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Baby names

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

If you couldn’t agree on a name, what did you go for?

24 replies

Lelophants · 22/09/2023 21:28

Dh and I have very different tastes in girls names apparently. We only really overlap on one or two and they’re not ones either of us love. This is our last baby and only girl. She deserves a beautiful name! Not one we’re both okay with.

How did you find a name and do you like it years later?

OP posts:
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Zone2NorthLondon · 22/09/2023 21:34

Congratulations, choosing names you compromise & agree on a mutual name
Two very different taste in names you need to settle for what you mutually agree on. The names might not be a love it name,but you’ll chose a name you both like

Lelophants · 22/09/2023 21:37

Zone2NorthLondon · 22/09/2023 21:34

Congratulations, choosing names you compromise & agree on a mutual name
Two very different taste in names you need to settle for what you mutually agree on. The names might not be a love it name,but you’ll chose a name you both like

Did this happen with you and how did you feel about it years later?

OP posts:
Aquamarine1029 · 22/09/2023 21:37

Here's my story... 20+ years ago, my husband and I were expecting our second, and final, baby. We had a son, and I was positive this second baby was a boy. No doubt in my mind. The scan was unable to tell the sex, so we had to wait until they were born to know for sure, but whatever, I already knew.

We had settled on a boy name very easily. We never settled on a girl's name, not even closely. I hated his choices, he hated mine. Literally, on the way to hospital after my waters broke, I said we can use our boy's name and "feminise" it with a 'y' instead of an 'e', like my middle name, and my husband agreed. We had a nice laugh because obviously we were having another boy and we were just being silly.

Turns out they were a girl, we did use my idea, she's a grown woman now, she absolutely loves her name, and we have had endless compliments about it.

But yes, naming a baby can be very hard work.

Lelophants · 22/09/2023 21:38

Aquamarine1029 · 22/09/2023 21:37

Here's my story... 20+ years ago, my husband and I were expecting our second, and final, baby. We had a son, and I was positive this second baby was a boy. No doubt in my mind. The scan was unable to tell the sex, so we had to wait until they were born to know for sure, but whatever, I already knew.

We had settled on a boy name very easily. We never settled on a girl's name, not even closely. I hated his choices, he hated mine. Literally, on the way to hospital after my waters broke, I said we can use our boy's name and "feminise" it with a 'y' instead of an 'e', like my middle name, and my husband agreed. We had a nice laugh because obviously we were having another boy and we were just being silly.

Turns out they were a girl, we did use my idea, she's a grown woman now, she absolutely loves her name, and we have had endless compliments about it.

But yes, naming a baby can be very hard work.

Thank you for your story and I’m so glad it worked out. Any chance you can tell me what it is? I wonder if we need more inspiration!

OP posts:
Cattenberg · 22/09/2023 21:39

What sort of names do you each like?

Aquamarine1029 · 22/09/2023 21:43

Lelophants · 22/09/2023 21:38

Thank you for your story and I’m so glad it worked out. Any chance you can tell me what it is? I wonder if we need more inspiration!

I've PM'd you.

Forgotmylogindetails · 22/09/2023 21:43

We couldn’t agree so let grandad choose

Lelophants · 22/09/2023 21:45

Cattenberg · 22/09/2023 21:39

What sort of names do you each like?

His are more traditional, say Catherine, Penelope, Rosemary.

I like more unusual but beautiful sounding or unusual like Gaia, Rhea, Blaire, Hera.

OP posts:
Aquamarine1029 · 22/09/2023 21:49

Lelophants · 22/09/2023 21:45

His are more traditional, say Catherine, Penelope, Rosemary.

I like more unusual but beautiful sounding or unusual like Gaia, Rhea, Blaire, Hera.

Farrah
Thea
Brooke
Octavia
Reva

Restinggoddess · 22/09/2023 21:51

We had a name picked for our second child if it was a girl - but not for a boy
In my head I had an image of what my daughter would look like ( daft I know)
However she didn't look anything like I expected ( yes I know daft) not blond like her brother but a shock if dark hair
So the name picked went out the window and a different one was given - I do think they rush you in hospital to give the baby a name
She subsequently lost her dark hair and went blonde - anyhow, I think you know the name when you see your baby

Chchchanging · 22/09/2023 21:53

We couldn't agree on a boys name for DC2. In the end I waited until I was in labour to press for my name and DH capitulated. Shameful I know..
The name suits DS down to the ground and he loves it (and so does DH).
If DS hadn't suited the name once born I would have been persuaded to change it before we registered him, but he really really suited it.
But both our preferred names were quite traditional...

