Naming bump to baby or waiting until the baby arrives

Hi just wondered what everyone’s thoughts was regarding this. [name_f]Do[/name_f] people name their bumps and then stick with the name when the baby arrives or do you have a couple of names planned and then wait and see what they look like?
I have some slight name regret with my second in as much as I felt like he hasn’t ever really suited his name despite it being a great name, so this time I plan to not name the bump etc

Interesting question!

We’ve been calling out bump by the boys name we’ve got picked out- although we don’t know the gender! If it is a boy the name will stick- we don’t agree on any other boys names :joy: Obvs if it’s a girl then the baby will become the girls name we have picked out.

I know some friends who called their bump “[name_m]Fred[/name_m]” and had another name picked out for the baby. However, after a few days of having the baby they decided it felt too weird calling the baby by the other name. After 9 months of calling the bump [name_m]Fred[/name_m] the baby felt like a [name_m]Fred[/name_m] so they changed his name back to [name_m]Frederick[/name_m] :heart_eyes:

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Haha cute. I give my bump a nickname. [name_f]My[/name_f] first son was due around Halloween so he was called Pumpkin. [name_f]My[/name_f] second boy bump was called sloth as he was quite chill in my womb! Always kept going back and forth to the hospital as was worried about movement but he was fine he was just a chilled sloth like baby lol.
Obviously they are not called Pumpkin and sloth anymore. They are [name_m]Zachary[/name_m] and [name_m]Alexander[/name_m]

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We have friends that chose their babies’ names very early on. They shared the names with everyone quite early and referred to the bump(s) by the chosen names. When the little ones arrived that was their name and still is. I always found it a bit odd because it left zero surprise - everyone knew the sex and name, so when the babies arrived there wasn’t a lot to announce.

I wouldn’t do this because I want to see their face and get a feeling for them before naming them. Each to their own though, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with naming a baby in utero, I just personally couldn’t do it.

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I agree with you. I tend to pick two names out and then it’s good to decide when you see them which name they suit.

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I think either way is perfectly fine. I personally named my bump. I know a lot that did the same, but plenty also that had a few names ready and chose what felt right when they got to hold baby and see them.

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I’ve named both of my sons before they were born, and I plan to do the same with my twins due in January. I’m a very anxious person and I don’t deal well with insecurities. When you’re pregnant and giving birth there are so many things you can’t plan or predict, and having at least the name picked out gives me some peace of mind. I’d never share the name with anyone else than my SO before the baby was born though.

To be honest, I’ve never really understood the “he/she looks like an X” thing. Of course every child has a personality from the moment they are born, but I’ve never wondered the moment they were born if my oldest looked like a Hjörtur or my youngest looked like a Barnabas. I think children grow into their name, rather than the other way around, if that makes sense. But of course, if other people feel differently about this, and I know a lot of people here do, that’s absolutely fine.

EDIT I just thought about this… I had an ultrasound for the twins this week and we already knew one of the babies is a boy. The obgyn thought she could see the second baby is a boy as well, though it’s still early and we’re not entirely sure. But anyway, if I have two boys and I obviously pick two names for them, I will have to decide which is which at the moment they are born… So I’ll have to decide which one looks like a Leonid (one of the names we have picked at this point).

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I’m not a parent but would like to choose it before birth.

@Rosebeth [name_m]Don[/name_m]’t worry :wink: As you said, children grow into their names. [name_f]My[/name_f] parents named me and my (triplet) brother randomly. I’m definitely an [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] and he’s M. I can’t imagine the opposite :joy:

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Think you make really good points. I don’t think there is a right answer is there. With my first I just knew I wanted to call him [name_m]Zachary[/name_m] and he really suit the name but with my second I felt like (at age 3) he only just started to suit his name. He often got mistaken for a girl. He has bright blue eyes and platinum blonde hair ( takes after his dad) and there were many assumed he was a girl as a newborn. They would say she is so beautiful and I would reply with thanks his name is [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] lol…
So it felt like a big name for him. He gets his full name in pre-school too as I don’t like [name_u]Alex[/name_u] but I like [name_m]Alexander[/name_m].
As you have definitely decided on [name_m]Leonid[/name_m] that could be the first born out of the twins maybe?
Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy :full_moon_with_face:

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Awesome name :blush:

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I know what you mean. With my oldest it felt like I’d always known I wanted to name him Hjörtur, and it felt so natural from the first minute he was born. With [name_m]Barnabas[/name_m] it was different. We decided on the name quite late in the pregnancy. He arrived 4 weeks early and somehow I felt like I was could off guard because we had to decide on the name earlier then I’d thought. I was still getting used to calling him [name_m]Barnabas[/name_m]. It’s also such a big name, but somehow it never felt like it was too much for him. I needed some time to get used to it , but now he’s 10 months old and I think it suits my red haired boy very well :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Maybe we’ll just name the twins “alphabetically”, I don’t know. We’ll work it out. I’m part of b/g twins myself, so this wasn’t an issue for my parents :sweat_smile:

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I was actually thinking about this this morning - like I wondered if [name_f]Bea[/name_f] had been born with red hair or just seemed different in some way, if I would have changed her name when she was born. We started calling her [name_f]Bea[/name_f] shortly after we found out she was a girl. I was a bit wishy washy and in my heart I was holding onto [name_f]Winifred[/name_f] nn [name_f]Winnie[/name_f] for a long time. But when she was born I immediately melted and called her [name_f]Bea[/name_f], and it just fit.

