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Original poster

Has anyone had their baby and not had a name for him/her?

106 replies

hunkermunker · 10/11/2005 23:50

Think this is a situation we might find ourselves in!

Did your baby just look like they suited a particular name when they were born? Or had you got one all lined up and then they just weren't a Humphrey (or whatever)?

And is it ever acceptable to call a child "the baby" until they're old enough to choose their own name?

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Chandra · 11/11/2005 00:28

My younger sister was name-free for two months as my parents couldn't get to agree to a name, we called it the baby which later degenerated (thanks to me, apparently) into baebe (I'm translating so, it's actually not that bad!). Everybody call her that until she was 12 yrs old! although most of my cousins still call her Baebe her respectable age of 33...

We started calling DS by his name since we first saw him in a scan when he was 12 weeks old, we had a second name chosen in case he turned to be a girl.

Miaou · 11/11/2005 00:37

hunker

My dds are at school with a little boy who didn't have a name right up until the deadline for registering his birth (only 3 weeks here in Scotland). And in the end they said "oh sod it we'll go for x" (x being a perfectly normal name, but seemed to have been chosen arbitrarily!).

Slightly at the thought of calling the child "the baby" but assume you are joking so I won't enter into a diatribe - reminiscent of Dirty Dancing though....

Personally I don't believe that babies look like a Humphrey or whatever, but there you go. Be thankful you don't have to choose a name by committee (my dds had a say in ds's name so there were four of us to agree!)

Chandra · 11/11/2005 00:51

NO, I don't think that either, I don't know if DS looked like his name or not, it's just that we had been refering to him with it for so many months that no other name seemed appropiate (good reason not to call him Humphrey while pregnant )

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Skyler · 11/11/2005 05:49

We went into the hospital with six boys and six girls names on our short list for dd2. I got first choice for a girl and dh for a boy. I went with my gut feeling when the time came (in shock as I was convinced she would be a boy). I always think children grow into their names anyway.
Lol at the baby, and good luck.

KristinaM · 11/11/2005 06:41

well I am 38 weeks plus, know I'm having a boy and we still havent agreed on a name.This happened last time as well. Dh was convinced he would just look like one of the names on our list. He didnt of course, he just looked like a very red, ugly, wee, cross eyed baby. We were tempted to call him Clarence . By the time he was a year old we realised that Conan the Destroyer woudl have been more appropriate. Ur perhaps Dennis the Menace

spagblog · 11/11/2005 06:54

We knew that our DD was a girl from 28 weeks, but couldn't agree on a name. We decided to wait to see what she looked like but luckily we decided not to call her bloated cone head.
I think we decided on a name by day three. Although two weeks later when I forgot what she was called when someone asked, we did wonder if we had picked the right name.

gingerbear · 11/11/2005 07:31

DD was nameless for a week, all her tags from hospital say Baby so-and-so. We had a definite boy's name, but no girl's name. Glad we waited really as her name could have been Ho Chi Min (made in Vietnam you see).

nightowl · 11/11/2005 08:07

i had plenty names lined up but couldnt decide so yep, dd was "the baby" for a week also.

kama · 11/11/2005 08:12

This reply has been deleted

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JessicaandRebeccasmummy · 11/11/2005 08:14

Jessica was going to be Caitlin right up until 4 days before i had her, and i had a change of heart.... changed to Jessica and when she was born, there was no denying that Caitlin just wouldnt have suited her.

With Rebecca, we had the name chosen for a good few months and again, couldnt give her any other name.

No offence intended to anyone, but you have 9 months to decide on a name... why does it take so long?!

frannyandzooey · 11/11/2005 08:18

I know someone who didn't choose a name for 6 months. However she is a bit mad

dot1 · 11/11/2005 09:19

when I was pregnant, dp and I decided that if it was a boy he'd be Harry if he was blonde and Dylan if he was dark. He came out with a huge mop of jet black hair, so Dylan he was!!! (I actually think he would have suited Harry aswell, but he is a lovely Dylan!).

