Sound Off! Did You Reveal Your Baby Name Before Birth?

Elizabeth Messina; Bennett Raglin/WireImage; Roger Wong/INF

Baby naming is a sensitive subject. Everyone wants the perfect moniker for their child, and oftentimes, they don’t want anyone else to have it. (Remember the episode of Sex and the City where Charlotte’s friend Laney steals her prized baby name?!) Famous moms like Marissa Jaret Winokur, Laila Ali, Natalie Morales, Gena Lee Nolin and Elisabeth Röhm all revealed the names they planned to give their children just months into their pregnancies. However, many moms stay mum on the topic until their baby is delivered, sometimes for personal reasons, sometimes because they just haven’t picked a name yet. While many would argue that there’s no harm in revealing a name before birth, some prefer to keep their ideas to themselves.

So here’s your chance to Sound Off! Tell us your feelings on revealing baby names before your child’s birth.

Comments

Tara on October 7th, 2008

My ex and I told everyone the names we had chosen before we found out the sex.

Jen on October 7th, 2008

I told people what I chose for my son, mainly because no one I knew was pregnant at the time. Also, the name wasn’t that wild, crazy, or unique–just something we liked that wasn’t too popular. I do know someone who used two VERY common names for her son and she stayed mum (no pun intended!) until the birth.
I guess it just depends on how you feel. I wanted all the bad things that could possibly be thrown my son’s way about his name to come out before he did–in fact, my dad got us to change from what we had originally chosen because of all the stupid things he could think of about the name. Others don’t want anyone to insult their choice. I do respect those who’ve chosen a really uncommon name and don’t feel like sharing or who have other frenemies that are pregnant and due around the same time that may steal a name.

Adele on October 7th, 2008

With my first son,No I did not reveal our name choices. There will always be someone that doesn’t like your name choices and who will try to get you to change the name you think you have chosen. If you don’t tell anyone until after the baby/babies is/are born you would think that most people would have the good grace to not mention it if they don’t like the name. Even when I was pregnant with the triplets I didn’t disclose their official names. I may have said a few names on the list as it was very difficult coming up with 3 more boys first names and 3 middle names. We again, didn’t disclose their names officially until they were born.

shaina on October 7th, 2008

as a rule going forward, my husband and i are NOT revealing our baby names… with our first, we had our name picked out immediately and told everyone, then got to hear everyone’s opinion on it. as it turned out, she was born and didn’t even look like the name we had chosen! we had to start from scratch and it took us three days to name her. family was NOT pleased b/c of all of the gifts that had had the baby’s name on it, etc. so, we learned our lesson and from now on, we’re just going to compile a list (that we’re NOT sharing!) and wait til the baby’s born to decide!

Morgan on October 7th, 2008

My former husband and I did share our daughter’s name prior to the birth: Sofia. I probably wouldn’t do so the next time around though; I got lots of comments and some weren’t all that nice, so I think I’ll be keeping future choices to myself.

lirpa2486 on October 7th, 2008

We decided on Nixon for our son very early on in my pregnancy, even before we knew he was a boy. We thought it was a good idea to share his name with everyone so they could get used to it before Nixon arrived. However, it was more time for people to question our choice and to try to change our minds…

Shea on October 7th, 2008

I’m due on March the 6th and we already know it’s a girl and everyone knows that her name is to be Catherine Alessia and she will be called Alessia. With Marygrace and Olivia I had their names well in advance as well, but, with my oldest Kayla, her name was changed weeks before her birth due to a family member stealing the name I had picked out.

Kristin on October 7th, 2008

I’m 15 weeks preggo, and with this pregnancy (as with my 3-year-old son) we will not tell a soul the name before the birth. There’s nothing wrong with sharing the name at all, we just like to keep a little bit of suspense for everyone else. We do like to find out the gender, and since this will be a scheduled c-section for me, the name will be the only part of the birth that people won’t know ahead of time! And like many of you, we can’t stand uninvited opinions about name choices!

