Second guessing our decision...

We had pretty much decided on [name]Eleanor[/name] for DD#2 before we had found out the sex. I really like the name and love the potential for nicknames. We will be using my maiden name as the middle name which also begins with an E and is 2 syllables. DD#1’s name is [name]Marin[/name]. I have had a hard time finding sibling names that we like and that go well with [name]Marin[/name].

Fast forward to a baby shower I had on [name]Saturday[/name]- it was small with a lot of my husbands family who we are not very close to. I told them our name choice and they proceed to tell me that [name]Eleanor[/name] is a family name which at first made me very excited, but then filled me with disappointment as no one had anything nice to say about her. I joked around and covered my ears saying, “Please don’t say anything that will ruin my perception of the name!” My husband’s aunt said, “No it’s a beautiful name. I just don’t have anything nice to say about her.” Another aunt chimed in with similar sentiments. Now I can’t help but feel that it’s a bad sign or something. My husband and mom think that I am being ridiculous and it’s not like we are naming her after this woman. But I just can’t help but second guess my decision. Part of me wishes that I had asked a little more about her but I was so afraid of knowing anything else that would potentially change my feelings towards the name. Am I being silly?

Oh, please don’t let this ruin [name]Eleanor[/name] for you! Your little girl is going to change everyone’s perception of the name. You’ve picked a lovely name (its one of my top contenders) and even those who didn’t like this aunt still seemed to have positive names to say about the name itself. It sounds like your search for the right name has been difficult to begin with, so there’s no reason to make it anymore difficult by trying to find another name because of one nasty aunt. Go with [name]Eleanor[/name]! I bet you’ll be happy you did.

This is why I think parents-to-be (myself included) should avoid telling anyone (especially family) names until after the baby is born! Nobody would say those things to you when faced with a precious newborn named [name]Eleanor[/name]. And they won’t once the baby is here. It’s a lovely name, try to forget what they said-- because they will probably forget too.

This a is a generational problem - I have this with my mom too. The older names that sound fresh to us or like an elegant woman from a romanticized era sound like old stuffy aunts and grannies to our moms generation.

[name]Eleanor[/name] is lovely and it is definitely coming back in to favor. Look at the [name]Eleanor[/name] ([name]Ellie[/name]) on [name]Chuck[/name]: smart, beautiful, doctor, mom. That will be the new impression of [name]Eleanor[/name].

Thank you all so much for your assuring comments! They are making me feel a lot better! It’s nice to have opinions from people who you don’t know personally!

I had a long conversation with my mom about her name this morning and she said she thought we may have regrets if we changed it. I really wish we had just kept the name to ourselves. Lesson learned if we decide to have a third!