You're naming him WHAT?!

dragonfly321

Hey mamas!
Just curious on who's sharing their baby's name now and who's waiting til birth?
And if you're waiting, why?
What are some clever lines you've used to get people off your back about it?
Title is for the judgement I know some people give out if they hear a name before birth

DrillSergeantCat

I've been sharing since we knew it was a boy and settled on a name. It was on our announcements. 

Kiek

With DD we had her name picked out really early so we announced her name when we announced the sex. With this baby I'm pretty sure DH isn't going to agree to a name until he meets her in person. So nobody is going to know the name lol.

ohbaby714

We don't have a name yet and we probably won't until birth because it's hard. But even if we did have one I don't think we would share. Not to "keep it a surprise" or anything, it just seems like when you tell people the name everyone and their brother has something to say about it and suggestions to make. Where it seems after the baby is born they don't have anything negative to say (even though chances are they do behind your back, ha!). After baby is born what's done is done and they won't give you other suggestions whereas beforehand I feel like people think they can change your mind.

ETA: a clever line you could use, before you tell them you could say something like "we've been thinking about it forever and finally found one we love! It's ____" hopefully people are less likely to judge a name that they know you've spent a lot of time on and love.

Achae

Once we have finalized on a name we will share it with others. That might not be until birth for this baby though lol! I think if someone made a comment I'd remain purposefully oblivious. Like "I know, we both love it, glad you enjoy it with us!"

dragonfly321

@ohbaby714 that's my thinking exactly! SO said he wouldn't mind sharing. I said "no way. I got enough judgement from your family about us not being married. I'm not listening to any more of that shit". That was the end of that conversation!
I have shared the initials with a few people who want to order monogrammed stuff but that's it.

ohbaby714

dragonfly321 said:

@ohbaby714 that's my thinking exactly! SO said he wouldn't mind sharing. I said "no way. I got enough judgement from your family about us not being married. I'm not listening to any more of that shit". That was the end of that conversation!
I have shared the initials with a few people who want to order monogrammed stuff but that's it.

That's a good idea! Another thing with sharing the name as far as gifts go when people get stuff for the baby they love to personalize everything. What if you change your mind? Or what if you end up having the opposite sex? So much to think about LOL!

Monkeybutt80

This time, HELL NO. It won't be easy (in laws all coming in for Thanksgiving and christmas - will probably be asking a lot of name questions) but I learned my lesson last time. 

I had no issues with sharing the name or the names we were considering last time; I was naive enough to think that people wouldn't say mean things about the name or take it as a sign that we are taking applications for names. Then we got a lot of negative feed back and unnecessary input from my in laws last time. Basically, my FIL thought "Colton" was too redneck and thought we should give him a good irish name, Aengus (pronounced like the beef). Then my MIL thought we should name him after our college which is where my husband and I met, and where my MIL and FIL also went (it's technically a last name and a very uncommon one at that - the founder of the school named the school after his last name), and also it'd be super weird if he decides to follow the family and attend it). Then she suggested other names associated with the school and the area where the school is at, which were just bad names (Cayuga and Seneca were the suggestions). So this time, we aren't sharing. We kinda know what we want to name her, but we plan to just tell them that we do not know yet and that we will let them know once she is born. 

egraves4

We haven't openly announced the name, but if people ask then I don't have a problem sharing.  It's a family name so it's not like it is changing/anyone will sway me to change it.  It's not a common name, so I'm sure people love it or hate it, which is fine. 

dragonfly321

@monkeybutt80 CAYUGA?!
How on earth is naming your child "beef" less redneck than naming him Colton?
I'm all for traditional names... But this is why I am not telling anyone.
If people keep asking, I say well, we're thinking Jayquan. We were goin with Jameriroquai but decided the spelling would throw people off. The looks I get are fabulous.

Monkeybutt80

@dragonfly321  That's what I should do! I should just tell my in laws we are naming her "Pudding" bc it would go well with our dogs names; Coconut and Vanilla (yes, those are really my dogs names). 

acuteangles

We haven't announced our name or anything, but we haven't kept it from people if they ask.  It's not a particularly unusual name, just less common, so we haven't received many negative comments.  And if we do, oh well.  My brother made a few cracks about the name and made a few suggestions. I was happy to tell him that he's more than welcome to have his own baby and name it whatever he'd like.

