Baby name regret - Isla or Eden?

[GingeGee]

Following advise from another thread I made!

Long back story but I'll try and make it short and sweet. My daughter is 4 months old, I missed the majority of just over the first month of her life due to being hospitalised with Sepsis from the birth. Obviously due to the deadline she was named what my partner wanted her to be named rather than Eden that we'd agreed on before she was born, I went along with it at the time but since getting better I realise I still am not the biggest fan of Isla, its not remotely like the name we had planned and I'm struggling for nicknames, so here I am.

I've thought long and hard about this since around her being 6 weeks old when I finally started to get my bearings. I know the process of changing the name. I'm also aware of the possibility of PND but I genuinely don't believe that's it, I've seeked help regardless and I am currently having therapy sessions but this is still niggling me.

So it would be very much appreciated from some non-biased people what there opinions of the names are? But also it would be even more appreciated if I could hear people's stories or if you know of people who have changed there's child name and what life is like after the change? Did you feel better or did you regret bothering changing it?

Hi,
I just wanted to reply to your post. Not sure where you are with your name dilemma but wanted to give you my experience. When my daughter was born we didn’t have a name picked out. Just a few we were deliberating. The birth was traumatic and looking back realise I was depressed whilst pregnant. I couldn’t decide on her name and my husband was just happy to go along with whatever which didn’t help me. My husband pushed me to register her at 3 weeks as he felt I would feel better once we’d done it. As soon as I did I literally fell into a dark hole obsessing about her name, hated saying it, seeing it written down and having anyone else say it. PND was diagnosed and I was thankfully given some support. Eventually started to feel better and finally settled on a name when she was 3 months old. Doing the name change paperwork was straightforward and I just felt so relieved once her amended birth certificate arrived. It was a really hard time and not a lot of people close to me understood. She is now 5 and I’m just so pleased we did it. The admin part was easy, my daughter had no idea and we’ll explain it all to her when she’s older. I also decided to not give a fuck what anyone thought which was hard when I was in the throes of PND but once I started to get better I really didn’t care. We didn’t use the original name at all as it represented so much pain for me. The preference of name is entirely what you prefer, both are beautiful. I just wanted to reach out to you and hope that you’re feeling better and that you are happy with where you are now xx

Love Eden. Isla is lovely too but v popular. We changed DS' name when he was 6 months old - so glad now.

And glad everything is ok now - what a scary time that must have been x

I find it interesting reading many MN threads to find how common it is for parents (mothers, usually) to have name regret.
OP do what feels right for you. I haven’t read a single post where the parent has regretted changing their DC’s name.
Metaphorically turn the clock back to day one and choose the name you feel most comfortable with and stick with it.
Good luck.

Prefer Eden. Isla is nice but overused

So sorry you've had such a bad experience, OP.

For what it's worth, I far prefer Isla to Eden...

I think Eden is a lovely name. It’s more about the trauma you’ve been through and how you handle it. We had a cousin change her son’s name because she had PTSD from a trauma and every time she heard his name it brought it back. She instroduced him with his new name and we all accepted it no problem. He was over 2 years old and just adjusted very easily.

We also have friends with a girl called Annabelle but they only use that name on paperwork. The day to day name they use is different. Schools always ask what the official name is and then what they like to be known as.

I would change it (after a long chat with your partner to check he is on board with that)

Eden is one of my favourite girls names. I always suggest it to my friends in hope someone will use it!

Wishing you lots of happiness whatever you choose to do❤

Hope you are feeling better.

Imo, it's normal for one parent to feel stronger for the picked name. It clearly meant a lot to your partner as it's the only one he suggested and then he felt certain that she looks it.
I'd trust him and give it time to grow on me.

Yes, it's popular but it's gorgeous. And is not more popular than Lily - the other name you considered.

OP, if you are still here, just wondering what you did and how you feel about the names now?