Tam on October 7th, 2008

My fiance and I have our kids names picked out and we are not telling anyone until they are born. We would like to have a delivery surprise, so I think it would be extra special to reveal the baby’s sex and name when they are born. Plus, I made up a unique name if it’s a girl and I don’t want anyone else to steal it before she is born!

Amelia Sprout on October 7th, 2008

We didn’t tell anyone because we wanted the option to change the name if we didn’t think it fit. It was good that we did because when we saw her, the name we had picked didn’t fit, and we used a different name.

Jess on October 7th, 2008

We told them it would be Madison or Madelyn. Never said which one it would be until she was born.

Rhiannon on October 7th, 2008

My husband and I told no one prior to our daughters being born. People can’t help but give their opinions, good or bad and I didn’t want to hear what they thought about OUR choices. And once the baby is here everyone seems to be delighted with our choices plus on the edge of their seats to see what we chose. And our final choices were Teagan Shea, and Quinnlyn Rose which fit both our daughters to a “T”!!!

Devon on October 7th, 2008

I think it really depends on how set a parent is on that name and whether or not they can or want to stand up to the truck load of comments they will receive.

Personally, I’m not a fan of naming kids before they are born (they may not look like or suit the name) so my kids will most likely not be named until after birth, but with a list of names picked out. My husband and I have thrown around a few, and my mother has practically told me what I am naming my kids, so we’ll see when and if I get pregnant.

Gelareh on October 7th, 2008

I dont have a child, but I always think that no matter what name I pick up I may change my mind after seeing the baby. So I rather keep it to myself until I actually name the baby that. I don’t want people going around telling him/her “you were supposed to be named X instead of Y” when (s)he grows up as has happened with a lot of people I know.
So I’d rather keep it to myself, *if* I can!

Liza on October 7th, 2008

To each their own, really. I personally would NEVER tell anyone whether or not I thought their baby’s name was ugly, or I thought it was ridiculous, whatever. Thats your own choice what you name your kid.

My husband and I told with our 3 year old son, and his mother was so negative that I was naming him Ezra. (Why? Who knows… my husbands name is Isaac… whats the difference?????? Both really great Biblical names!! ) With our 22 month old, we hid his first name and hinted that the middle name was a family name on his parents side to appease everyone, but we didnt spill the beans until birth. Now with this one, we are a bit evil and Im 16 weeks and we still havent told anyone that Im preg, again. They’ll find out sooner or later, and I’m not tellin our name choices this time either.

MB on October 7th, 2008

My husband and I made a compromise. We’ve had the middle names picked out for a long time and we know those won’t change b/c they are after family members (we don’t know the gender of our baby so we have 2 sets of names). Once I tell people the meaning behind the names, no one has said anything negative. However, both our families are opinionated so we’re not revealing first names prior to birth. We’re going to have a “short list” and then try out those names on the baby once s/he arrives.

On a related note, I haven’t really enjoyed talking baby names with my non-pregnant friends now that I’m pregnant. They’ve all started “claiming” names so I’ve felt like I should cross some of my favorite names off our list because I wouldn’t want to look like I was stealing names. After this has happened a few times I just try to steer the conversation to another subject.

Rachel on October 7th, 2008

We did not tell anyone the names. I did not want to hear about the bully down the street or the kid with all the tatoos with the same name. It seems that once the baby is here, no one will give comments. I love surprises, so I prefer not to know anything until after the baby is here.

SouthernBelle on October 7th, 2008

I told people what I was going to name my first child, which was a girl. My sister-in-law kept lamenting over and over about how truly awful my choice was. She would not let it go. I was a young mother-to-be and didn’t have the confidence I now have. I got so paranoid about the name that I decided on another one. She got pregnant with a baby girl and guess what she named her? The “truly awful” name I had picked out for my child. That hurt me so much. And to top it all off, she didn’t spell it the beautiful way I had planned to, but butchered the spelling. Every single person that I’ve known who has shared the name information in advanced has lived to regret it because some other pregnant woman always took the name, leaving the other woman who shared the info sad, confused and betrayed. The advice I’ve given my daughters and friends: DON’T SHARE if you don’t want someone, who is due before you, to name their child the name before you get the chance to use it! (On a happy note, my daughter told me she liked the name she was given better than the one I had originally picked out, so she was glad to have her name. That may have had something to do with the fact that her cousin – the one with my daughter’s original name – turned out to be a “truly awful” person with no friends, so I guess my EX sister-in-law was right after all! LOL!)