I’m with @rosebeth, having the name picked out gave me peace of mind and something I could plan on. I also agree that children grow into their names.

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Congrats on your twins :blush: When I was pregnant I decided fairly early on that [name_u]Baby[/name_u] A was [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] (DH’s favorite name) and [name_u]Baby[/name_u] B was going to be [name_u]Jasper[/name_u] (or possibly [name_u]Griffin[/name_u]). So [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] already had a name but I guess I did wait to see what [name_u]Jasper[/name_u] looked like although his energy always felt like a [name_u]Jasper[/name_u] to me. Lol
If it makes you feel better you could decide [name_m]Leonid[/name_m] is [name_u]Baby[/name_u] A or [name_u]Baby[/name_u] B beforehand.
Sometimes I do wonder what it would be like if [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] was called [name_u]Jasper[/name_u] and [name_u]Jasper[/name_u] was called [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] but honestly, I think it would have worked just as well.
Like you said, the child becomes the name. :blush:

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Thank you! I think we well decide beforehand that baby A will be [name_m]Leonid[/name_m] and baby B will be whatever we chose as the other name. We actually decided on [name_m]Leonid[/name_m] before I got pregnant and had a name picked out for a girl too. I was so pleased we only had middle names to think about… And now I have to think of two names :sweat_smile:

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For our three pregnancies we’ve always been team green so we go into delivery with a boy and girl name. I kind of have a song I like to sing to them that used their name in jt once their born so sitting around to decide after the fact isn’t really ideal for us.

In regards to bump naming, being team green something we’ve done is taking our boy and girl options and mashing then together to make a name. Example first pregnancy we knew we were having a [name_m]Jabez[/name_m] or [name_f]Esther[/name_f] (nn Jabie or [name_f]Estie[/name_f]) so my baby bump was called Jabestie.

This third time if there was any name it was [name_u]Frost[/name_u], mainly because in all the name discussion my son was convinced he was having a brother named [name_u]Frost[/name_u]. I was convinced baby would have that nn regardless of gender. However ever since [name_m]Gideon[/name_m] was born, [name_u]Frost[/name_u] has become a imaginary friend for [name_m]Jabez[/name_m] and my daughter [name_f]Esther[/name_f]. And Gideon has become our little Gid the Kid

ETA: however we also don’t share the names we’ve picked until after they’re born. So for those outside the household the baby bump is still very much just Baby.

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We named the bump! After finding out the sex, we tell everyone who asks the name of the baby. For me it feels better this way, and I think family liked it better so they could bond a little bit. For me, but I’ve never heard anyone really talk about this (so maybe I’m weird) but you already know the personality of baby whilst still inside you, right? And she still is the same way 7 months later. So for me I knew her name suited her before she was born, otherwise I wouldn’t have stuck with it even after telling people

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This is more or less what happened with our first. We started calling the bump “[name_m]Bruce[/name_m]” in jest, and by month 7 or so it had definitely stuck and there was no going in any other direction! We were Team [name_u]Green[/name_u] though, so if he’d come out a she, things would have been different.

It took us a lot longer to settle on a name for #2. We’d been calling the bump [name_f]Bee[/name_f] or the Bumblebee, from all his buzzing around and causing discomfort. This time, we found out the gender. Then when I came across the name [name_u]Beckett[/name_u], it fit perfectly, as one of the meanings is [name_f]Bee[/name_f] Cottage.

In either case, we waited until the birth to announce the name to everyone.

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We’re Team [name_u]Green[/name_u] and have just been calling the baby by a couple of silly nicknames that have no resemblance to any actual names, as well as Bump and The [name_u]Baby[/name_u]. We have our girl name settled but not our boy pick yet, and don’t want to accidentally reveal our name choices to family or friends

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I get not wanting to accidentally reveal name choices to family and friends!

My husband and I call the bump by the boys name we have picked out most of the time (even though we’re team green) and I have to stop myself sometimes referring to the bump by name when we’re around other people!

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I think it’s cute to give bump a nickname for sure.
I can see both sides for naming or not naming the bump.
With my first born it totally suited and worked, with our name choice and he very much suits his name. So we thought with the second born his name would just suit him but it didn’t really, he is only starting to suit it now but I wish I had gone for Evander over Alexander, although I think both names are lovely… It’s not a problem but I guess it is some name regret on my part. So with the third I shall reserve his name or her name for when they are born and if it doesn’t seem right pick option B names.