Oh my! I have certainly had some fantastic chuckles from some of the ideas suggested so far, like Doofenschmirtz and [name]Rainbow[/name] Cupcake. Too funny
(wiping away tears of laughter) Yes, if we did this, it would only be from a shortlist of names we’d be willing to live with and that we’re both in agreement on after having met the baby. e.g. maybe we’d say she could choose from among [name]Thomas[/name], [name]Jack[/name] and [name]Charlie[/name], names we already know she likes and we like.
I should also mention our child is 5, and very conservative in her tastes - she tends to suggest names of her classmates that are in the top 10, like [name]Aidan[/name], [name]Dylan[/name] and [name]William[/name].
My oldest daughter picked the middle name for my youngest daughter. It was a name we were tossing around but I didn’t want to use it as her first name for various reasons. Then my oldest suggested that we use it as her middle name and my husband and I really liked this. She had lots of suggestions for first names like [name]Madeline[/name], [name]Genevieve[/name]. Her taste in girl names is very nice. If my youngest had been a boy though, she would have wanted to name him Spiderman. Her current favorite boy name is “Toke.” She came up with this one all on her own. She’s a creative namer when it comes to boys…
I know someone who named her younger sister after her imaginary friend; her parents liked the suggestion, so they used it. I don’t think it caused a lot of problems for them, but it certainly ruined her imaginary friend. Ha.
Using a shortlist is a good idea if you really want your child to have input, but from my perspective, they’ll get their chance to name their own children if they choose to have any. And it’s a bit of a burden to put on a kid (if they choose to see it that way), since names are so important.
I was 3.5 when my brother was born, and I distinctly remembering discussing baby names with my parents…however, I think I was only asked because my mother wanted to name him [name]Kyle[/name], and my dad wanted to name him [name]Austin[/name]. I told them I liked [name]Kyle[/name] better - and that’s what they went with, however, I don’t think I was the deciding factor there.
My other children are much older than my youngest (they range from 18 to 8 on the evens :)) and it somewhat backfired. Each of them had their favorite from the list we gave them and a few of the strong willed ones are still calling her by what they would have chosen! Much less now than when she was first born thankfully, but this time I think we’ll just decide and then tell them! As one of 8 they all have to be willing to answer to almost anything - even dog names from time to time - so I guess there’s no harm done
We did ask the twins what they’d want to call the baby and so far we’ve had Pooey (their favourite word right now :l), Smelly, [name]Ed[/name], [name]Messy[/name], [name]Park[/name], Cheese. They are only 2.5 though, haha!
If they were older then I might ask them if they have any ideas but it’s not worth it at this age!
When my son [name]James[/name] was born, my then 5 year old really wanted to name him [name]Nicholas[/name], but I told him he could name his own son [name]Nicholas[/name].
I’m not letting [name]Nico[/name] have a say at all. Going by what he names toys, and their names change frequently enough that I lose track, it will be after some cartoon character, a friend, or a random word that he’s recently learnt and has an obsession with saying. The latest of which is “park”, because I’ve been taking him there quite a bit now we’ve got better weather.
Family friend’s [name]Mark[/name] & [name]Vicky[/name] let their eldest daughter [name]Georgia[/name] name their second child - a boy - [name]Bailey[/name]. During [name]Vicky[/name]'s pregnancy [name]Mark[/name] and [name]Vicky[/name] argued throughout the pregnancy about names. [name]Mark[/name] bringing his black Jamaican heritage/culture to the table and [name]Vicky[/name] bringing her upper-crust British heritage/culture to the tables lets just say their names were totally different. So [name]Mark[/name]'s mother asked [name]Georgia[/name] what she liked and she said [name]Bailey[/name] (the name of a boy in her nursery school who was her best friend) and that’s what they went with as they both liked the name. I think asking for the child’s input can work wonders but you need to make sure your careful with wording so the children doesn’t become over-excited at the prospect of having a sibling named by them.
My mom has a friend now in her seventies named similiarly to [name]Alina[/name]. It was very unusual and in the fifties it was much harder to have an unusual name. Her older sister also had a very unusual name. When the first two daughters were about 10 and 12, their parents had a new baby girl. Having listened to their older daughters complain about their own names, they let their daughters chose a name for the baby. The daughters chose [name]Jane[/name]!!! I think the parents were really amused. Anyway I think it worked out well and it made an amusing story. I have never heard [name]Jane[/name]'s side of it, but I think there were no hard feelings. I believe the family is still close.
I would totally ask for input. Whether I took it seriously would depend on whether they picked something like [name]Miley[/name] (as in [name]Cyrus[/name] I have heard of kid sugguesting it) or something like [name]Martha[/name]. I might go for it if I liked the name.
My aunt and uncle did that. At first, my cousin wanted to name her brother [name]Pocahontas[/name]…Luckily, they had some sense and only took her reasonable suggestions. His name is now [name]Justin[/name].
My parents let my sister and I chose between [name]Elizabeth[/name] and [name]Grace[/name] when we were 3 and 4 respectively. We chose [name]Elizabeth[/name]. Although it evolved into [name]Lizzie[/name] as the years went on, I think we made the right choice. She is much more “[name]Lizzie[/name]” than she is “[name]Grace[/name]”.
It’s a parent’s privilege to name their child, however they choose to do it. While I have no issue with anyone else asking kids’ opinions and suggestions, I wouldn’t do it myself. If I have special meaning that I want to subscribe to the baby’s name, why should an older child’s opinion effect the outcome of that? (However, we generally create the name in one or two swoops, without a list or concrete choices - just the evolution of the name.)
I think having them choose from a short list is fine, although I personally would not choose to do this.
This is such a thoughtful idea! [name]Just[/name] wanted to chime in to say that you might not want to discount a name completely if a very young child mispronounces it - especially if the mispronunciations are /r/, /l/, or /s/. A lot of sound errors resolve themselves by the time a child reaches 6-8 years old. That would be my take anyway. My top choice is [name]Rosemary[/name], which could very well be “Wosemawy” for any young sibling!
My BFF was allowed to choose her baby sister’s name when she was 7. She chose Loreal. And her mom let her. (Mom is a little loopy.) She is Loreal [name]Lynette[/name]. With a last name starting with an L. Yikes.
It doesn’t always turn out that badly tho.
Oh and then there’s [name]Janelle[/name] at the blog Renegade Mothering. She named her son [name]Charles[/name] but her older daughter [name]Ava[/name] decided she didn’t like it and the baby’s name needed to be Rocketship [name]Rock[/name] On. Like, first name Rocketship, middle name [name]Rock[/name] On. Of course his name is actually [name]Charles[/name], but they call him [name]Rocket[/name], and as you read the blog you realize it totally fits him.
A friend of a friend let her oldest daughter, a five year old, name her newborn. It turned out alright, she picked the name [name]Lily[/name] [name]Star[/name].
My family goes like this : I am the eldest, I have a little sister very close in age. Then there is a 5 year gap and my parents had two little boys. So I was 7-9 years old when they were born. My parents openly discussed names as a family and we would naturally give our opinions. While we children definitely didn’t choose the names, our opinions were taken into account and in the case of my youngest brother my parents were rather undecided between two or three names, and our opinion probably helped them pick (my sister hated the other names).
So I like the idea that it was a decision taken as a family. The other children feel involved in this new baby’s life and it probably helps them feel responsible and closer to the baby. It is also a really cute story to tell afterwards, very special.
That said I am obsessed with names now and I think I will find it very hard to let anyone but myself decide, but we’ll have to see.
Bottom line is, do whatever fits your family, and have fun