Angelika on October 7th, 2008

I don’t really think you can “steal” a name – no one owns a name.

We had a list of 3 names that we liked and added a fourth a few weeks before I had my son…Nolan, Graham, Owen and Caleb. People had ALL sorts of opinions about every single one of them, and I didn’t care. They are nice, strong traditional names…no “unyque” spellings. We waited to meet him until we decided for sure…and he just “looked” like a Nolan!

SweetDiva on October 7th, 2008

A good of friend of mine has a strained relationship with her sister in law over this very topic. My friend was pregnant and announced to the family that if she had a boy she’d name it after her father (who was recently deceased). Her sis in law had a fit because she felt the name was rightfully hers. The sis in law was married to the deceased man’s only son, who was also named after his dad. It was ridiculous to even argue over because (1) the sis in law wasn’t even pregnant and (2) my friend didn’t know the sex of the baby anyway. Problem was solved when my friend had her beautiful baby girl, but the tension from the arguing lingered.

Sabine on October 7th, 2008

Ever Grace, Serena and Matthais were all name after I gave birth. I knew that there names were unique and I didn’t want to hear the opinions of anyone else.

Chloe on October 7th, 2008

We let everyone know when I was PG with my daughter. Her name was a coupling of our past Grandmothers. Lilliana Dorothy. This one’s sex has not been reveiled yet but once it is I won’t mind telling people. But do know the whole feeling of putting dibs on a name. My brother just had his first girl and let me know the names of the next two should they come up. LOL. Fine with me as long as he doesn’t pick mine!

Cezzie on October 7th, 2008

I don’t have children but my partner and I have decided to wait until future babies are born before we decide on a name – let alone tell other people our ideas.

When my mother was pregnant with my brother, she told everyone she loved the name “Jack” and that was going to be his name. Unfortunately it only took one person to wrinkle their face and shoot “Jack!?!?!?” in a horrid way to make my mum change her mind. My brother was around weeks before he had a name :-S

Hannah on October 7th, 2008

We choose to reveal the names after we discover the sex. We like to refer to the baby by it’s name before it’s born. We did this with our son and when he was born, I felt like I had known him my entire life. It was an incredible way to bond with my unborn baby. We have the two names picked out this time and will reveal the name we’ve choosen next week after our 20 week scan.

Shan on October 7th, 2008

We did not tell anyone our daughter’s name until right before she was born. We just said that if the baby was a girl, she would have an “M” name for my grandmother. This time, a friend of mine found out that she is pregnant, and due after me. She started discussing names so I put my claim on Cara.

Sheena on October 7th, 2008

For our first daughter we told everybody our name choices. I was astounded and hurt about how cruel people can be and how some even said outright, “No dont name her that!” Its not like she had a weird or unusual name. God forbid if she had. I am someone who is easily influenced by other peoples reactions so although it didn’t change my mind in the end, I wasn’t nearly as confident about my choice. Now I am six months pregnant with my second daughter and we have come to the decision that we wont tell anyone her name until she is born. This drives some people crazy but I know if I tell one person, they’ll tell someone else and so on. Plus its not fair to pick and choose who you tell. I’m glad I decided to make it a secret this time. It makes for a fun little surprise at her birth. Since everyone knows the gender, there isnt much left to be surprised about so this is it. I know that I will still get criticism for my choice of names but at least it wont be for months prior to her birth.