Lonelymum · 11/11/2005 09:31

You have nine months to do nothing else but choose a name! How on earth can you get to the birth and not have one lined up? I can't understand the "he/she didn't suit the name we had planned". If you called the child by that name, it would fit them like a glove within a couple of days.

gigglinggoblin · 11/11/2005 09:31

when my mum 1st saw ds2 she said 'hes a bit of a scrat, isnt he?'. he had no name so became scrat which then turned into scratbag and finally ratbag which really suited him and stuck for over 3 years. in fact he would tell strangers his name was ratbag! the name he officially got was because he looked so much like my uncle, i couldnt think of him as anything other than that name.

Original poster
hunkermunker · 11/11/2005 09:47

at 9 months to do nothing else but choose a name!

No, I lie on the sofa all day, eating peeled grapes and reading baby name books. Pshaw!

I don't like loads of names. Loads. The choose me a name threads always have lots that make me want so shriek with laughter, lots that make me want to shriek with derision and lots that just make me want to shriek.

Oh, and lots that are just plain dull. Or don't go with our surname (it's a perfectly nice name, just really, really hard to put other names with - it ends in an "ee" sound and lots of names sound REALLY odd with it).

So that's why we find it so hard.

Nice to hear we're just being lazy about it though.

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flamesparrow · 11/11/2005 09:51

I'm planning to have a pile of possibles, but I don't want one chosen before we have a baby in our arms... DD had been planned from day one, I held her and she just wasn't that name - she was Jennifer. DH was very anti-Jennifer, and all set on the other name, and she ended up being the original name... 2 1/2 years on, I still see a Jennifer when I see her

DH knows how I feel, and that I am refusing to agree to anything beforehand . At the moment its not much of an issue though... we have 2 "its oks" that we've come up with - one for each sex. The ones we both really like, the other doesn't!!!

flamesparrow · 11/11/2005 09:53

I think that most babies will let you know their real name when they are born (I'm ready for lets all laugh at the crazy lady) - but if they are meant to be a name, then you will know. I also believe that mums should have final decision, again, once they have met the child - they have been with them for 9 months, they are more likely to know what the right name is.

expatinscotland · 11/11/2005 09:55

I have. We had no names chosen w/DD was born. Whilst in hospital, she was such a sweet, contented baby. The midwives would even come in to feed her. One said, 'If you ask me, she looks like a wee Eilidh.' And so she was. The name suits her to a T.

We have a 'girl' name chosen for this one, but no boy names.

Prefer to wait and see what they look like.

iota · 11/11/2005 09:57

agree with hunker - -additional reasons that it's so hard to chose :

friends or relatives have already chosen that name

one or other of you ALWAYS knew someone really awful who had that name

Lonelymum · 11/11/2005 09:57

Knew you would respond that way Hunkermunker!

I meant, it isn't exactly a surprise that you have a name to choose, is it? You are not one of those women who goes into labour without even realising you were pregnant in the first place. Obviously you have other things to do (Mumsnetting for one! ) but also, it is obvious you need to have a name lined up and so you should be able to fit choosing one into your bust schedule.

I was a teacher and found that I couldn't choose any names that I had already taught IYSWIM. That ruled ot a lot of names, although also a lot of foreign names that I would obviously not have chosen in the first place. Actually, I found it helped to have my choice narrowed down in that way, so maybe your dislike of many names will help you in the long run. Have long have you got to go now?

Lonelymum · 11/11/2005 09:58

bust schedule should be busy schedule.

iota · 11/11/2005 09:58

Or its a great name, but too popular...I think we finally gave in on theis one and picked popular names

Original poster
hunkermunker · 11/11/2005 09:59

See, we had a name chosen for DS. The perfect name. It suits him beautifully, we both love it, etc.

But it seems that it's the only name we can agree on Anything I like, DH "sort of" likes or loathes. And vice versa. Only I don't manage "sort of" very often either!

Are you sure we can't use "the baby" and wait? (It's OK, Miaou, I am joking )

OP posts:
flamesparrow · 11/11/2005 10:00

You can't use The Baby cos I want it

The bump is being called Spark, but we can't even have that as a real name cos I know one

Original poster
hunkermunker · 11/11/2005 10:01

LM, you big wind-up merchant

Yes, we have the "know too many babies with that name" thing too - don't really want anything from the top 10.

Am sure we'll come up with something. And I do talk to DH re names while MNing, LM

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