How do you choose between two names you love?!

[LavenderAndLillies]

Hi everyone!

We’re due a baby girl end of Jan/beginning of Feb, and we’ve narrowed her name down to two we absolutely love - the problem is is that DH slightly prefers one and I slightly prefer the other, neither of us would be unhappy with whichever one we choose but we’re struggling to pick which one to go for - has anyone else been in this situation and how did you resolve it?

Thank you!

Just wait until you see her, you'll know.
Unless of course like us you're all settled on Edward, and then they hand you a girl😆

Wait till she's born and see what suits her best..or flip a coin 😂

Wait and see when she arrives. She may suit one more than the other.

You have plenty of time and have a shortlist. Wait until she turns up.

I've never picked a firm name before birth, we wait to see which suits them best.

You'll get a gut feeling which one is right for her when you meet her.

You get the final say, you're doing the hard bit of birthing her ! :)

Thanks everyone - I think we’ll probably just wait until she’s here and see then! 😊

All of mine had two names for the first day.

Yep, you'll know within a few hours of meeting her.

See if one sounds better with the surname and middle name if she'll have one, one may flow better. Write the full names out, see if one looks nicer, write the names with your names and see if one feels like it fits more with your family. Does one have better shortenings? Pick the one that doesn't have multiple possible spellings or pronounciations. Try them out in a starbucks and see which one you feel most comfortable with.

I understand the 'see what name suits them when they're born' thing but I was hormonal, exhausted and still a bit loopy from the meds when mine were born and they looked like slimy Winston Churchills and the puffiness took days to settle so I don't think names I felt were 'them' at that point would have been great.

As my friend's doctor said 'considering Kate just did all that hard work- I think her choice has a bit more sway' 🤣

We set a time limit of a week to use each name when referring to bump and one of them stuck out clearly as the name from doing that. We have kept our top 5 as backups and worked out middle names for them in case we hate our top pick when he’s here, but I couldn’t imagine him being called anything else at this point.

Try out the first name with the surname without the middle name.
Write it down, imagine yourself answering the phone or introducing yourself to someone. Write the initials and surname. Consider any diminutives.

E.g. You like Matilda and Eloise. You may have no intention of shortening the names, but Tilly Lillies or Ellie Lillies might not sound great.

There’s some great advice here - we’ll try those out and see how we feel 😊 thanks everyone!

We will, thank you!

also side note, you’ve just listed our eldest’s names 🤣

edited to say I meant to tag you @KirstenBlest 🤦‍♀️

You're welcome. Best wishes.

Some great advice here. Also, google both potential names with the surname, just to check what's going to come up when they discover the internet.... If one is the namesake of a random doctor and the other an axe murderer, that may be a swaying factor.

We were in a similar situation while I was pregnant. I had a traumatic birth and once our baby was born, I told DH that I was not willing to negotiate anymore and the baby was given the name I liked. He agreed. However, I did compromise and my husband's favourite name is our DC's middle name.

Great advice @Catopia and @SpottyUnicorn
Also check Darkgreener and ONS for popularity.
Baby names in England and Wales - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk) has a popularity in your area for names in the top 100.

Popularity might not be an issue but if a name has been very popular in the past it might be on a downward trend and might be a 'mum's name'.

I'd also add there is no rush to name her straight away! We had a few names on our shortlist and two that we near the top. Then when DD was born, she spent two weeks in NICU and actually it didnt feel right naming her when she was so covered in wires and i could only pick up with the doctors help etc. In the second week, she was recovering enough that more of "her" started to emerge, fewer wires, i could cuddle her when i wanted and at this point it felt like she picked her own name because one just suited her more than the other. You will get pressure from family and midwives etc to name them immediately but you can just ignore everyone until you are ready 😅

Tell the one your DH likes to a close pregnant friend and wait for it to be used 2 weeks before yours is born.

If anyone asks before you've decided, give bogus names and say 'We're trying to decide between Elizabeth or Margaret' so that the actual name isn't 'stolen' or dissed.