Do you think the name will grow on him??? (sorry, its long!)

[MrsDandOllie]

DS2 is 2 weeks old now..

Before he was born we couldnt completely decide on a name for him. We ended up with a shortlist of 3 names a couple of months before he was born and decided to keep the 3 names in mind and choose one when he was born depending on what suited him.

The shortlist was Leo, Noah or Dexter.
Leo was DH's contribution, Noah was my contribution and Dexter was liked by us both (but not as much as we each liked our own choices iyswim)

About a week before he was born the name Edward came into my head with Teddy as a shortened version. I mentioned it in passing to DH and he said 'its ok' but wasnt overly taken with it.

When DS was born I took one look at him and he was a Teddy. I just knew instantly that should be his name. I said so and DH was surprised (I think he had completely convinced himself that I would go with Leo in the end) but agreed on the spot and announced it to family etc straight away..

Since then I have realised that he probably only agreed so readily due to me having just been through the labour and wanting me to be happy etc and I really dont think he is keen on the name!
He calls DS Edward all the time and wont use Teddy or Ted at all, even though I call him Teddy and so do all my family/friends etc (they have taken their cue from me). DH's family have picked up on this now too and they all call him Edward as well. Obviously I cant and wont object seeing as Edward is his name!! and I do really like the name (or I wouldnt have called him it!!) but I do think it might be slightly confusing for both DS2 when he is older and for DS1 now who hears us both calling his brother different names! DS1 is 2years old and so not really old enough to explain it to.

I do feel slightly put out in a sense that DH really shouldnt have agreed immediately to it if he didnt like the name 'Teddy' and should have said something like 'lets think about it for a day or so' instead, which is more what I was expecting tbh. I feel a bit like he has agreed to the name now so he should properly embrace it!!

On the other hand I feel quite upset to think that he is unhappy with our childs name! i really want him to like it!

I havent brought it up with him. Dont really know what to say or what can be done. I dont want to change Teddy's name now. I love it and think it suits him 100%. I have no regrets myself about picking it.

Am wondering what the best thing I can do to get DH used to it is? or is just giving him some time the answer??
He did write love from Teddy in my mothers day card from the boys which made me cry lol, but so far thats the only time he has referred to him by his nickname...

Any ideas? Anyone been in a similar situation?? or am I making to big a thing out of it?? (new baby hormones maybe?? lol)

[teabreakgirl]

Hi,
My DH and I chose Theodore as for our DS2. But he is french so he says Teodore. (Doesnt pronounce the H). It annoys me a little but I dont think DS2 will be confused. Though in your first message you said you preferred your ds2's "nickname". Maybe your DH is thinking of Teddy as his nickname rather than his preferred name? iyswim. I think both are lovely and you could always approach the subject gently to see what your dh thinks?

[MrsDandOllie]

Thank you all for the advice - I feel better now!
Will chill a bit and enjoy my little boy and all his names lol

[MrsDandOllie]

It's ok, I'm not offended
I agree, he will probably want to use a different version when he is older and thats fine with me... thats why I particularly like names with a 'full traditional' name as well as the shortened versions.... cant imagine him putting Ted or Teddy on his CV when he is applying for jobs!

[BoysOnToast]

its a really nice name

youre obsessing - chill out woman and enjoy

Ned is one fo my fave names as it happens and is also an edward name. but teddy also fantastic.

congrats

[branflake81]

I think once your child gets older he won't want to be called Teddy anyway and will insist on something a bit more "hip" like Ed so the Teddy thing might not last that long anyway. Just a thought. BTW, this isn't meant to be offensive, Teddy is a sweet name but, realistically, most 15 year olds wouldn't want to be sweet.

[MrsDandOllie]

I do love the name Edward.

I think maybe I am slightly self conscious calling him that myself though because to me it sounds like quite a grown up name for such a small baby. I was thinking of it more as a name he can use when he is older...

Saying that now, it makes me realise that DH perhaps feels self consious the other way in using such a 'cute' shortened version!

I might speak to DH and see if he'd feel more comfortable using Ted as a shortened name as a compromise!

[DumbledoresGirl]

What I can't quite work out here is whether you really like the name Edward. You seem so determined that dh will call him Teddy. Are you sure you don't just like Teddy and not Edward? As long as you are happy with Edward, I see no reason why dh can't call him that and you call him Teddy.

I have a thousand nicknames for my children but dh is quite formal and tends to only use their full name or maybe one shortening of it. My children had no confusion about this difference.

Oh and btw, Edward is a lovely name (my ds2's middle name as it happens. He was named after his grandfather as he was born almost exactly 100 years after him - 2 days out. My grandfather was universally known amongst his peers as Ted.) I can see that Teddy would be cute for a baby, but I do think you need to have other versions ready to use for when he is older. I think your dh is merely using the name he think will last longest.

[Niecie]

Both my boys have loads of different names, some of them not even related to their real names, and seem to cope fine so I wouldn't worry about your DS1 being confused.

I wouldn't worry about DH - he said he liked the name and maybe he felt your DS looked like an Edward if not a Teddy.

Teddy is quite a sweet name, iyswim. Not sure if sweet is the right word but sort of a cute pet name. Maybe he doesn't feel comfortable saying it. My DS2 is called Jacob and DH swore for ages he would never call him Jakie which is what I call him. Part of that is because it was a bit too cute for a man to call another male. That said he calls him Jakie now and is happy to do so. Your DH may well come round and start calling your DS Teddy or maybe he won't and will have his own pet name for him like Ed or Eddy. Would you object to that? I suppose these things tend to evolve as our individual relationships develop over time.

Congratulations on your new son though.

[HonoriaGlossop]

Yup agree not to worry about this...your DH has accepted his name, no probs! Edward is such a lovely name, as you say, there is not a problem with your DH using it as it IS his name after all. Agree with DB that sometimes it just takes a while to get used to the name, I called DS baby for weeks even though we'd named him before birth! So you might find your DH warms to Teddy after a while.

Though just to put the cat amongst the pigeons I think Leo is just GORGEOUS

[DoubleBluff]

i found it took a while to get used to both DS's names even though I liked them.
DH chose DS1's name and initillay I was not that fussed and felt self concious using his name, calling him baby instead(?)
Now I cannot imagine him by any other name and love it.
DS2 name I loved all along but most of my family didn't like it. Nowthey all love it and again DS2 is his name IYSWIM!

[Lazylou]

Edward . I love it and all the shortenings and I don't really do shortenings. DH otoh hates it . I'm so jealous. I agree with Effie, DD has about a zillion nicknames that we use for her and she answers to all of them without any confusion. All our family and friends know about her variety of nicknames and so are used to hearing her called lots of different things.

I think you should talk to your DH about it. I believe that choosing your child's name is something you should both agree on and shouldn't be a rushed decision. Maybe your DH feels that he was rushed into making a decision, if he is anything like my DH, DS will have a name before he is born, it's just taking me some time to agree to anything!

[EffiePerine]

Talk to him . I don;t think your DS will be confused by having more than one name - most babies/chidren are called lots of different things (at this rate, DS will think his name is NO )

[titchy]

Middle ground - Ed or Ted?

[MamaG]

congratulations on DS2

I think you need to discuss it with him,sensibly, and say "look, ..."

[MaryAnnSingleton]

fwiw,I think Teddy is a cute name !