Kiek

With DD we named her after both our grandmothers so nobody dared to have a problem with it so it was easy to announce early. DH doesn't want to go with any family names this time around. We have a front runner but like I mentioned DH won't agree to set anything in stone right now. my mom wouldn't stop suggesting names and getting offended when I wouldn't instantly sound thrilled with her suggestions. I told her our front runner to stop the name suggestions. Now she has a middle name picked that we won't use and won't let it go. I hate how everyone thinks they get to have a say

m3pries

We aren't going to share our name before baby is born.  Partly because I don't want to hear people's comments on it before hand (good, bad or ugly) and partly because I really don't think we will have it picked out until the baby is born.  We aren't finding out the sex of our baby, so I feel like I can use the "It's just going to be a surprise" answer when people ask about names!

Twindling

We're sharing names but not sex. (We don't even know the sex) but I didn't want to keep everything 100% private. And plus, my BFF is due the day after me and we wanted to be sure we didn't name our kids the same thing so we shared.

mcklough

Monkeybutt80 said:

This time, HELL NO. It won't be easy (in laws all coming in for Thanksgiving and christmas - will probably be asking a lot of name questions) but I learned my lesson last time. 

I had no issues with sharing the name or the names we were considering last time; I was naive enough to think that people wouldn't say mean things about the name or take it as a sign that we are taking applications for names. Then we got a lot of negative feed back and unnecessary input from my in laws last time. Basically, my FIL thought "Colton" was too redneck and thought we should give him a good irish name, Aengus (pronounced like the beef). Then my MIL thought we should name him after our college which is where my husband and I met, and where my MIL and FIL also went (it's technically a last name and a very uncommon one at that - the founder of the school named the school after his last name), and also it'd be super weird if he decides to follow the family and attend it). Then she suggested other names associated with the school and the area where the school is at, which were just bad names (Cayuga and Seneca were the suggestions). So this time, we aren't sharing. We kinda know what we want to name her, but we plan to just tell them that we do not know yet and that we will let them know once she is born. 

Did you go to Hobart? That's all I can think of in the finger lakes. There are probably many many colleges surrounding areas named Cayuga and Seneca but that's where my western NY mind goes. Hobart would be pretty terrible...

We had decided on a boy name and girl name both prior to finding out the sex of the baby (she's a girl). We told his parents who had a few suggestions and comments but none were ridiculous. We were undecided on a middle name and his mother told us his grandmothers middle name and we both liked it so we picked that.

Since we've told people what it is no one has had negative reactions but people also know I'm pretty stubborn so I don't think they would expect to change my mind. It's Penelope Leigh. FIL has already started calling her Penny Lane and we are perfectly fine with that.

Life is Exciting

I wished we had kept it a secret with our son.  there's always someone who feels the need to criticize everything.

This time, we told people from the start because it's not our first and we're kind of immune to the criticism by now.  Plus, we have a really cute story for how we came up with her name, so we figured  once people heard the story, they wouldn't criticize.

Monkeybutt80

@mcklough  It wasn't Hobart but I have to admit that that's so much worse! Granted it wasn't as bad as Hobart, but I didn't like the idea of naming my child after where we went to school.  But you are correct that it's a school near the finger lakes. I love the area and I love the finger lakes (and all the wineries out there).  ETA: we left the area after school and now we are down in VA. I love VA, but I definitely miss upstate NY. 

mcklough

Monkeybutt80 said:

@mcklough  It wasn't Hobart but I have to admit that that's so much worse! Granted it wasn't as bad as Hobart, but I didn't like the idea of naming my child after where we went to school.  But you are correct that it's a school near the finger lakes. I love the area and I love the finger lakes (and all the wineries out there).  ETA: we left the area after school and now we are down in VA. I love VA, but I definitely miss upstate NY. 

Fisher? haha you should probably just tell me or I'll spend all afternoon pondering it

cantobean

We have a name and are keeping it a secret, mostly because MIL will be annoying about it. She is constantly giving suggestions. Actually, H gave her a list of names we were considering and said "it will probably be one of those" and she responded that she didn't really like any of them, and suggested some awful ones. I just think it will be easier to wait, but keeping it from her means keeping it from everyone.

