School-Aged Children
How many of you decided on a name when the child was born?
If you knew the gender, how many of you went in with 3 or 4 names in mind and were able to decide once you "met" the baby? Or was it you just felt pressured because you could not leave the hospital without one? We had DS name picked out weeks before he was born. Do you any of you regret your name choices? If so, why or why not? Did any of you go in with one name in mind then changed at last minute? Why?
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Re: How many of you decided on a name when the child was born?
We did this with DS1, though not intentionally. We had our favorite name picked and told people that it was likely the name we'd use, etc. But we still had our 'top 3' names in mind. Once DS was born, DH and I agree almost instantly that he didn't look like the name we had picked, but that he looked look our #3 name. We didn't expect that AT ALL, and were totally surprised, but it just seemed wrong to use the name we had planned to use.
As a result of that experience, we went into having DD and DS2 with open minds about names, and settling 100% once they were born.
FWIW, we were team green with DS1 but knew the gender with DD and DS2.
With the twins we had names picked out in advance. We knew which baby would have which name but we waited to see them after they born before cementing that. Turns out we were right!
For DS#3 we had NO idea about a name going in to the hospital. We were really stressed because we felt like we used up all our boy names with the first two. We named #3 at around 2am the second day after he was born. It came to me out of the blue and I floated it past DH. Winner!
We were worried we wouldn't have a name when it came time to leave the hospital so I am glad it worked out the way it did.
My twins are 5! My baby is 3!
DS#2 - Allergic to Cashew, Pistachio, Kiwi
DS#3 - Allergic to Milk, Egg, Peanut, Tree Nuts and Sesame
My husband and I had our children's names picked out well in advance. The first time we didn't know the sex of the baby, so we went to the hospital with 2 names. The second time, we knew the baby was a boy, so we just picked out a boy name.
However, I know a few couples who ALWAYS go to the hospital with a short list and wait to meet the baby. This really seems to work well for them. One couple who was having their second boy even waited until they got him home for a few days to settle in on a name.
I honestly don't know of any cases in which parents "regretted" their name choices. My DH picked out DD's name, and I didn't particularly love it before she was born. Once it became my baby's name, I really came to feel that it is perfect for her!
With DS we actually struggled with his name our entire pregnancy, and decided on a name about a month before my due date. After he was born, we decided that the name we had chosen just didn't fit him, and he was much more of a Harrison, which was a name on our list that we had rejected for a stupid reason.
With DD we actually made a list of names and gave them to her birthmother for her first name. For her middle name, her birthmother gave us a list of names and we chose one. Actually we paired each one of her names with one of our names, so we would be ready with a name combination when she was born. DD was named shortly after she was born by her birthmother. She actually really surprised us in the name she chose, I really loved the name Thea but I didn't think she would like it.
We didn't know the gender for either of our kids, but only one of them had a name before he was born. I always knew if I had a son, his name would be Lennon (after John Lennon). That's been with me since childhood.
However, my daughter was another story. I had no idea what to name her. Nothing seemed right, and she was unnamed for about a week after she was born. We were home and I was browsing through my old records, and put on the Beatles' White Album. Track two, "Dear Prudence" came on, and it hit me like a ton of bricks - that was her name!
I regret her name just a little bit. I was really impulsive, and wasn't thinking long-term about her name. It's not very popular, and people can be negative towards it. Prudence hasn't even cracked the top 1000 baby names in the last 12 years, according to the SSA. I still love her name, but she struggles with it. She usually goes by Pru or Ru (depending on her mood and who she's with).
~The Bouncing Souls