Has anyone changed their baby's name after it was registered?

[TooMuchMakkaPakka]

Maybe this is a strange manifestation of pnd, but i don't feel happy with the name we chose for our lovely DS. She's just under four weeks old, we've registered the name and told everyone. She was even called a different name for the first three days before changing to current one. I really wanted a particular name (a third one, hope you're keeping up with this!), but in the stress surrounding the birth, she was early and i was in hospital weeks beforehand, it sort of didn't get picked. To be honest, feel DH wanted me to choose and put pressure on me to decide then and there - I hadn't had more than two hours sleep in the previous 48, or so it felt. I feel my little girl has got second best (well on the lists we wrote beforehand the name she's got was 9th on mine and 8th on DHs) so 8/9th best . Has anyone out there changed a name at this point and if so, what did you have to do, did your DH certify you (i think mine might!) and was it worth the complete confusion / ridicule of family and friends (some of whom (e.g DH work) have already been told of one name change already!).

My DD is Imogen but is known as Imo, Mo or Mojo. I always loved the name and when I first heard it long before she was born I fell in love with it and it was not that common. There is another Imogen in her class this year who is also known as Mo !!

Thanks for your help / advice everyone. It was very helpful to know that other people had also regretted name choice and I was not on my own. Also gave me the confidence to seriously consider name changing rather than just fret about it. Ok, you may (or may not) be interested to know, that I have finally found a time when neither DH or nor myself were asleep, dealing with a screaming child, at work or in a bad mood, and have managed to raise the name changing issue (it took a few weeks!).

He said he didn't realise how seriously i felt about it which was why he had closed all previous conversations down with flippant comments (work promotions etc). Obviously he's not overjoyed about prospect of name change but willing to consider it given how strongly i feel.

He finally ruled out Imogen as too silly with our surname but is potentially ok with Ellen. He is a bit worried I might stil not be happy with the name, even when it is changed (bear in mind we've changed it once already in the first couple of days) and so reckons we should wait until xmas. If i still want to change it at xmas, he'll go for it (god knows what we'll put on the xmas cards). I can't see me changing my mind about wanting the change, but as I am madly post-natal at the moment, anything could happen.

I think if we do change he would like to keep Naomi as a middle name.

Hi,

I have just joined so i can join in!! How are you feeling about the name change thing now?

I am going through almost exactly the same thing, we chose the name Jacob together and had him ergistered but even now, when he is 12 weeks old, i still can't help feeling sad about his name and regretting not calling him Luca.

I don't know what to do about it as dh says he sees him as Jacob now :0(

Eating me up though and i too don't know if its just post pregnancy hormones...

Anyway, good luck with whatever you decide

I'm going to out myself as a mn'er now as I have spent the last couple of weeks, talking to lots of people about my ds name. He was 1 recently and I am seriously thinking about changing his name.
I have never been 100% happy and now he looks less and less like the name we gave him.
The only thing that stops me is the fact he knows his current name. I know if I am going to change it, I need to change it NOW.
DH is on side for this after some months of me niggling about his name

The pressure even now!

I can empathise with the changing name dilemma totally - I was SO undecided about my DS's name for months, kept going between 2 names; it was all I could think about and talk about, husband got so sick of it. Eventually, when he was baptised (at 6 months old) and the priest refered to him throughout the service by the name we'd finally gone for as the first name, I sat there in church and thought "Oh No!!He's not xxxxxxx, he's xxxxxx afterall!!!" So, we had him Baptised in one name and got back to our house for the 'do' and told everyone to call him by the other name!

So now we actually call him by his middle name and my new dilemma is should I change it round by Deedpoll?!

My advice is change it if you're not happy, its your baby, do not care about what anyone else thinks. Other people might think its strange for about 5 mins and then they'll just get on with their lives - you've got to live with it forever.

x

Why not just add Ellen as an additional name now (doesn't matter whether as a new first or second name); then she has both names officially, and you can decide as and when which you call her by, or even use both interchangeably! Lots of people are known by their middle name.

We could add Ellen as a middle name but on my other post loads of people have advised against calling someone by their middle name, they say it is really confusing for having a bank account, going to school, going to the doctors, or anything really.

