Did you ever think about the idea that, with so so so much choice when it comes to baby names today, it can actually be very difficult to be satisfied with what name is ultimately chosen or considered. It’s paradoxical because choice and freedom are supposed to make us happier and more functional. With so much choice, we are in fact less fulfilled and less free. Books have been written about what is known as the paralysis of choice. It becomes difficult to choose or seriously consider anything at all when the nagging thought in the back of your mind is that there exists a “perfect” thing out there that you can and should be aspiring to find and use. It used to be that a very small variety (by comparison) of names were used and accepted by everyone. People didn’t think much about their baby name choices or the choices of others because there wasn’t this culture of “have it your way.” I do think that people may have been happier in some ways, on the whole. I have definitely been experiencing paralysis of choice when it comes to my baby name options, especially my male ones. And we are not even planning on trying to conceive until later in the year! [name_f]Every[/name_f] time I settle on one good group of names or another, the thought surfaces that I could do better. No name at all seems “good enough” because it must be “perfect.” Has anyone else experienced this?
I am thinking about choosing a non-negotiable genre (such as family, classic, or Celtic, for example) of name to stick to, and allowing myself that pool only to draw from.
I don’t know if it was really that they didn’t have their culture of “have it your way”. It used to be you go with family names, go with names you’ve heard before (especially when people didn’t move from their little towns), or look for names in the family bible/religious text. They also had some interesting spellings, but I think some of that can be traced back to illiteracy.
[name_m]Even[/name_m] in this technological age, I think there are still many people who don’t realize all the options that are out there or don’t even consider them because they stick to naming kids after family. Nothing wrong with either of those. At the same time, we all have certain tastes that really knock out a fair percentage of names and having a partner to pick names with would realllly narrow down that list. It’s also one of the reasons why despite loving sibsets, I understand it’s not always realistic. If you think a name is “perfect” for that baby, that’s more important than cutting out ones that are loved just for a tolerable name that fits the sibset.
I’ve never had to name children, but I would think waiting until the baby is born would give me that stress over the perfect name more than picking a name pre-labor. I can’t imagine being sleep deprived or exhausted from labor and trying to name a newborn, let alone one with colic. Giving a child a name pre-labor and calling them by that would cement it in my head and feel “right” to me, of course I’m just assuming here. For some people it may work better the opposite way. Seeing that baby may make someone say “of course ____ is the perfect name for our child”, even though the name didn’t seem to fit previously.
It might help you when you actually see the baby on the ultrasound. Some berries have said that naming an actual human is significantly different from hypothetical name lists. I’m sure in the end you and your SO will come up with the perfect name for you baby 
Thanks for you comments. I’m sure it will most definitely help to see the actual baby, and know it is real.
I think because I’m so fussy, I don’t really experience this as much. I’m not terribly fussy, I don’t have set ‘‘rules’’, I just know exactly what kind of name I would like my child to have - heavily British in usage and/or Celtic origins, not massively popular/trendy, meaningful, and has personal/family significance. I consider heavily what it will ‘say’ about me, and what it will hypothetically ‘say’ about the child.
It’s taken me years to figure out what I’m looking for in a name actually, but I’m glad I did. Because now I know I will never ever use something beautifully foreign like Mercedes Itzel or Atu Salome and I’m fine with that.
I have free choice but within the boundaries I have set. Of course they were determined by things out of my control but such is life.