Antenatal classes and baby names

[ELM8]

We have a group of around 8 couples who were in our antenatal classes and everyone has started having their babies..

It's so nice (but also exciting / terrifying) to see all the announcements, but I then started to wonder.. what would you do if one of the babies born before yours was named the name you were planning?

The main reason we joined our group (NCT) was to make local friends in the same position etc but this also means the children will almost definitely meet (although no guarantee they will become friends I guess)..

You don't change the name you have chosen for your child because someone else has chosen it.

That was my first thought, but then I wondered if it would look like copying?! Maybe overthinking...

Mine had 2 Sophia’s and a Sophie.
They didn’t change their name choices once the first one was born.
It was funny but no one seemed especially bothered by it. I guess, even if they were, they wouldn’t have said!

I would still name my child it although my friends NCT group split in two because of this situation!

Stick with the name you like. If it’s a fairly classic or popular name then your child may end up being one of several in their class at nursery/school anyway so it would daft to change it based on an NCT friend.

@mintich argh so some people do get bothered by it!!

@Expressedways true, it would be a waste to change it then it just happened later down the line, although in that scenario at least you wouldn't be the "copier"

I put vaginally examinations by negotiation only on my birth plan.

Tell them the names you’ve chosen now! When I had my second, I later found out that one of my antenatal group had planned to use that name too but changed their mind after I used it!

@selfsettlingat3

I think that’s for a different thread

There's no guarantee you'll see your NCT group past your mat leave anyhow, so I really wouldn't factor them in to naming your baby.

When I had my third child we had an established group of friends and children who were likely to go to the same schools too. It so happens all 8 of us had girls! None of us knew what we were having (back in the mid 80s) we had a list of 3 girls' names and all three were taken in the weeks leading up to our birth so yes, we did come up with another name. I remember having the obligatory salt bath after an easy labour and going through the options with DH. We made the right decision as they were all at school together and have attended each other's weddings in recent years. So in a small community I'd say act upon it and in a transient city not so much.

This happened in my NCT group. It wasn't remotely an issue.

Don’t stress about it. I moved away as did a few from my NCT group. Never seen them since maternity leave! Honestly it’s not worth changing a name you love for.

Someone in my nct group didn't call their child the name they'd originally chosen, after I delivered first and named my child the same name (unwittingly, we hadn't shared names prior to the births). She was ok about it, just said "oh we were going to call ours that, so now we need to rethink". I wouldn't have cared and did say that at the time!

I've seen her about five times since the babies were born and they are now 9. I wonder if she regrets changing her mind about the name!

Happened to me! She knew the name, I had two potential names and she used them both haha. We chose a different name, but we think it suits him more than the other name would've :)

We've changed our girls name because DHs sister used a very similar one when her baby was born five months ago, but our children will be in each other's lives forever. No way would I change it for randoms from NCT - I have seen the ones from our group about ten times in total and my DS is 4!

This exact thing happened to us. First family named their baby "our" name. When ours came along 3 weeks later we chose the same name. Apparently she was a bit put out (according to another NCT friend) but I wasnt going to change the name I loved to suit someone I met a month ago! Plus it was a very popular name.

Anyway 3 years later I'm in touch with most of my NCT friends but I never see this particular child. I'm really glad I didnt change the name.

I also think it depends on the name. If there are two Sophia's, Evie's, Oliver's or Harry's, I dont think people should care. After all they will probably meet many kids with that name over the next few years. If someone in the group names their kid Artemis or Horatio, maybe best not to copy.