My name is [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] [name_f]Holly[/name_f] but I was almost [name_m]Barclay[/name_m] [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] (as a girl). If I’d been a boy I would have been [name_m]Kent[/name_m] [name_m]Robert[/name_m].
I don’t have any kids but years ago I was set on naming my first daughter [name_f]Tahlia[/name_f] Audreyanne. I doubt that will ever happen now so I guess you could say that’s my future daughter’s “almost name”.
I was named [name_f]Angela[/name_f] [name_f]Eva[/name_f], but I was told that I was almost named [name_f]Sarah[/name_f] [name_f]Jane[/name_f] or [name_u]Andrea[/name_u] [name_f]Eva[/name_f].
I was almost [name_f]Cerys[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] instead of [name_f]Harriet[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f]. My parents also considered [name_f]Rowena[/name_f] or [name_f]Ottilie[/name_f].
I was almost [name_f]Justine[/name_f] Aimée. Other runners-up were [name_f]Arielle[/name_f] and [name_f]Tovah[/name_f]! (Those were my mother’s picks, but she apparently really loved [name_f]Michaela[/name_f] in the end).
My middle name was almost [name_f]Lydia[/name_f], but the flow of [name_f]Michaela[/name_f] [name_f]Lydia[/name_f] seemed off to my parents.
My dad had his heart set on naming me [name_f]Pamela[/name_f], but my mom let him down gently because in [name_u]America[/name_u], [name_f]Pamela[/name_f] has a frumpy connotation (My dad is from [name_u]Brazil[/name_u] and the connotation was much different).
I was almost named [name_f]Clementine[/name_f]. Other options were [name_f]Violet[/name_f] or [name_f]Margaret[/name_f]. For a boy, they loved [name_m]Gregory[/name_m].
I was going to be [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] or [name_f]Claudia[/name_f]. If I were a boy, I would have been either [name_m]Will[/name_m] or [name_m]Jake[/name_m] (which is my dog’s name).
I was almost [name_f]Marina[/name_f] or [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f], instead, I’m just [name_f]Mina[/name_f] who goes by [name_f]Minnie[/name_f] 
My son [name_m]Marvin[/name_m] was almost [name_m]Malcolm[/name_m] and [name_u]Max[/name_u] was almost [name_u]Elliot[/name_u] or [name_m]Maxwell[/name_m]. [name_f]Eulalie[/name_f] was almost [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] or [name_f]Matilda[/name_f].
I’m [name_f]Nicole[/name_f] [name_f]Anya[/name_f]. I was nearly called [name_u]Andrea[/name_u] [name_f]Stephanie[/name_f]. If a boy I was to be [name_m]Christian[/name_m] or [name_m]Eric[/name_m].
I came very close to being [name_f]Rebecca[/name_f] [name_f]Rochelle[/name_f], but that got vetoed for some reason. Another contender was [name_f]Marissa[/name_f], but a relative on my dad’s side had a girl that they named [name_f]Marissa[/name_f] when my mom was about halfway through her pregnancy with me. I think that was it…but if I had been a boy, I likely would’ve been [name_m]Anthony[/name_m] [name_m]Nicholas[/name_m] “[name_u]Tony[/name_u]”, if my mom had her way. My dad already got his “junior”, so I bet he probably would’ve been okay with that.
I was nearly called [name_f]Emma[/name_f] or [name_f]Hannah[/name_f].
I was to be [name_f]Antoinette[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] My Fathers Choice Or [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f]. Mom named me [name_f]Colleen[/name_f].
My son Andrue was to be [name_m]Alexander[/name_m], while I was in recovery after he was born, Husband named him Andrue! Foe my daughter [name_u]Fallon[/name_u] I was torn between [name_f]Kira[/name_f] or [name_u]Fallon[/name_u].
My name is [name_f]Leah[/name_f] [name_u]Rae[/name_u]. My middle name would have been the same no matter what my first name was because it’s my grandma’s middle name. She’s [name_f]Sharon[/name_f] [name_u]Rae[/name_u]. My mom wanted to name me either [name_f]Laurina[/name_f] or [name_u]Marian[/name_u]. My dad thought [name_f]Leah[/name_f] [name_m]Dempsey[/name_m] sounded better than the other names, though, and he’s stubborn, so my mom settled for [name_f]Leah[/name_f].
When I was born I really reminded my Mum of one of her Favourite Kindergarten Students, [name_u]Carmel[/name_u], so she briefly considered Naming me that. If I were a Boy I would have been Named [name_m]Robert[/name_m] after my Uncle who died aged 2.
My precious Miscarriage felt like a Girl so I Named her [name_f]Flavia[/name_f] [name_f]May[/name_f], as planned, and added [name_f]Cordelia[/name_f], as my Husband said he would never agree to using my all time favourite Name for a living Child. Had she been a Boy I was thinking [name_u]Rohan[/name_u] and my Husband would most likely have insisted on [name_m]Johann[/name_m] [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m] (after our Favourite Composer, [name_m]Bach[/name_m]).
