would it be wrong to change my 10 month olds name?

[CharlottesClan]

when my son was born we were fixed on the name george.
a few days after he was born we fell out with one of our friends who was pregnant who wanted to use the name (after her dead grandparent)

well we went with charlie to keep the peace although we really didnt feel as fond of the name.

now we both really regret it. turns out my friend had a girl so we could use the name easy.

is it wrong to do this so late? should we just make do with what we decided?

[A1980]

Well it's now or never.

He's too young to know his name yet. If he's 10 months old and you still don't like Charlie, chances are it wont grow on you.

Just do it! Change it or you'll regret it forever.

[CharlottesClan]

ive got to go down there to change it so havent yet. giving it another week as half term is not the best time to drag three children all the way to woolwich to change it!

but have ordered a new nappy with his name on, and his dummy clip now says george so i guess its official

[nappyaddict]

Will you change it officially as well?

[Hedwig3]

SO glad it is going well, decisions about our children are so hard but they are OUR decisions, well done!

Your family sounds lovely

[MagalyZz]

My son didn't know his name at ten months, I'm sure of it.

I prefer the name Charlie to George, but that's not the point. I know what you mean about the name not sitting right. My son's name sits right with me 100% and my daughter's doesn't. What you say about having let yourself be swayed by one person before strikes a chord. I have done that in the past and now I don't care what huge crowds of near strangers think either (if they give me a thought).

[CharlottesClan]

thanks elvislives. your story is very sweet!

well day 3, and george is now responding to georgie and george (georgie was easier for dh to transition to, and cos they sound similar we thought he would learn it faster iswim?)
he no longer answers to charlie, just ignores me

ds and dd have almost got it, but they are taking longer usually saying 'cha.. george pinched me/kissed me/fell over' etc etc but i wasnt expecting them to find it easy. they both prefer the name tho which is the important thing.

thomas asked me if he had a different name when he was a baby which made me laugh (we told him he was called munchkin alot)

all in all pleased we have done it thank you for all the replies it really helped me take the plunge xx

[hattee]

Honestly, no one seemed to care about my DS's change of name. I just said that actaully, we decided to call him X afterall and make Y his middle name. I think most people have better things to think about than what you call your child.

His new name is the name on his passport btw - and we had absolutely no problems with this. DS is actually a dual citizen and we had no problems with either passport. I also spoke to someone at the registrars office at the time, and according to him there is no need to specify the original name on all official forms going forward where 'any other known by names' are asked for.

My main worry at almost a year would be that he knows his name - but if he responds to George it sounds as though this is not a problem.

I am in my 30s and never even had a copy of my long birth certificate until recently. I have never needed it. I don't need it to renew my passport and didn't need it to get married.

[Cadelaide]

pumper.

sweet

[elvislives]

I disagree with those saying he knows his identity as Charlie.

DD1 has a long and beautiful name. When she was born it seemed too big and grown-up a name for such a little girl but we didn't want to shorten it. We called her Pumpkin, which eventually got shortened to Pumper.

She referred to herself as Pumper and I had a sudden realisation when she was about 2 years old that she didn't actually know what her proper name was.

We switched to using her real name at that point and within days she didn't remember that she had ever been called anything else. She wasn't traumatised by it at all.

If you aren't happy, change it while you can.

[CharlottesClan]

CharlieBoo thats what facebook is for

i just explained to people who asked today that we didnt call him it out of respect to my friends dead grandparent, and that she had a girl so we've changed back as charlie just never sat right. i dont care what people i barely know think, i let one person sway me its not going to happen again.

[CharlieBoo]

I love both names but I think it's a bit wierd to change it now. Imagine bumping into someone in town you haven't seen for months and they say 'oh hasn't little Charlie grown!'. 'Errr he's called George now.' How embarrassing. What if you go off George in a few months/years time. You should not have bowed down to your friend to start with and she shouldn't have expected you too. I mean there are bloomin millions of George's out there, she would have got over it. Lesson learned... Do what you wanna do.

[KERALA1]

What a ridiculous friend OP causing all this. Hope she is ashamed of herself. Change it then put it behind you. Am sure it wont trigger a lifelong identity crisis in your 10 month old

[CharlottesClan]

she called her poppy.

[MPuppykin]

Change it. You are both unhappy with Charlie, and think of your boy as George. Your 'friend' sounds juvenile and pathetic and downright nasty to give you so much grief. What is she going to do..... lean on everyone who has he same name as her DD? (If you feel comfortable sharing, what did she call her baby? I bet there are other people out there with a similar/same name. )

[nappyaddict]

Cadelaide and Rouso what was the original full name and what is the full name you changed to/want to change to?

[WhatsAllThisThen]

I have friends who did this. Wasn't a big deal. Go for it! You'll regret it otherwise.

[CharlottesClan]

well we already have a thomas and a cousin thomas the same age as we had already named the bump before we knew that my cousin was going to be called that lol.

it wasnt so much hogging as that she was really horrid about it, insulted my daughters name and insulted me as a parent. so i had alot of bad feeling and upset associated with the name.
i wish i had of just called him it anyway and changed it if it really was unbearable

you live and learn right?

[ASecretLemonadeDrinker]

I'd go with George if he sort of is George. I think it is silly though people 'hogging' names - I would think nothing of using the same name as friends DC, even close relatives. There is a huge amount of Patricks on my mothers side! People move on, nicknames come into play, and goodness me people sometimes have the same name! DS3 may use DS1s middle name as a first name, bit of a bugger but if he is a Patrick then fair enough.

[wahwahwah]

Ahhhh. Go for it. I'd rather have a little Georgie than a little Charlie!

[CharlottesClan]

he is actually answering to george already, as i just say it with the same tone. i dont believe he knows his name as such, otherwise he would just blank me unless i said charlie.

im not saying the transition is going to be easy, but i did occasionally call him george (usually at 2am when tired) so im my eyes he always has been george.

[wahwahwah]

In our family, half of the men are NOT called by their given names. Very confusing but not all that unusual in Scotland.

[toddlerama]

Hmm, I really , really wanted to change DD2's name (I was in tears regularly over it!) but DH was adamant that we weren't. NEITHER of us were crazy about her name, but he said it wasn't worth saddling her with extra admin for the rest of her life (known by any previous names....) and she would grow into it. I was really peed off about it, but he was right - I now think her name is perfect for her even if it is n overused name. The 'wrong' name may not really be that big a deal after a few more months.

[hellokitty123]

"You can change it and your child will never know!!!!"

Of course your child will know - not only will the original name still be on his birth certificate and passport, but I also think that a one year old knows his name, it is part of his identity.

I'm not saying it can't be done, but I'd think through the consequences carefully before rushing into a decision.

[anonymousbird]

Change it, though have no knowledge on the process, but sounds like others do.

PS. I am a bit biased, as I have a George, but it's not about that, it's about you making your choice, and clearly George was what you wanted and due to emotions/other pressures, you went with something else.

You can change it and your child will never know!!!!

[Runoutofideas]

I have a George and a Charlie (although they are really Georgia and Charlotte!) so obviously I like both. If it makes you feel uncomfortable though then change it - or just call him George anyway without doing anything official.....My grandmother was Patricia but everyone called her Diana!