Did you name your child AFTER they were born?

[iloveyoubutilovememore]

Like a few others on here, I am really struggling to settle on a name for our second son. There are a few we like, but none that really stand out. A friend told me to chill and that the name will come once he's here. So looking for some reassurance I guess, has this happened for anyone else?

Yep, we had a shortlist. Son was named within 3 days and daughter within 12h

Yep, we didn’t name our second for over a week!! Everyone thought we were being all secretive about the name but in truth we couldn’t agree

The legendary story in my family is that my parents couldn't agree on a name for my brother before he was born, so they chose 7 boys and 7 girls names, assigned one to each day of the week, and let nature take its course. The 80s were wild times!

Yes. The day after he was born we settled on a name - we'd really struggled with boys names. If we have a girl next then we have a wonderful name lined up

Yes, both DC. I couldn’t imagine them having names until we saw their faces. We had narrowed it down to a few each time.

DD1 named around half an hour after birth from a shortlist.
DD2 named in the car on the way to hospital in labour.
DS1 named in the car home from the hospital after giving birth, when he was 7 hours old (wanted the name ready for when we got home so that we could tell the DD’s).

The first one was named when I was pregnant and I felt that I had to stick to that name.
With the other 2 we had a short list of names... but once they were here I chose something totally different each time! They just felt "right"

Yes.

With dc1 we picked a girl name and a boy name. Didn't know what we were having but we went with the girl name we'd picked when she arrived.

Dc2, we were still discussing names as he was about to be born (ELCS due to complications with dc1 birth). The medical team in theatre helped us choose! Was fun and very special. If we ever have another dc, I'd do the same.

All 5 were named after they were born, we had 6 to 8 names for each of them (we didn't find out the sex so it was 3-4 for each sex) but we didn't decide until after they'd arrived. The first 4 were named within a few hours & number 5 it took just over a day. My friends ds didn't have a name until he was 41 days old (appointment booked for day 42)!

Swimming I love that!

Yes for both. DC1 did not have a name for first 4 weeks. Dc2 got it 3 days after being born.

All 3 were named after they were born.

Yes with DD2 and 3. We had 2/3 options but chose in the first day

Dc1 we had two names first & middle for each sex but didn’t decide which way round until we met them.
Dc2 we decided on a name a few weeks after the 20wk scan (found out sex) and told no one until they were born. Just in case we changed or mind and also to avoid comment because we had chosen something unusual.

This is reassuring as I feel the same OP! Although I've just Googled it and it seems you only get 3 weeks to register a birth in Scotland eeeeeek!

We’ve never named our kids until at least a day after they were born. Personally I believe you can’t choose a name until you meet the baby. Don’t rush it : it’s such a lovely thing to do

We have 5 dc and we picked all the names before they were born.

No, my husband and I chose two names before TTC - wrote them down. Two years later DD was born, we'd fine through other names but came back to the original. Same happened 4 years later with DS

Lovely baby No. 3 took a week to name.

I like knowing before the baby is born. We don't tell anybody, but I'm currently pregnant with DD4 and I feel so connected to her knowing what she will be called. We did change our minds about DD2's middle name though, once she was born. I'd never felt fully settled on our first choice and once she was born she just didn't look like that name. Glad we picked another. Otherwise somehow we've found names that feel right at around the 20 week scan.