[name]Just[/name] curious to hear if anyone has ever felt they made the wrong decision regarding their name choice, and ended up changing the babies name?
[name]Do[/name] you know anyone who has done this?
What are your thoughts here?
Sorry for misspellings… on my phone
I have felt it twice… but each time I chose to let it go, and trust the name I had chosen. Each time I have been glad I stuck with the names I had given them. I have a cousin who chose a name for her son… and at three months of age, chose to change his name. No one ever said much about it, and she told me she was so happy she made the change…
My youngest is [name]Arden[/name] [name]Mae[/name] (born 3/12). It wasn’t our first choice, but we liked it (tough delivery and she was born blue - scary first five minutes and following 4 weeks - so we couldn’t name her [name]Mae[/name] [name]Mazarine[/name], which is a shade of blue, and which we had planned to name her). She was given lots of pet names by her siblings, “[name]Birdie[/name]” being the most common because of how she opened her mouth when she was hungry and the little cry she made. So when other people started calling her “Ardie” and I realized it was a losing battle to stop that, we started introducing her as [name]Birdie[/name] [name]Mae[/name]. We haven’t officially changed it, but it is sweet and vintage and southern and we love it. I think she does too because she calls herself [name]BaMa[/name]! She can go back to [name]Arden[/name] if she wants to, but she will never be an “Ardie!”
A good friend of mine named her daughter [name]Olive[/name], but mostly calls her by an unrelated nickname. I think her family made her regret the name choice by criticizing it so much! She considered legally changing it, but didn’t bother.
In the process of changing baby’s name now. [name]Baby[/name] stopped breathing day 2 after being born. We were shattered after days of labour and hadn’t discussed her name properly due to last minute pregnancy complications. My partner promised in the delivery suite when being induced that we would not rush into naming her. However, when she was born (after a birth where her heart rate dropped and almost led to emergency c section) he called her by a particular name. I did not correct him, not wanting to ruin the moment , thinking I would have time to argue about the name later. SO went straight home to shower etc , leaving me and bub alone. A few hours later, family descends upon the hospital calling the baby by said name. I was basically shocked into submission and the next day at home, I was about to have convo with him about the fact that I didn’t want ‘that’ name when bub went blue and floppy. Back into hospital we went and in a medical situation it ‘became’ her name as our concerns were for her life not her name. it was only a couple of months later after the trauma had passed that the realisation set in, partner was angry and wouldn’t let me change it, thinking I was being ridiculous. However, 2 months later, he has realised what a big issue it is for me. The issue is now that since then a friend of ours has ‘used’ one of my main name choices and I also don’t know how to tell family and friends. It is an awful, awful feeling . I only wish we had never told people our name options. I hope that i can resolve this as I fear if I don’t change it now I will feel like this in years .
I’m sorry that this has been adifficult time for you.
I asked the question because a close friend is going thru this now.
She had a very similar situation, where her baby came too early, and they just weren’t prepared to name their daughter. They felt the pressure to do so, and now are going thru the process of changing it at 6 months later.
The battle they are having, is finding a name that they love, but that isn’t to different from the one she has now… they are trying to reduce the amount explanation to friends and family.
Good luck with changing you babies name, know your not alone, and like I’ve said to my friend, your the mother and it’s your right and duty to do whatever you feel is needed to make sure your baby has the best life possible… [name]Even[/name] tho it is only a name, you don’t want/need a permanent reminder of the stress and uncertain times in the beginning, for the rest if their lives. Find a name that makes you happy, and the rest will fall in place.
We never changed her name once she was born. - All through the birth we was calling her [name]Emily[/name] but then her dad changed it to [name]Amy[/name]-[name]Louise[/name].
Yes, we are changing [name]Baba[/name]'s name. I’ve been feeling queasy about it for a while now and right now we’re narrowing in on a new name. It’s not because I don’t love her name, because I do, it’s a beautiful romantic name chosen with love and care, but it doesn’t fit. I thought I did, but not anymore. Boyfriend feels the same way, which surprised me, but then calmed me down as that probably means I’m not going insane. It’s tough though, there wasn’t another in mind that I wish I’d rather chosen, she needs something completely different. And this time it’s it, I can’t do it again. My family and friends are all very supportive though, which is wonderful. I also talked to Roo’s pediatrician about it, and she said babies don’t recognise their name until they’re five months so now’s the time to do it.
My parents named my youngest brother [name]Trace[/name], but a little while later, they changed it to [name]Elijah[/name], and made [name]Trace[/name] a 2nd middle name.
[name]Ottilie[/name], are you changing it completely or just a middle? I know what you mean about the name not fitting - I actually like the name my little one has (obv as it was on our final list) but it’s not her at all . I hope you find a resolution .
and Meathibs, I am glad you are so supportive of your friend, people can be so judgemental. I hope she finds a satisfactory conclusion also.
We have been seeing counsellor , hoping that would help - but I still want to change her name , and until I do so, I feel very ‘queasy’ about the whole thing as you put it [name]Ottilie[/name] .
