Immense baby name regret

[SLNM]

Baby is 3 months old, and I have started to regret her name. We named her Desiree (which is a name that DH had suggested). It is mainly the comments of others that are causing my regret. When we go to the shops, we get reactions that seem negative when someone asks what her name is. My parents do not like her name. I want to change her name but am not certain that I will be able to convince DH. It doesn't help that she is likely to be our only child (which only makes the regret stronger).

We had considered Isabel, Jacqueline, Lucy, and Scarlett as well, but DH wasn't as keen on those as I was. What would you do?

Desiree Joy is a lovely name. I worked with a Desiree who was cool and quirky and sometimes went by Desi. Much prefer it to your second choice of Jacqueline, which will always be "Jackie" and reads dated to me.

3-4 syllable French names sound a bit like stripper names when used in a 100% english speaking environment and culture. I don't associate any particular ethnicity but it immediately feels a bit escort-y or like satirical names from films when they're portraying certain types of girls.

Personally feel Daisy sounds adorable and much easier to spell. Having a hard to pronounce or hard to spell name does make life harder and can affect work or job opportunities. Joy is a lovely name too. You could just swap them around or just call her that. I have a good friend whose parents gave a her a lovely but ethnic first name (they are white). At some point she decided she wanted to be called by her middle name which was english and that's what everyone knows her as.

I wouldn’t worry, if you like it then that’s all that matters. It wouldn’t be something I would pick (reminds me of the singer) but it’s very pretty name. When she goes to school there will lots of unusual names and teachers will be grateful for hers because at least there be able to pronounce it. My nan hates my son and my cousins son names, told me I should have picked something from the bible

Exactly this

I love Joy as the middle name

when I read your alternatives my first thought was how awful Jacqueline would be (apologies to all the lovely Jacqueline’s out there)

of the nn I prefer Rae

My point is that White British families do not stick to traditionally white British names nowadays.
I never mentioned the pronunciation, but I teach 3 Aoifes and they all pronounce it differently!

I really like the name Desiree OP! And I love the idea of ‘Rey’ as a nickname or ‘Dessie’.
Rey is particularly beautiful though. I prefer these names to Jacqueline actually although that is very nice too.

Daisy is so common though. There are loads of them in every school. It's nice to have something different.

I think it's a beautiful name! Unusual names will always get a range of reactions but if you and DH like the name, other people's opinions don't matter. Babies grow into their names and in a couple of years you will not be able to imagine her being called anything else. Stick with it and ignore the opinions of others!

My association with Desiree is the American comedienne Desiree Burch who I think is very cool so it’s positive for me (although yes American).

Desiree Joy is lovely. Keep it and have confidence in it.

I really like it! Stick with it OP. Give it chance to grow.

I’m quite fussy with names and dislike a lot of unusual names that people choose, but I like Desiree and don’t find it too weird but at the same time it isn’t a common name. I’m surprised you’ve had negative reactions.

desiree is a fine name, I love every name you’ve listed btw I have a Lucy and my other daughters middle name is Jacqueline after my mother, I wanted it as the first name but was told it was too “middle aged”. Good to see it make a comeback it’s beautiful.

One thing about baby names is everything that deviates from jack, Charlie, Olivia and Sarah is “chavvy” so you go with a basic name and you run into “that’s a dogs name”.
You can’t win but as long as it’s nothing too crazy it doesn’t actually matter

I think it’s lovely. Old French name, rather than some new made-up name. Very romantic.

Though isn’t it pronounced deh-zih-RAY? Desi lovely for short. Or Ray/Rae. And she can always use the much simpler name of Joy on applications or if she doesn’t like it.

Don’t be bothered by what other people say. Some people are so tactless and horrible. My family told me they didn’t like DC3’s name and some people associated it with someone well-known in 90s. Also, some people struggled with DC1s name (we’ve never used the long version). Both are Roman names, with versions in almost all European countries, so hardly wacky.

The DC (now young adults) love their names and have never had any problems using them. My family now love DC3’s name because they love DC3. Stick to your preference.

Jackie isn't ready for a comeback imo.
Desiree is gorgeous.. One of my dd's has a mn hooker name. Care not a jot.
Honestly op having a dc opens you up to criticism about most things. People can be rude as hell...
Baby is too skinny.
Baby is too chubby.
Baby is bald.
Baby has loads of hair.
Baby looks nothing like you /dh..
Smile and move on or mn it - -
Did you mean to be so rude?

Desiree Joy is one of the loveliest names I've ever heard 🥰

I think Jacqueline is a lovely name, it'll definitely come back soon.

She's great, I really love her!

OP, if you and your DH like the name, then stick with it. Our youngest family member has a name that neither I nor DH care for, but unlike your family, we wouldn’t dream of saying so! And DGD has become this name, so it’s all fine, as it will be with your DD.

One of my fave friends is called Desi, and so there are nickname options here. I honestly wouldn't swap out for Lucy (even though that's a nice name), especially if he loves the name. Be upfront though. Talk it through, don't just stress about it. Have a discussion and decide what to do together. A little 'Desi' is cute!

Des'ree is a 90's singer (Desiree is her real name) made me start singing "life, oh life, ooh liiiiiife" when I read the name. It's not something I'd have chosen personally, I prefer nice traditional names, but if you like it well keep it. I really don't like the name Jacqueline, they'd be called Jackie for short, I prefer Desiree to Jackie. Other people's opinions don't really matter though, if everyone liked the same name, every kid would have the same name!

Not a fan. It is very popular in the black community. If you’re uncomfortable then it’s not too late to change it.

One thing I will say about using desi as a nickname, for some reason my instagram algorithm shows me a lot of videos from India (I am not Indian) and the word desi is used a lot. I would find out if it means something first

I honestly dont love it and I think people ate probably a bit taken aback and not able to hide it quickly enough. When DD was a baby people would ask DS what her name was, he proudly would answer "X" which sounds really weird and I would get quite shocked responses until I explained it is actually "y" and DS was mispronouncing

A lot of people are suggesting Desi as a diminutive. Just for info, this is a very widely used term originating from Sanskrit and used to describe people / culture etc from South Asia. As an example, I live in an area with a lot of Desi pubs. Not necessarily a reason not to use it but OP should be able to make an informed decision.

An alternative diminutive would be Raye (or your preferred spelling - it's the sound that matters), like the singer.

Like another poster earlier it reminds me of the variety of potato.
If you like it, keep it. Many people do like it which should reassure.