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Baby names

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Original poster

Did you pick babies name before they arrived?

43 replies

2021xxxxxx · 01/09/2021 19:47

Bit of a follow on from my last thread asking how did everyone pick their babies names!

This is another curiosity of mine, I’ve known people who’ve been quite laid back and decided when they seen them! And people who’ve picked as soon as they found out the sex (and those who’ve picked 1 for each if they were having a surprise)

I’d love to pick one soon, DH wants to pick one before baby arrives (we do know the sex) but I’m wondering what was everyone’s approach?

Were you happy when you picked a name and that was that? Or did you have a few to choose from at birth and found this better?

And any tips on nudging a partner to like a name you’ve loved for years?😂 (this is a slight joke)

OP posts:
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haroldbaker · 01/09/2021 19:54

We were reading through a baby name Confusedbook and settled on a girls name straight away at 7 weeks! She is in fact a girl, 37 weeks now and I love being able to talk about her using her name Grin

If we were having a boy I think we'd still be undecided as I couldn't find 'the one' if you know what I mean!

haroldbaker · 01/09/2021 19:55

Don't know where this Confused came from! 😂😂

CeeceeBloomingdale · 01/09/2021 19:57

We didn't know what we were having either time. We agreed on a boys name both times but had a shortlist of about 5 girls names. They were both girls and they were both named from the shortlist straight after delivery.

Jxtina86 · 01/09/2021 19:59

We didn't know the sex till birth so we short listed 3 names for each and chose after the birth - even if we had known the sex we would still have waited till the birth as we wanted to see their face before deciding!

insancerre · 01/09/2021 19:59

We didn’t know the sex and both times had a girls name and a boys name picked out
So we knew their name before they were born but not their sex

RosieposiePuddingandPi · 01/09/2021 20:06

We had a couple of names picked out for a boy and a girl when we didn't know what we were having and settled on it when DS arrived.
We knew with DD we were having a girl but spent ages thinking about names and chose hers about a week before she arrived.
We did almost change DS's name after a few weeks though because I just couldn't get my head around it - glad we didn't because it really suits him now!

HerRoyalRisesAgain · 01/09/2021 20:07

I had names for a girl and a boy before I even found out the sex

lilmishap · 01/09/2021 20:22

Yes all 3....None of them were actually named the names I'd picked out though because the names I'd picked didn't 'fit' the babies I was looking at.

JennaPenna · 01/09/2021 20:24

We knew the sex, couldn't pick a name so decided on 3 and then waited to see what he looked like!

Seriously79 · 01/09/2021 20:24

With DD's name partner said 'I've always loved the name ' and I just knew that was it, there and then. I just 'knew' she was going to be a girl, from the moment I peed on the stick.

DramaAlpaca · 01/09/2021 20:43

I didn't have a name for DS1, because for no reason at all I was certain I was having a girl Grin He was named within a few hours of being born.

DS2 & DS3 had their names sorted after the 20 week scan, when we knew what they were.

ItsSnowJokes · 01/09/2021 20:52

For both of mine I had a shortlist of 4 or 5 names and then wait till they are born and see what they look like. My first I really thought she would be one name but she just didn't look like that name. So she was another name off the list.

cactijones · 01/09/2021 20:57

We wanted to have a shortlist of about 2/3 names of each but I'm 27 weeks and think we've decided on one for each now!

BabyRace · 01/09/2021 21:00

Had a few picked out (knew dd was a girl) but one that we would choose unless it really didn't suit her. I don't even know how I would know if it didn't suit a new born who looked like an old man. It took a few days to decide her middle name.

Daisy829 · 01/09/2021 21:03

Yes we always had our first DDs name planned from before we even started trying for a family. I had loads of boys names lined up but we ended up with 2 girls. The second one took more discussion but it suits her completely.

Original poster
2021xxxxxx · 01/09/2021 21:09

Thank you everyone!

Seems like picking when little ones are here is popular.

It’s funny, I had a feeling since I tested about the babies sex, we’ve had it confirmed with 2x scans (private and 20 week one) and it’s the sex I only had names for - yet we’re struggling!

I would love to start calling my bump more than just baby or little one.

OP posts:
stupiduser · 01/09/2021 21:13

My first child was 'I have always wanted this girls name so that's what it will be' and then we had 2 boys names on our short list. My second we had a name for either sex and in the last couple of weeks I changed my mind and we changed the girls name, used the original for her middle name.

billiebeeme · 01/09/2021 21:14

Dd1 yes had chosen but told no one. Had a couple of back ups too.

Dd2 we had a handful of names but not definite on 1. Thought it wld be easy when she was born but no we could not agree. He finally gave in after a week 😃

Kite22 · 01/09/2021 21:17

We didn't know what sex any of ours were until they were born, but had both girl and boy names ready for each of them.

We just talked about it, made suggestions as they occurred to us over time, rejected some, started with a shortlist and chose from there.
We were lucky in that we like similar names.

Keroppi · 01/09/2021 21:17

DS didn't have a name for over a month after birthBlush
I had a huge long list of boys names but we whittled it down to top 3 and wanted to see what he looked like, then we couldn't decide between two so called him each name for a week Grin

Datsandcogs · 01/09/2021 21:20

Had a shortlist of 5 which I happily shared with others.
Choose a couple of days before but didn’t tell anyone until after I met her and asked her if she’s like to called xxxx?

Paddingtonsmarmlade · 01/09/2021 21:25

For dc1 we had a short list but a clear favourite but I refused to decide until he was here. For dc2 we chop and changed between 2 very very similar names, decided about 6 weeks before.

Didn't tell anyone the names before birth as we didn't want other people's opinions on them.

noblegreenk · 01/09/2021 21:26

We picked ours before our 20 week scan. We were thinking about names and had a few options for boys but couldn't agree on any girls names. Someone suggested a musical name based on musicians I liked. Once i got thinking along those lines I found one I really loved but it's a love/hate name. I tentatively brought it up with dh and he absolutely loved it immediately too. So when we found out at the scan that we were expecting a girl my husband kept referring to the baby by the name we both likes and it stuck. Luckily when she was born it really suited her and still does!

careerchangeperhaps · 01/09/2021 21:27

Nope. We didn't know the sex of either DC and decided not to even think about names until each one was born so we weren't wasting time thinking of the 'wrong sex' names.
DC1 had a name on day 3 but DC2 was about a week old before we chose a name.

Frazzled2207 · 01/09/2021 21:32

We had a shortlist once we knew what they were but really struggled to agree.

Both of them were “the baby” until about a fortnight old. In both cases booking a trip to the registrar focussed the mind.

It’s fine to pick a name in advance if you agree but I find it odd that you’d announce it, and starting to call it x, before it was born. It might not look like that. The name that we nearly agreed on before he was born, didn’t suit DS2 at all.