[name]Hi[/name],
I was just wondering how many names other mom berries out there take into hospital with them and their experience of picking from their list?
I have two girl names picked and four boys names, does anyone have experience with this does more names make it harder?
We knew we were having a little boy and I think we had about 7 names, but really, there were 4 we really loved and we knew it would mostly be out of those but we had a few extras just in case. We actually ended up choosing 2 out of our 4 favorite names for a first and middle when we met him :). The name fit him perfectly. We found it very useful to go in with a list; it worked very well for us. We knew what we liked but there was room to see what felt right when we met him. I’d maybe add another girl’s name if you feel the need but your list is probably perfect as is.
With my son, we went in with 2 names (his first and middle). We didn’t actually plan on using both, but we decided we liked them better than any of our possible middle names, so we went for it. It wasn’t our original plan to wait, we were just really indecisive. In hindsight though, I’m glad we did it the way we did. We named him the day after he was born, and decided because I found a nn that just fit so well.
This time around, we are taking 3-4 names for each gender, plus a few alternates if our top names don’t fit. I can’t wait to meet this little one and see what name fits 
We knew we were having a girl. We basically knew which name we were going to pick, but had 2 maybes as well!
I took the name that I was 90% sure was his and one backup name. When I saw him, I was certain my first choice was the right one.
If you’re equally ambivalent about all your options, I’ve always thought a long “hospital” list would only make a hard process harder, but it could really go either way. You may look at the baby and just know which name is the right one.
We had two FNs chosen - one for a girl and one for a boy, and that’s it. We didn’t agree on names AT ALL, so coming up with just two was really hard. We decided we’d just come up with a middle name on the spot at the hospital.
Fortunately, the name we chose for our daughter really fits her. I don’t know what we would have done if she came out and just didn’t look like a [name]Lillian[/name] at all…
We don’t discuss names at all beforehand. We bring along a bible, and decide after the birth by going through the names that we like (or have been secretly thinking of to ourselves), and then choose!
(We only use strictly biblical names.)
We took [name]Lucy[/name] [name]Annabel[/name] and [name]Philip[/name] [name]Arthur[/name] to hospital, with [name]Daisy[/name] [name]Madeline[/name] and [name]Noah[/name] [name]Samuel[/name] as back ups. When she was born she wasn’t a [name]Lucy[/name] so we reverted to our back up quite naturally and [name]Daisy[/name] she was
With [name]Amelie[/name] we had chosen her name in advance and it suited her when she was born so there was no need to change it.
We had 3 boys FN that we loved (middles we were set on) and a list of about 10 girls names. In hindsight I think I knew I was having a boy because those names were a much easier choice. When DS was born [name]Luke[/name] was perfect as it meant bringer of light and he was born first thing in the morning!
Usually 2 names for each gender, one DP likes and 1 I like.
this time we know the gender and will probably take a handful of names in as none are leaping out at me.
We’d decided on our children’s names before they arrived, but we’d take in 2 or 3 extra ones incase they didn’t suit it. For [name]Reverie[/name], we’d decided on Halycon but she didn’t suit it so we looked to our backups and she really suited [name]Reverie[/name] so we chose that. Our other children suited our main choices, though.
[name]Ah[/name] this gives me faith that It wont be too hard to narrow down my list of 5!
With my eldest just one! I was 100% sure about her name. With our second we didn’t even have a list, we just has a bunch of names we argues about and were even looking at a baby name book in the hospital! In the end my husband agreed the name I loved all along was the right name. I am so not doing that again, so I have decided to take a top 5 with me and we can choose off there.
We could barely decide on 1! We had [name]Ramona[/name] [name]Mae[/name] and no backups (we did have a boys name in case of an ultrasound snafu).
We had loads - seriously, about a page’s worth. We knew we were having a girl, but she came at 37 weeks and we weren’t prepared for that. 20 minutes after she was born my husband looked at her and said “[name]How[/name] about [name]Mila[/name] [name]Arden[/name]?” which were both names from the list. I agreed, and that was that! In hindsight we wouldn’t have picked an “M” first name as both my husband and my own first name start with M. It’s too matchy and makes me cringe a little. However, I do love her name. I’m hoping to have a shortlist of one or two first names next time.
We had two names - [name]Cornelia[/name] and [name]Cordelia[/name](funny, I know) by the time our daughter arrived. However, we had a list of four few days before but shortened it just in time.
She did look like a little [name]Corrie[/name] but we couldn’t decide whether [name]Cornelia[/name] or [name]Cordelia[/name]… So we tried different nicknames and saw [name]Nelly[/name] suited her even better. Boyfriend reminded me we already knew a [name]Cordelia[/name] so we also went with less popular one. I love her name much:)
Anyway, I think a top 5 is just fine if you can’t say for sure which do you prefer before baby comes. You can always ask somebody at hospital if you are completely stuck - but I bet a berry will never get wrong while looking at her precious little one. Good luck and don’t worry about this much.
With my daughter, just one. I am not one of those that can look at a baby and think, “She looks like a ____.” We took my daughter’s name into the hospital with us and we knew that’s what it would be no matter how she looked. That said, I know it took some time to get to know her before she “owned” the name. For the first weeks/months, it felt weird calling her by name. I even wondered if we’d made the right choice at all.
We’ve now decided on our son’s name. When he’s born, that will be it. [name]Even[/name] if he doesn’t “seem” like his name, he’ll grow into it and I know eventually we won’t be able to think of him as anything else. (And for this one, we won’t be taking the name to the hospital at all. He’ll be born at home ;))
We knew we were having a girl and the middle name was set (it was a family name and had pretty much been set for months). We took three first names to the hospital, though in all honesty, the name we went with was the one we’d been leaning towards for about a month.
We took two names for each boy in when I went in with the twins. Originally we had [name]Fletcher[/name] and [name]Leo[/name]/[name]Luca[/name] but when [name]Roman[/name] was born, I didn’t like [name]Leo[/name]/[name]Luca[/name] for him. [name]Troy[/name] suggested [name]Roman[/name] and it was it. The boys names were [name]Fletcher[/name] [name]Drew[/name] and [name]Roman[/name] [name]Dax[/name].
This sweet baby girl I’m pregnant with will probably have more names just in case I don’t like our first choice like with [name]Roman[/name].
We went in with their name chosen with both kids. We started using the name for them as soon as we saw their gender on the ultrasound. I was a little nervous with [name]Mary[/name] if she’d ended up being a boy since we weren’t in any agreement for boys names.