Baby Name

[annie896]

My DS2 is 6 months old, DH and I found it hard to think of another boys name although I loved the name we chose when pregnant a couple of people were rude about it when he was born when I was feeling quite ill after the birth, since then I have felt we have given him the wrong name. DH still loves it but I feel like we have let him down by giving him the wrong name, I like the shortened version/nn which I call him but not the name itself. I just feel like it does not suit him. I don't want to change it as I know I will just fret about it and it would just be to bigger thing to do, and also DH still loves the name. Don?t know how to come to terms with it. DH says I am over thinking it. Any words of wisdom gratefully received. How could I have loved a name when pg and now I don?t unless it was pg hormones. Lots of people love the name as well, its one of those names you either love or hate.

Not everyone likes DS1?s name but I couldn?t care less as I really love it. May be I just need to get back to work!

I love DS's nn (Harry) but do have the odd moment of doubt about the full name (Harrison) BUT!

I'd never have just called him Harry, don't like Harold or Henry and think he suits Harry perfectly, so Harrison it is.

I think as long as you and your DH are happy with it, bugger everyone else!

I've posted on here before about a friend in the exact same position as you. 8 years on she is still in the same position and is very unhappy about her DD's name. I couldn't understand what her problem was but it has really affected her psychologically i.e. talks about it constantly. I would suggest you do change it now as it is much easier to do at this stage. Have his current name as a middle name, so he may have two middle names if he had one before. OH can call him the name he loves and you can call him the other name or the nickname. I chose the wrong name for my son - he should have been a Robert and I call him Bobby but OH calls him his real name. DS doesn't even notice and responds to both without a thought. He was given the option to be known as Bobby or X before going to school and he chose X but I still call him Bobby and he doesn't bat an eyelid.

I have also noticed that lots of posh people are known by their middle names so this is an option if you like his middle name.

Did you know you can change the names free up to one year old, without paying anything... we are going to do that as we now want to change DS's middle name to be my surname, which is a boy's name (he has my husband's surname).

If I were you I'd take the opportunity to do so, and would do it very sneakily by making his current first name his middle name (so you can keep his nickname as his 'real' name) and giving him a more mainstream first name. I have a cousin who has been called by a nickname of his middle name all his life (he's called Jamie, first name Alexander, middle name James) and an uncle who is known by his middle name to all - even working as a magistrate and as a senior civil servant he has been perfectly fine using his middle name professionally.

This will give your DS a choice in the future, will still mean he is known by his nickname now, and you need tell no one what you have done - or just claim it was thus all along!

ps I know free = not paying anything, I meant without going through a legal process like an adult would!

Porcupine11 thats a really good idea of yours,as his middle name is very mainstream.

I just wonder how I would explain to him that I had made this change when he is older.

would you need to? you could just say that you started calling him by his middle name nickname as a baby (as a bump?) and it stuck!

His nick name is from his first name I like the nn but not sure now about the name itself. So I would change his first name and middle name around so he would be called by the nick name of his middle name and if he wanted he could call himself by his first name when he is older. Or am I just being stupid some people are using the nickname as a name on its own now. Just to give you an idea the nn is Albie, his middle name is Thomas.

Poor you! At the end of the day the name you have registered should stay as it is, especially as your dh loves it. But there's no reason why you shouldn't start using a different name. Schools always ask what the child is known as, so they won't suddenly confuse him by calling him Tarquin or whatever it is when he starts. Just start calling him Joe or whatever you fancy and everyone else will copy.

So not Tarquin then?

I know loads of peopel who register the 'posh' version of a name but then abbreviate it... Katherine/Kate, Thomas/Tom etc. Even one friend who registered her child as Arthur cos it was her dad's name but then always used the middle name. It's not unusual to use middle name/nick name. My fil is Arthur Barrington Surname and has always been called Barry. He's 80.

No not Tarquin!!! His names I know are fine its just how I feel about it. Thanks for the replies I will have a think about it.

Hi could you change the name to just the nickname? Shortened versions are just as popular these days ie Zac (and it's other spellings) are more popular than Zachary and Ben/Sam/Alex are all in the top 50 I think. Most names have been at some point changed from the original ie Benjamin from Benyamin (few use that) etc and many names have been shortened to be used as names in their own right (Harry, Millie etc), it won't be unusual in this generation to have the shortened version as Alfie, Freddie etc are all very very common. Albie is gorgeous, i would use that..

Jelly Bean I have thought of that.

Hes name is Albert Thomas but we call him Albie which I love, not sure about Albert now it just seems too grown up, don't know whether to change it to Thomas Albert and keep calling him Albie or is this just a bit nutty and might confuse him. Just wonder if Albie is more of a childs name does it sound okay for an adult?

Hi Albert is quite nice and old names are coming back but I do prefer Albie and think it's fine for a man. By then, anyway, he will be surrounded by Freddies, Alfies and Poppys so I think it's only hard to imagine now as it's not usual for our generation.

Kids do sometimes get teased for having old fashioned names. My DD has an Archie in her class and he is teased as people discovered his real name is Archibald. However, Albert is nowhere at all near that old fashioned and as these names get more popular it will probably not seem so old fashioned.

To be honest, though, you could keep Albert and just call him Albie and he can have more choices when older. Loads of people register the longer name but always use the short form. Depends if would bother you if doctors etc call him his full name.

If you do change it, that is fine too, you could just say that since he is know by the short form you decided to register him as that to save confusion and because that is his name.

One of my DSs has a short form of a fairly old fashioned name and I don't regret it although pondered on it for a while. I just decided what's the point in the long name if we won't use it. I never use my full forename even at the doctors, work etc.

Maybe if you had registered the short form you would have wondered should you have used the long form!
Whatever you decide, it is a nice name

Thanks Jellybean, DS1 is Henry George and
although old fashioned also noone ever really commented on it I suppose both names are popular so more accepted.

Although I like Albie I don't no anyone with the name adult or child so hope it will be okay I never intended to given my children obscure names I just like the traditional ones.