Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Flip

1 2

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:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

waitingpatientlyforspring · 01/09/2021 21:32

We both we had agreed name a few weeks before they were born. With first we had a name for a while then changed it about a month before I was due. I'm glad we did as I still love the second name we choose.

Frazzled2207 · 01/09/2021 21:38

In desperation to choose for ds1 we had a shortlist of 6 and both ranked them 1-6 to see which got the highest score. Luckily it wasn’t a tie.

Then years later when ds2 was born having still not agreed we revisited the original list and did it all again minus the name of ds2.

Then came the middle name negotiations and in both cases we basically chose one each so both babies have two middle names.

My dh is a stubborn sod.

katienana · 01/09/2021 21:40

I had a boy name and girl name picked out each time. When they arrived the name felt right straight away

Standrewsschool · 01/09/2021 21:42

For dc1, found out he was a boy, and had a name picked out.

For dc2 had boys and girls name picked out. When he was born, decided he didn’t suit his name and chose something else.

SnoopyMcLoopy · 01/09/2021 21:44

We chose DDs name before she was born. 16 years later she wants to change it by deed poll after having changed her name within her friendship group over a year ago. Her name, her choice 😊

SnoopyMcLoopy · 01/09/2021 21:46

.....although we have said wait till 18 to officially change it. We now call her by her new name 😊

InTheNightWeWillWish · 01/09/2021 22:02

We had a boy and girl name picked out years ago before we even got married (5 years ago). Then I got pregnant and wasn’t sure about the names anymore. DH hates pretty much every name so that doesn’t help. We currently have a very short shortlist for boys and a slightly longer list for girls but I’m not really loving any of the names on the short lists.

27 weeks and it looks like we might be seeking divine inspiration in the hospital.

Cleverpolly3 · 01/09/2021 22:06

Yes, all three times
We knew what we were having and had their name ready for when they were born though they were never used until they were all here.

Luckily they seemed to suit them as newborns and suit them as children. They also love their names so thankfully all turned out well

SleepingStandingUp · 01/09/2021 22:09

With DS we had one name each (b/g)

With DTwins e knew both were boys so agreed in advance.

Don't really understand the "see what they look like" logic

scrivette · 01/09/2021 22:09

No names picked before they were born, we decided shortly after they made their arrival.

We didn't have a 'list' or top few decided either, but I love their names and we made the right choices.

HungryHippo11 · 01/09/2021 22:09

We had a boys name and a girls name.

When DD1 was born, my husband immediately wanted to tell everyone her name (the one we had decided) but I made him wait a bit. Even though we knew what her name would be, I had to get it into my head that she was here and that was her name, before making it official and we couldn't change our minds.

My aunt on the other hand hadn't decided a name or even a shortlist beforehand (her husband had ridiculous strong views on every name). They chose a name after about 2 weeks and rang everyone... then rang later that evening to say they had changed it. Luckily the second name stuck 🤣

TheWayTheLightFalls · 01/09/2021 22:10

DD was a shortlist put to MN in desperation after weeks!

This time round I think we’re sorted.

user1471604848 · 01/09/2021 22:17

I was expecting b/g twins. I had their names picked before they were even conceived.

For the boy, I picked a name I had always loved, from a book I read in my teens (Sebastian from Brideshead Revisited).

For the girl, I picked a name I had heard years before while on holidays. It fit my criteria of a normal name everyone can spell and pronounce, but not widely used, also pretty and feminine.

BertieBotts · 01/09/2021 22:19

Always named before.

DS1 I picked a girl and boy name before we found out the sex but once we knew we stuck to it.

The other two we had a girl's name picked out (not the same as DS1 - different dad) but there boys names we only thought of once finding out the sex. DS3 was nameless until 32 weeks!

If you want DH to come round to your name just suggest loads of really outlandish ones until your chosen name sounds normal :o

No but actually boys names are tricky and you should aim for like rather than love. They grow on you.

I can't imagine not knowing their name when they are born! And I can't get my head around two names for different sexes either because to me names have a very clear "feeling" and you'd never get the boy and girl name to match. So it would be like expecting two completely different children. I liked matching the name to the idea of their personality that I had from the experience of pregnancy. Which sounds a bit nuts but makes sense in my head...

SquigglePigs · 01/09/2021 22:20

We knew she would be a girl. We had a short list of 5 for months then in the last few days we picked a "most likely going to be this name" but gave ourselves the wriggle room of not being 100% until she arrived. We did stick with the one we thought we would.

Themeparklover · 02/09/2021 00:25

I'm a firm believer in picking out a few names before as suggestions but deciding when the baby is born, I see so many people picking names for babies that just don't seem to suit those names

MrsGilly1 · 02/09/2021 03:59

Hi,

With my son - had name picked from 20 weeks snd stick to it. Suits him perfectly.

With youngest - had name picked, didn't know sex and when born she looked nothing like the name we had picked. Chose a completely different name that wasn't on our list but suits her perfectly X

MikeWozniaksGloriousTache · 02/09/2021 04:33

We had a couple of names fir a girl we liked and one for a boy (we struggled with boys names). We didn’t find out her sex until birth but closer to the birth we sort of both started to prefer one name. Prior to pregnancy we were always a “wait and see what they looked like”’ type of people too but it didn’t really work out like that lol.

Flip

1 2