LEAA14

We have been settled on names pretty much since finding out I was pregnant, but we are definitely not telling anyone what our choices are. We both know that his family would take whatever we told them as a suggestion and start giving their input, which we really don't want. My mom has also decided that if she can't know the actual name now she's just going to call her "Olivia" until she does. While Olivia is a perfectly nice name, it is not the name we've chosen and I find it really grating every time she asks me "how Olivia is doing." I've started just telling her I have no idea who she is talking about because it's weird that she's given my baby a real name that isn't her real name. It's one thing to give her a fun nickname until she's born, but this is really a bit much. It's enough to make me want to just tell her what the real name is so she'll stop.

funkypineapple

Well we were going to tell people and are telling certain people if they ask but last month I had lunch with my mom and mentioned the front runner name we had picked out and she said she liked it and seemed excited about the name.

Then 2 weeks ago H and I decided that name was going to be the name as that is the only one either of us kept thinking about so when we went to dinner the next night with some close family members, we shared and my mom's reaction was a stink face followed by "I don't like it" to which I told her it wasn't her decision. 

Then when I texted her about it 2 days later she said she did like it and that it was just because she wasn't feeling well. Yeah, not buying it but whatever.

Middle name is going to be a family name on my side.

brushesnbrunch

I'm not sure if the name we have is the FINAL name, but it's the one we've settled on for now. Everyone is okay with it (that we've told) because they are family names so..I'm not like shouting it from the rooftops, but if someone asks I share it with them.

xkatiekx

We've been telling people if they ask and we let the grandparents to be know as well.

Back when my sister and I were born my parents weren't able to find out our sex. So if either my sister or myself were a boy we would have been named Oskar. When we found out we were having a boy, my dad immediately started calling him Oskar. We aren't naming him that and he knows this but whatever.

A couple aunts that asked had less than pleasant responses and MIL has yet to acknowledge our choice as she doesn't like it. People will have opinions but we refer to our son by name now and love our choice so I just ignore them.

Scornelius

I'm not remotely interested in peoples' opinions, but I also hate getting pressured when I try to keep it secret. So, I'm telling anyone who presses that it's Stilton Beauregard for a boy, or Grezelda LaRue for a girl. So far, it's shocked everyone into silence.

sparksfly

Aside from a few family select members (who have been sworn to secrecy), we are keeping names to ourselves. I'm not a fan of monograms or having names stitched onto everything - and my husband's extended family is. So I'm trying to keep it quiet as long as possible.  My husband also works at a church - and everything thinks your business is their business. I really don't want comments about the bratty kid someone knew with that name or how silly they think it sounds. It's our decision and not theirs.

I had one lady semi-confront me about it. She asked if we had names picked out. I said yes. There was a long uncomfortable pause before she said, "so what are they?" I said, "we actually aren't sharing the names." Her: "Oh ... you're one of THOSE people. My cousin did that and then she named her daughter Gracelynn. Which isn't even a real name [or some similar negative comment]." Me: "And THAT'S why we're not telling people." Then she just stared at me and walked away. Did she really think making judgmental comments about someone else's name choice was going to convince me to share my name ideas?? Think again, lady. 

moomee

Only a select few know the baby name we've picked out for our DD. We're not keeping it a secret because of people's opinions, but a name I had picked out for my oldest daughter got so overused by others that I got tired of it, and I don't want that to happen again.

Jellybelly119

We've been calling the baby Dwight the entire time...even before we knew the sex, he was going to be a "boy Dwight" or a "girl Dwight." When I refer to him that way and someone asks if that's the name we've chosen, they generally just seemed relieved that it isn't when I divulge the names we have in mind. It's helped cut down on any negative opinions they may have for our planned name choice!

Kiek

Jellybelly119 said:

We've been calling the baby Dwight the entire time...even before we knew the sex, he was going to be a "boy Dwight" or a "girl Dwight." When I refer to him that way and someone asks if that's the name we've chosen, they generally just seemed relieved that it isn't when I divulge the names we have in mind. It's helped cut down on any negative opinions they may have for our planned name choice!

I'm re-watching The Office right now and this made me giggle

blueberrymomma

Basically all of DHs family suggests names or already call this little boy a specific name. I'm the type of person that if you tell me a name I'm not going to use . We had 2 names picked for DD and chose one when we held her for the first time. We'll probably do it again with DS. But I absolutely don't share with anyone but DH. We call the baby "baby brother" to help DD understand
When I get really annoyed with name suggestions I tell people his name is Kimye, DD was Bradgelina. It usually shuts people up.
A funny side story. This past weekend at a family wedding my MIL thought she could get a name out ofme and I wanted soooo badly to say " you're the one whose drunk not me"

Aussiechicka

I just say we have a short list to choose from once she arrives.
It drove my MIL insane with our son when we wouldn't share the name and then once we announced his arrival making it very clear he'd been named for my Grandfather she told some relatives we'd named him after her side of the family. Needless to say telling her anything is not high on my list of things I think about these days.

