Name regret: Changing baby's name 2 months later

I made a major mess out of my 1st son’s name. He was born this [name_u]January[/name_u] and the birth was phenomenal.

His sister’s birth 2 years ago was pretty long, painful, and I was expecting more of the same with this one but it turned out to be an insanely quick 1.5 hour labor and an easy, relaxed, mostly pain-free vaginal birth… happened so fast that the midwife walked through the door 20 mins AFTER the birth! And to top it all off he was an unexpected footling breech.

As you can imagine all this made me consider him very special, perhaps too special for any of the names we had listed and it ended up taking us an excruciating 4 days to finally choose a full name.

[name_m]Jethro[/name_m] [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] B***

[name_m]Jethro[/name_m] is cool and fun to say but it kind of sounds like Deathrow and the [name_f]Beverly[/name_f] Hillbillies thing has me regretting this name deeply. [name_m]Even[/name_m] though I really liked it at first (still do) and it seemed to fit him perfectly.

Also, it’s Hebrew and Hebrew doesn’t even have the letter J in it and so names like [name_u]Jericho[/name_u] or [name_m]Joshua[/name_m] bother me in the same way because it’s not true to the original pronunciation, which would’ve been a Y sound. [name_m]Minor[/name_m] point, but also just one more reason the name doesn’t work for me personally.

And believe me, I have tried to make it work. For 2 months. The regret is only intensifying.

I freeze up when people ask me his name and then they freeze up once I tell them. People are nice to my face but I can tell it’s a strange name for them to think about and to remember. I even had a hard time remembering the first week, in my head he was a blur of thousands of names we listed plus all the ones others had suggested.

At the time I just wanted it to be all done and over with, I was receiving tons of pressure from family to decide and I just ended up collapsing under all the suggestions and my need to define him within the epic circumstances of his birth.

[name_m]Even[/name_m] [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] I hate, it was my husband’s choice but he’s not attached to it. He is to [name_m]Jethro[/name_m], but after weeks of me trying to get used to the name (and a few sleepless nights of waking up in pure turmoil to find a substitute middle), I have decided to change the entire name completely and he has given the green light.

My daughter’s name is [name_f]Annabelle[/name_f] [name_u]Lee[/name_u] and I would love something similar in style for him. Time-tested, classy, well-known but unique.

His middle name will be either [name_m]Johnny[/name_m], [name_m]John[/name_m] or [name_m]Will[/name_m] (can anyone suggest unique spelling for [name_m]Will[/name_m] or [name_m]William[/name_m]?) I had originally wanted a similar middle name starting with L like [name_u]Lou[/name_u] or [name_u]Lyn[/name_u].

Open to anything at this point… Thanks guys


Preference names that mean bear or have something to do with breech/footling births.

I really like [name_m]Jethro[/name_m] [name_m]Alexander[/name_m], but if you are determined to change his name here are some suggestions…
[name_m]Arthur[/name_m] and [name_u]Barrett[/name_u] both mean bear. And you could use [name_m]Liam[/name_m] as a version of [name_m]William[/name_m] since it starts with an L like you originally wanted.

If you’re feeling this bad about it, I would definitely change it sooner rather than later. A 2 month old isn’t going to remember his name so I think this would be the perfect time to change it with minimal consequences (the only I can think of is having to change it legally & having to tell friends/family you’ve changed it.)

I think [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] [name_m]Liam[/name_m] would be very handsome and fit right in with [name_f]Annabelle[/name_f] [name_u]Lee[/name_u].

Considering you like the meaning ‘bear’ I’d go with [name_m]Orson[/name_m] [name_m]John[/name_m]/[name_m]Johnny[/name_m]/[name_m]Will[/name_m], which I think suits [name_f]Annabelle[/name_f] [name_u]Lee[/name_u] really well!

I am sorry you are going through this anxiety. Honestly, I think [name_m]Jethro[/name_m] [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] is a wonderfully handsome name, but if you really don’t like it then changing is 100% okay. My [name_m]SIL[/name_m] changed her baby’s name after a couple of months and no one even talks about it now. It’s like no one really remembers - what is a few months out of a life time after all? [name_f]Do[/name_f] what feels right to you! Good luck, and I hope you find the perfect name xx

Honestly I didn’t even think of Deathrow until you mentioned it or even the [name_f]Beverly[/name_f] Hillbillies thing. I too think its unique and cool, and I’ve actually recently encountered someone with this name and thought how cool it was. But I can see you’ve definitely made up your mind on this, so I’m glad that you had the courage to change it. Suggestions for [name_m]William[/name_m] could be Williem, Willhelm, [name_m]Will[/name_m], or [name_m]Liam[/name_m] (which is my favorite). Good luck!