she'll go through school without meeting another.
I've said this before but my dd has a name which was top 20 when she was born (we had no idea!) and one of the local head teachers even said "oh no another one" when we went to look round. She's now 18 and there was one other child with the same name in primary school (different year and also never ever called by her name - think Issy instead of Isabel for example) and there isn't another in her whole secondary school (which is big). There were 4 girls with the same name as each other in her class in primary school and at the time it wasn't hugely popular nationally (it is now).
When ds was born Jack was number 1. He had one in his class throughout school. He had several boys in the class with the same name but much much rarer names.
Isla is pretty. I would let a nn form organically - or do her initials lend themselves to a good nickname?