Good luck x
I felt it with our son [name]Caleb[/name]'s middle name. I wish we had gone with [name]Stephen[/name], after my husband, instead of going way back in his family tree to pick a random name. I think we were just pressured. I would like to change it and I’m not too worried about it being extremely confusing because its only a middle name.
We have Contemplated changing my 3 year olds middle name. My Mom passed away when. I was pregnant and her name was [name]Helen[/name]. I don’t know why but for some reason I decided [name]Helene[/name] was a better fit for my daughters middle name. About a year ago I started hating the flow and just using [name]Helen[/name] as her middle name although still spelling it with an E at the end. She is special needs and due to medical records and disability info, it would be a mess to legally drop the E and chase down everything that needs changing. So as she gets older, if she decides she wants to drop the E then we will. Until then, its just an extra letter.
The whole thing we think, might keep the middle if it feels right… But I don’t want it to influence my first name choices, so only if it fits in nicely. [name]How[/name]'s your baby doing? The blue thing sounds so scary! I understand names were not the most important thing on your mind.
I thought about changing it with my 2nd daughter, but it was a battle I was not willing to fight at the time and I was convinced to keep it the way it was. I’m very, very glad I did. As it turns out, my daughter loves her name. She’s very into it and likes to tell me how beautiful it is.
@ [name]Ottilie[/name] She is doing great ta = ) healthy and happy.
It’s weird, I knew I didn’t want the name but it became so irrelevant- such a scary experience and at the time I almost felt guilty about wanting to change her name , like it was my fault she stopped breathing- irrational I know. It was only when the fog of anxiety lifted that I realised that I couldn’t live with the name. to be fair though, it should never have come to that- I should have spoken up sooner and I am seeking help around these issues. Are you finding the whole ‘new name’ process difficult? [name]How[/name] do you feel about it all? x
Goodie, glad to hear that! We’ve been able to find some names we think would suit her; a few based on the nickname we use for her now (Roo) and a few that just suit her. So now we’re trying to find out which one we like for her the most. It’s nine names right now, but we’re getting there… You?
We are finding it difficult, my SO seems to avoid discussion and I then feel like I am nagging , I think he hopes I change my mind still, but when I say this he gets mad. Last night I set a limit- we must have a new name by end of next week as she will be starting to recognise her name soon- although I tend to call her a variety of nns at the mo. I have about 5 names that ‘feel’ like her so it’s just coming to an agreement now =) . I am seriously concerned with people’s reactions though, but I need to push that fear to one side and do this for me and baby and not to please others as this is not going to go away .
[name]How[/name] are you testing your preference of name? [name]Do[/name] you have a time limit?
Honestly, when I first started posting here there were an astounding amount of posts about people wanting to change their babies’ names and I always thought they were a fakes because surely, there weren’t that many people who thought they made the wrong choice; that they were just playing around with names and not wanting to wait the 9 months for a second faked pregnancy story on here. Come to find out, this problem is becoming more and more frequent, and it’s documented. It actually makes me wish I’d done my masters so I could do some fieldwork about it sigh.
Anyway, it seems as though this is a more common occurrence than I once thought… it actually makes me worried because I could just as easily feel this unrest in the future.
If I were projecting in to the future, and if I were to feel uneasy about what we’d named our child, I would probably form my final opinion on how my SO felt. If he were 100% secure and wasn’t about to go through the naming process and my problem with the name was that I liked something better, then I’d let it go and keep the name. If we both felt like we’d made the wrong choice, I’d push to change it even if he wasn’t sure if he wanted to go through it. I’d probably pull an, “All you have to do is talk about names some more. I’ll take care of the paperwork” in hopes he’d agree.
That being said, my parents agreed on my name with no issues, but I’ve never really identified with it. Parents can put decades of thought in to their kids’ names, the kids may not feel like it’s really their name anyway.
I think my name regret [name]Lucia[/name], comes from not being true to myself and wanting to ‘please people’ . I apparantely have issues of compliance and anxiety that stem back to my childhood, being a premature baby in a complicated birth can have this long term effect -or so I have recently been told. i think maybe it is on the rise as once upon a time people would have stuck with the names they knew and loved from their favourite literature, names that they were comfortable with maybe? [name]One[/name] factor behind my regret is not doing just this and also listening to family members and not my heart.
[name]Lucia[/name], I agree, I thought that as well. But now that it’s happening to me, I see it differently. When I have another baby what I know for sure is that I am going to stay true to what I want, and I need to have a name I’m happy with for at least six months (I tend to change my mind a lot). I will also probably not decide on a name until I’ve known the baby for a while. But I am an extremely sensitive person.
[name]Penelope[/name], we need to do it as soon as possible really. We hadn’t registered her birth before we decided to change it, so we’re getting a fine. The longer it takes, the bigger the fine 
So I really want it done within a month (we’re going to have a “name day” thing (like a christening) in [name]July[/name], and I’d like her name finalized a while before that!) We’re trying to call her different names as well, I think we’ve narrowed it down to three we think really suit her, but they’re a little out there… beautiful though.