My Daughter [name_f]Thalia[/name_f] was called [name_u]Sunny[/name_u] right through my Pregnancy and [name_f]Poppy[/name_f] as soon as she was born (because she had gorgeous red [name_f]Poppy[/name_f] shaped lips) so we briefly considered both those Names. My Husband also really wanted [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] but agreed that she looked like a [name_f]Thalia[/name_f]. If she was a Boy [name_f]Thalia[/name_f] would most probably have been Named my Husband’s only Boy’s option: [name_m]Johann[/name_m] [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m] with a first or second Middle Name chosen by me, most likely my Maiden Name!
[name_m]Even[/name_m] before she was born, [name_f]Arabella[/name_f] was always going to be [name_f]Soraya[/name_f] [name_f]Hope[/name_f], but none of us could ever agree on a Second Middle Name which worked well and had special significance for us. We finally decided on [name_f]Thalia[/name_f]'s choice, [name_f]Anya[/name_f], but I felt really sad to relegate such a special Name (which honours in various ways my Mother, Great Grandmother, [name_f]Sister[/name_f], myself, and our love of Animals - [name_f]Thalia[/name_f] chose the Name in honour of the [name_f]Rainbow[/name_f] [name_u]Magic[/name_u] [name_f]Fairy[/name_f] “[name_f]Anya[/name_f] the Cuddly Creatures [name_f]Fairy[/name_f]”! ) to Second Name status. When she was born she looked so incredibly much like an [name_f]Arabella[/name_f] (not even on our Short List as her [name_f]Sister[/name_f] had so many dolls and toys Named [name_f]Arabella[/name_f]) that she became [name_f]Arabella[/name_f] [name_f]Soraya[/name_f] [name_f]Hope[/name_f]! Perfect! Had she been a Boy she would have been [name_m]Johann[/name_m] [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m] ? if my Husband got his way, [name_m]Rupert[/name_m] [name_m]Anthony[/name_m] Carrington if I got my way, or [name_m]Jonathan[/name_m] Friederich ? if [name_f]Thalia[/name_f] got her way!
Phew!
I was always going to be [name_f]Emily[/name_f], but my sister was almost [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f]. My parents went with [name_f]Sarah[/name_f] instead.
I was [name_f]Jasmyn[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] up until delivery, when they chose their #2 because I “just didn’t look like a [name_f]Jasmyn[/name_f].”
My Mum wanted my first name to be [name_u]Skye[/name_u], but my Dad wanted a more sensible name in the front [name_u]Skye[/name_u] was relegated to the middle.
The first name we considered for our daughter was [name_f]Olympia[/name_f]. In the end, it was so close but never felt quite perfect for reasons I can’t put my finger on, and so [name_f]Aurelia[/name_f] she is. We have never regretted that, she is [name_f]Goldie[/name_f] through and through.
My name is Megan Jean but I was almost Ailsa Jean. My parents felt it was too Scottish for Canada in 1973. My first born would have been Ian Thomas if she had been a boy, but as we had a surprise girl (hardly any girls in my husbands family!), we chose Maeve Sophia. We liked Emma too but there ended up being 3(!) newborn Emma’s at the hospital and Maeve suited her better. My youngest is a boy, Angus Troy Brian, if he’d been a girl we would have gone with Fiona Rebecca or Freya Amelie.
I think I was always just gonna be [name_f]Anna[/name_f]…my parents didn’t even have a boys name picked out!
If my daughter [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f] had been a boy, she’d have been [name_m]Asher[/name_m] [name_m]Alaric[/name_m]. My second daughter was going to be [name_u]Ainslie[/name_u]…until I actually got pregnant. Then [name_f]Verity[/name_f] became my front runner. But I didn’t [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] [name_f]Verity[/name_f] the way I love her sister’s name. I stumbled across the name [name_f]Evelina[/name_f] on this site and fell in love. While researching a family middle for her, I discovered two women on my mom’s side with the name [name_f]Evelina[/name_f]! So that was that! If she’d been a boy, she’d have been [name_m]Jasper[/name_m] [name_u]Theo[/name_u], which is still my #1 boys’ name!
My mum wanted to call me [name_u]Alexis[/name_u] ‘[name_u]Lexi[/name_u]’ [name_u]Lynn[/name_u], but my dad hated it, and my dad wanted to call me [name_f]Tabitha[/name_f] ‘[name_f]Tabby[/name_f] or TJ’ [name_f]Jade[/name_f] but my hated it. My dad also liked [name_f]Anastasia[/name_f] but my mum didn’t like it. The only name they agreed on was [name_f]Madisson[/name_f] [name_f]Hailee[/name_f]. Had I been a boy my name would have been [name_m]Charles[/name_m] [name_m]John[/name_m].
My son was [name_m]Leo[/name_m] until he was born when my husband took one look at him and declared he looked like a [name_m]Harry[/name_m]. I can’t imagine him as anything but my [name_m]Harry[/name_m] [name_u]Finn[/name_u].