I feel relieved to know that other people are going through this, as I think about it every day. Daren't mention it to DH much as he now feels happy with the name we chose. We are at a bit of an impasse because there doesn't seem a compromise on the change / no change dilemma. But it seems that I feel more strongly about it than him. Perhaps if she gets the 'right' name i will stop thinking about it?

I am getting used to calling her her official name and it comes to mind now very easily, but, it still makes me feel sad.

I have asked both GP and HV if it could be pregnancy hormones and they say not. I have been a bit up and down, but regardless of my mood i still feel the same about the name.

As an aside HV mentioned that some of this could be due to in my case at least, associated the chosen name with all the crap that was going on around the time of the birth (i was very unwell for a good while before and after) and my need to have a name chosen when things were better. Also the fact that i have been told not to try for any more children for health reasons, so the feeling that this has to be the very best name, as she is the only daughter i will ever have so no chance of an Ellen or Imogen later

I really feel for you - as I said in my previous post, I was preoccupied by it too and wanted just the right name. I also wish I'd chosen different middle name for my daughter but was 'saving' my other fave name in case had another girl. I didn't have another girl and now it v.v. unlikely that I'll have any more children. So I say give her all you 3 favourite names, its quite common to have 2 - would they all sound ok with your surname?

Naomi Imogen Ellen ....
Ellen Naomi Imogen ....
Ellen Imogen Naomi ....

Just be honest with what you REALLY want if you can and then insist on it!
Please let us know what you decide x

Deckchair - let us know what you decide to do and how it goes.

walking primrose, i don't think i can give her all three names as she already has a middle name which is my mum's name and removing that would not be a good idea

But we will definitely keep Naomi somewhere in the mix as DH feels he has got used to it and it's becoming part of her. Imogen was 1st on the list of names i made before birth, Ellen was 5th and Naomi was 8or9th. Ellen may really suit her though.

Saw a different doctor today and he said that it would be ok to get pregnant again, but think convincing DS of this will be rather difficult.

I am plucking up the courage to talk to DH about it again but it is getting to be a very sore subject. And it doesn't help that my opinion changes a bit from day to day. Christmas is our d-day for sorting it out so will let you know what happens.

ooops typo - it's DH i need to convince that we want another baby - although don't think DS would be too keen either.

To all of you regretting a name choice - as i said in my other post - do it! Fixing DD's name at 4 months was a lot easier than you might expect. We decided to try her new name for one weekend, and if it seemed right, we would tell people on the monday. On the saturday, we went to a fair and saw some friends who had not yet seen the baby. When they asked "What is her name?" I took a deep breath and said "Angharad". No worries! - as the weekend went on we barely ever mixed up with the old name. By the sunday, we both felt like a HUGE weight was off our shoulders and we felt much happier. We told people and the gossip stopped within a few weeks because everyone else had better things to worry about than our kids name. If you stand up and announce a change, work people won't really care and family members will just have to deal with it.

Every single day since Angharad's name change (she is now 6 years old) i spend lovinglovingloving her name. I get a buzz seeing it on her school books, uniforms, pictures etc EVERY time i see it. It suits her perfectly. If we hadn't changed it, i would be spending all those moments wishing we had. So i say only you (and maybe dh's) know WHO your kid is supposed to be. If you got it wrong -fix it! If Dh's are sick of talking about it, explain that you dont want to spend the rest of your life regretting it.

Why don't you call DD by the new name for the next couple of weeks (at home amongst yourselves) and then in a few weeks you may either love it or hate it. No-one else need know and if it works you can change her name oficially and let people know in their Christmas cards - and if not no-one knows and no face is lost.

hi, just flying in to say we changed dd2's name at 6wks (ie called her name 1 from birth but registered her as name 2 at 6wks)

It did cause some confusion at first but was only awkward for about a week whilst my 2yr old struggled with the change. FIL was also cutting and pretended to forget new name - but after that everyone kinda moved on.

with hindsight I think I'd have stuck with the original name - but at the time I got into a real tizz about it. I'd say if you really really love name 2 then change - otherwise it's probably just a phase which will pass

We kept name 1 as middle name -so she can always have the choice later on!

I know someone who was called Ben until he was five and then they started calling him his second name (Nick). Doesn't appear to have harmed him in anyway.

