Name doubt

How do you handle when make doubt creeps in? I had felt so sure of her name and now I’m struggling! [name_f]Do[/name_f] I just hold onto her name and wait until she’s born in 8 weeks lol?

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If you’re having doubts, I would start saying it out loud to order food or something, and if you think it sounds bad then go with your gut. It’s normal to have reservations about the name :slight_smile:

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I think it depends. Maybe give yourself a hands off on deciding for right now and just keep revisiting every day or every other day and until then see if something else just kind of takes over. Team green currently and I brought two options for one gender that hubby agreed on. He liked one more and me the other more but we both agreed these two could be our contenders and we kind of just kept revisiting and I feel like I went the majority of this pregnancy tied to that one but then that doubt kind of crept in… I’m more fond of the meaning of the other; the sibling tie of the other, etc etc. Now Im settled on actually liking the other as an option for this little one and keeping the one that I was originally tied to as a guilty pleasure / maybe if we ever have another option.

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For me it helped to back off the naming stuff, and remind myself that I didnt have to name her the name I ‘chose’ it was still open it, wasnt set in stone. And then see how I felt about it.

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It’s such a big decision, no wonder you’re having doubts! I’d say keep hold of the name - but maybe tentatively look consider a few others to see how your choice holds up

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For what it’s worth, I had five names to take to the hospital (lol) and didn’t end up using either of the two I was most sure about in the pregnancy. It’s totally normal to test them out for a bit. Oh and to add: my daughter would have suited pretty much all of those five names - I think we can get anxiety about the one perfect name but there isn’t just one name that could suit your kid, so I would take some pressure off.

Not sure if it’s your first baby or not but my other advice would be not to rush when she’s here. [name_f]My[/name_f] friend did that and ended up with a name that she now says suits a baby but not a teen or adult, and this was (she said) because she rushed to name, looked at a baby face and felt her longer standing name didn’t work on a baby (when we only have a year or so with a baby face!). So name for young girl up!

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I didn’t have doubt as much as name fatigue so I just choose one that seemed good that I liked and wasn’t too out there but I wasn’t “in love” :joy: I think it felt so weird to name another human. Then I felt relived that I didn’t have to think about it anymore. She suits her name perfectly!

Im not sure the nature of your doubts but maybe be clear about what you really want in a name and does the name you think is the one fit that?

Maybe you love the name but not for a human :joy: [name_u]Or[/name_u] maybe you think its too safe but really its fine! Maybe you just aren’t ready to commit? In which case don’t yet theres no rush.

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There’s no need to commit yet, she’s not even born! After you’re able to experience her as a real human, you’ll be able to get a sense of if you feel comfortable with the name you thought you loved. If you don’t, you’ll hopefully have some vibes of what you think she should be called.

If it’s a meaningful honor name that you’re doubting, give yourself time, and see if it’s right after she’s born. If your feelings are strong enough and the reason is really there and important, I’d say don’t worry, the name will grow on you.

It’s so normal to have name doubt, please be reassured about that. Sometimes it means it isn’t right, often it’s just not 100% perfect and it’s so rare that parents have a name that gives them no doubts and looks wonderful from all angles. We have to pick one of a billion options after all!

my own experience

I had some name doubt just prior to and after my son’s birth. [name_f]My[/name_f] OH at the time had no doubt, so we stayed with it. Almost twenty years on, I love Beck’s name and he loves it and I couldn’t imagine him being called anything different - I relaxed into it and what was bothering me turned out not to be an issue.

How to handle name doubt? I recommend sitting with it and riding the name doubt wave. It’s normal, it will come to a natural conclusion.