ScruffMuffin · 22/09/2023 21:55

Slightly different situation, because we found four that we could both live with. Narrowing it down was harder, and we literally decided the day before she was born. His 1st choice was my 4th choice, and vice versa. However, we both had the same name in 2nd place, so we went with that. As she was getting his surname, I chose her middle name, which was my favourite. So she ended up with (not the actual names) Jade Isabella, instead of Isabella Jade, which is what I'd have preferred. She's now almost grown up, LOVES her name, which is straight to the point like she is, and is glad she doesn't have the frillier first name.

With DD2, we agreed on a different shortlist, and DH told me to pick whichever name I wanted from the list. I chose one and told him which one it was, leaving him a couple of months to pick any middle name he wanted. He ended up picking one of the incredibly popular 'filler' names, but we are all happy.

Cattenberg · 22/09/2023 21:57

Lelophants · 22/09/2023 21:45

His are more traditional, say Catherine, Penelope, Rosemary.

I like more unusual but beautiful sounding or unusual like Gaia, Rhea, Blaire, Hera.

Well you each like some Greek names, so that’s a start.

cherryassam · 22/09/2023 22:00

I think there is a chance that there are some names you will both like - perhaps Greek names because you’ve listed Gaia, Rhea and Hera:

Alexandra
Amara
Anthea
Athena
Brontë
Cassandra
Chloe
Corinna
Daphne
Delia
Elena
Helena
Leda
Lydia
Phoebe
Selene
Thalia
Zoe

Lelophants · 22/09/2023 22:02

cherryassam · 22/09/2023 22:00

I think there is a chance that there are some names you will both like - perhaps Greek names because you’ve listed Gaia, Rhea and Hera:

Alexandra
Amara
Anthea
Athena
Brontë
Cassandra
Chloe
Corinna
Daphne
Delia
Elena
Helena
Leda
Lydia
Phoebe
Selene
Thalia
Zoe

There are a couple on there we both like but they are taken.

I will keep looking at Green names though as I think you might be right.

OP posts:
cherryassam · 22/09/2023 22:11

I do think there could be a Venn diagram with overlap between your name styles. Lots of gorgeous Greek names IMO

There are also Latin / Roman names which can have a similar vibe:

Alma
Amabel
Antonia
Aurelia
Bryony
Cara
Cecilia
Cecily
Celeste
Felicity
Flora
Joanna
Julia
Juno
Lara
Leona
Lilia
Miranda
Octavia
Portia
Romola
Selena
Sylvia
Viola

Theoldcuriosityshop · 22/09/2023 22:15

I knew a Phaedra.

Cattenberg · 22/09/2023 23:01

I love Antonia!

Zoe
Sophia
Maya/Maia
Eleni
Eleanor
Iris
Ariana
Ariadne
Calliope
Cora
Anastasia
Georgia
Venetia
Martha
Christina
Xenia
Marika

TheIsleOfTheLost · 22/09/2023 23:23

I went to school with a Rhea. She got called diarrhoea a lot and hated her name.

I am sure that there is a name out there that you will both like, although it might take some compromise. Try suggesting a name immediately after the birth when he is in a haze and you deserve a reward for doing all the work?

littlemousebigcheese · 22/09/2023 23:23

We couldn't agree, not massively different tastes but hard to both be 100%. In the end, realised I was the one pregnant, giving birth, feeding etc so I chose and he was happy with that 😂

ShowOfHands · 23/09/2023 08:21

We let our DD choose her brother's name as our tastes were so different.

mrsed1987 · 23/09/2023 08:43

If you like Rhea you could spell is Rhia, Rea or Ria if you wanted to try and avoid the issue a PP raised lol

StillWantingADog · 23/09/2023 08:50

We had a total nightmare agreeing for both DSs. With the second we found out what he was with the idea that we could agree before he was born this time but it didn’t happen and we didn’t finally agree until in the car on the way to the registrar when he was nearly a month old 🥴.

We did get a shortlist for ds1, then basically ranked them -separately- 6 for the favourite, 5 for the second favourite etc. And counted up the total scores. He was called the name with the highest score. And after months of arguing for ds2 we eventually went back to the same list and went for the name that came 2nd!

we never did agree on middle names and they both have two middle names, one chosen by each of us

I know it’s ridiculous. Funnily enough we are pretty good at agreeing on almost everything else. Just not names of sons.

Workawayxx · 23/09/2023 09:01

Dp and I had a very similar conundrum. He wasn’t bothered what the name was along as it was along the lines of Catherine, Victoria etc. I prefer (and my ds has) slightly more unusual names. We settled on Louisa which is more on the traditional side but I do love and it suits her ❤️. He was also a maybe on Serena which I love. the other names were I considered were ones that are traditional but had a nn that I quite liked eg Camilla (Milla), Caroline (Carrie) etc.

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