AdventureMama

We're team green and we won't settle on a name until after he or she is born, but we're keeping our lists pretty close to the vest. I don't mind sharing them with internet strangers but we definitely aren't telling our families. My mom especially has really strong opinions and as much as I don't want to care what she thinks about my favorite names, I do, and if she made a face or said something negative about one I really liked, it would bother me. So I'm avoiding that.

My mom also has LOTS of name ideas and she gets offended when I say "meh" or give a reason why I don't love whatever she's suggesting. I'm not a huge fan of top ten names, especially for girls, and she gets really pissed about that for some reason. She really likes Olivia and Abigail and gets mad that I don't like them all that much. I find it weird.

Last time, we were in the same situation, but we shared our top 3 or 4 names for each sex with tons of people when they asked, including everyone at our baby showers, and people seemed almost offended that we ended up settling on a name that neither of us had ever mentioned before. For good reason, since we thought of it for the first time literally on the way to the hospital. I didn't realize people would get attached to names that we said we liked but weren't sure about! I thought I had made it clear we weren't settling on anything until he/she came but I guess not...

Latina211508

We are actually not going to tell anyone our sons name until birth. We think it would be nice to keep that a surprise. This is our fourth baby and we have always told family the name once we found out the sex of the baby. But we always tell people are set on the babies name and we never had anywhere throw out suggestions.

MississippiCatfish

We lie. We say "we aren't sure quite yet and aren't sharing til were sure, which will probably be when we see baby." We've known since the moment we found out the sex, but I prefer not to hear opinions. Our kids don't have popular names and announcing after birth has decreased the negative comments to one, regarding my second son. I'm sure there would have been a million if we'd shared while pregnant, and there would be this time around too. I'd just rather not deal with it.

michelle_bird

We aren't planning to tell anyone because I don't want anyone else's suggestions or opinions. My mom already made several nasty comments about a name we were considering.

When anyone asks, my husband says "Gertrude Esmerelda" or "Chnequa Chiquita" to get them to shut up.

mamacastro

We have decided not to choose until she is born and we see her which is also nice that I won't have to deal with opinions or reactions beforehand. Its already driving MIL crazy because she asks everyday I see her and she is so opinionated that this is getting to her but oh well. We made the mistake of telling everyone early with DS last time and everyone had opinions. We love old west history so named him Wyatt after Wyatt Earp and some people didn't like it and one lady in the store one time actually asked me "How do you pronounce that?" When she saw it on his blanket, really? So i'd rather not deal with it this time

kinnonam

We picked out a name about a month or so ago. We are doing gender reveal photos that we are sending out with the invites for the baby shower. So no one out side of immediate family knows the sex or name of the baby. But, because my SO is of Nigerian decent my child's name has those characteristics so I've been trying it out on coworkers to see the reaction that I recieve. Some have simple stated oh that's interesting while some just nod

babyA227

Im previously tdoswell but had to make a new account
Any who! We won't be sharing the official name until birth. 1. We aren't positive yet (I am sure we will be soon). 2. People are to opinionated.
We have shared the top 3 names that we have but will not be saying her name until birth.

cMichelle0423

We had picked out names for our first two near the time we found out what we were having. This being our 3rd boy, has made it hard to pick a name we both like. So we decided to pick out 2-3 names and then make a decision when we saw him. We're also planning on not telling anyone our names we pick out because we mainly just don't want their input. So they'll know when we tell them after he's born.

paytonpedro

We share with anyone who asks, although I don't know if I would put it on the bump yet! I don't like things that get too popular and I don't want to share my name and have other people like it too and use it. I'm weird. Lol. We have kept the entire pregnancy off of FB, so it is also not on there.
I tell everyone though, that I'm so glad he is a boy (which we thought all along) because we could not agree on any girl names before we found out the sex!! We had our boy name ready for him the day we found out!

wisco29

Here's an article I actually just found today pertaining to not sharing their name

https://www.neworleansmomsblog.com/2015/10/21/why-we-dont-share-our-babys-name-before-birth/