Our DD has an unusual 1st name that i actually think is really cool, but as a nickname we use her middle name (Rain) but alter it slightly to Rainy...it suits her as much as her 1st name and she responds to both. She can choose either when she's older and it doesn't cause any probs!! I find Rainy is a cute nickname for her as her 1st name cant really be shortened to a cutie sounding name....its more bold...anyway, hope ur happy with the name u chose now! (everyone i know has at least 2 nicknames for their kiddies anyway!)

We registered our twin daughters names knowing that we would call them by nicknames in addition to that (maybe partly because we always use the shortened version of our son's name?). Their names are:

Amelia Bethan (Millie) and Imogen Elysia (Immie).

They are now three and have recently started at Nursery, where the teacher decided to call them by their 'proper' names, as there were several others in their class with similarly sounding names to their nicknames. This confused Millie a little at first (but only for a week or so), telling me I was calling her by the wrong name when I called her Millie! She is fine with it all now, and calls herself Milia most of the time! Although, having said that, they are also learning each other's names by sight at the moment, so recognises her name beginning with A rather than M...

When they were little, their older brother (2 1/2 at the time) called them both Mimi (and they also called each other Mimi when they began to talk!) yet they always seemed to know which one was being spoken to - I think they just adjust to the names as they grow.

I had also initially liked the spelling Emilia as an alternative to Amelia, but didn't want people shortening her name to Em as it would be too similar to Im / Immie.

Sorry to waffle on - and hope you are happy with your final decision!

My mum hated her given name so much she actually changed it when she was in her 50's. She was Gertrude Clara, and had hated it with a deep and abiding passion for as long as she could remember. She loathed having to put it on official forms. So she asked eveyone for money for her fighting fund one year, and used it to change her name officially. She's now Trudy, and is delighted with her new name. So, however much you agonise, your child may still not agree with your choice!

fwiw, i love my dd name, but didnt use it for months, and like my ds name, but didnt use it for months and am now actively trying to call him it as dd seems to think he is called boy.

tiny tiny ones seem odd with big person names, even if you like them, i dont think its odd that youre not calling her it yet.

but if you really feel unhappy, change it.

i had a clerical error - misspelt surname - on my sons cert. bit sad it can only be amended, not changed, and had to make a few visits to register office to get it sorted, but it can be done

hi know you have loads of advice but just want to mention my circumstance as very different and regrets not good.
my partner chose my sons name and i did like it alot and it does suit him but i desperately wanted to name him after my father. when i hear that name now i sigh
worst of all i prob allowed current name to involve partner who actually ended up leaving us anyway so that was daft of me!
secondaly my ds has a nickname just used by me and noone else
he began school this sept and on parents eve last week the teacher told me harry said he would like to be called by his nickname.
i felt delighted he felt good about it.
thirdly my ex partner is known by his middle name always had been yes doc passport etc uses first name but never had any trouble

go with your heart you are mum and you will be using it the most!!

Just a comment to say that my daughter is Naomi and I like it - but we have had a lot of hassle because we want people to pronounce it the way we do. I have stopped correcting people now as even our childminder doesn't seem to realise that she never repeats the name the way I say it. You say tomato....?

I agree with everybody that you should change it if you feel that's what you like. I have been using my middle name as main name for several years, so maybe you could just "add" a name or two and then you can pick your favorite one and she can choose which one she likes bast for the rest of her life.

Ds2 is 2. We changed his name 1 week before he turned 1 (12 months is the legal limit).

We did it by post, had to send the birth certificate. The "short" certificate just shows the new name, the "long" certificate (that details what is actually on record) shows both the original name and the revision.

I was never very happy with the name my son was given to him by my mum and my partner when he was born. I popped into the registry office the day before the 12 months were up and gave him the name I liked as an additional middle name. Kind of 1st birthday present. My DH was livid actually but I didn't care.
Anyway what I wanted to say was that it's REALLY easy to change a name before 12 months are up, and if you're not happy, then go ahead and do it, you definitely won't regret it.

If you change it now then you get the chance to stick the new name on all your xmas cards and let everyone know that way - it'll make a change from boring messages or unbearable round robins!