Robin on October 7th, 2008

When I was pregnant with my daughter I worked for a car dealership in Florida and there were 5 of us pregnant at one time. As soon as I found out I was having a girl, I had her name picked out, Ataliyah Aaliyah Zalene. Its a little different and I knew no one else would come up with that. I told everyone so that they would get use to it and the spelling. My family, who is used to conventional names, thought it should be spelled easier but I loved the spelling and how it flowed together. They eventually got used to it. I am TTC baby #2 and already have a boy’s name picked out, Chase (middle names to be chosen later).

Vanderbilt Wife on October 7th, 2008

We’ve shared our baby’s name with anyone who asked. It is a common name (Elizabeth) and we’ve had no negative response at all–which I think is incredibly rude of people anyway. I would never, ever insult what someone wants to name their child!! I like being able to call her something while she is inside and my DH and I have been set on this name for years, anyway. I also wanted to be able to share with my grandmother that the child would be her namesake just in case she did not live to see the birth as she is very ill.

But I am OK with whatever anyone wants to do. Who knows, we may change our mind next time.

Shannon on October 7th, 2008

We didn’t tell our names because they were names we really loved and I knew family and friends would give their opinions. They aren’t common names. I also didn’t want anyone else using them. I had a friend who told people her baby’s name when she was 3 months pregnant and it gotten taken by someone who heard it and liked it.

JB on October 7th, 2008

My husband and I chose not to know the sex of our child until she was born – this caused more controversy than not having a name picked out! We kept a (long) running list of names organized as male, female, and gender-neutral. We smiled politely and put 95% of the suggestions on the list – there were a few we had to veto. Both my husband and I had “the most popular” names growing up (and hated it), and therefore nixed super-popular names like Madison and Liam. When my labor began, we narrowed down the list, wrote the top 15 for each category on a greeting card, sealed in an envelope and packed it in my hospital bag. It still took us a full day to settle on her name. In the end, we surprised everyone; our friends and family were sure we’d go for some far-out name or at least a unique spelling. We named her Jillian Elizabeth (Elizabeth happens to be my mother-in-law’s first name and my mother’s middle name), and call her Jilly.

Cordelia's Mommy on October 7th, 2008

Even before we knew for sure we were having a girl we had discussed more girl names than boy names, I sort of knew it was a girl I guess. then when we officially knew, we had it narrowed down to a couple, but very quickly we picked our favorite, then picked a middle name, and that was that. so, we knew her name for months before her birth, and yes, we did tell family and friends too. not everyone initially loved it as much as we did, but we just knew it would suit her. and, now no one can imagine her with any other name. she is absolutely Cordelia Isabella, Cordy for a nickname, and no other name would do. and, knowing her name months before she was born really helped my husband and I, and our families, to bond with her well before her arrival.

Cordelia's Mommy on October 7th, 2008

Even before we knew for sure we were having a girl we had discussed more girl names than boy names, I sort of knew it was a girl I guess. then when we officially knew, we had it narrowed down to a couple, but very quickly we picked our favorite, then picked a middle name, and that was that. so, we knew her name for months before her birth, and yes, we did tell family and friends too. not everyone initially loved it as much as we did, but we just knew it would suit her. and, now no one can imagine her with any other name. she is absolutely Cordelia Isabella, Cordy for a nickname, and no other name would do. and, knowing her name months before she was born really helped my husband and I, and our families, to bond with her well before her arrival.

Cordelia's Mommy on October 7th, 2008

Even before we knew for sure we were having a girl we had discussed more girl names than boy names, I sort of knew it was a girl I guess. then when we officially knew, we had it narrowed down to a couple, but very quickly we picked our favorite, then picked a middle name, and that was that. so, we knew her name for months before her birth, and yes, we did tell family and friends too. not everyone initially loved it as much as we did, but we just knew it would suit her. and, now no one can imagine her with any other name. she is absolutely Cordelia Isabella, Cordy for a nickname, and no other name would do. and, knowing her name months before she was born really helped my husband and I, and our families, to bond with her well before her arrival.

Cordelia's Mommy on October 7th, 2008

Even before we knew for sure we were having a girl we had discussed more girl names than boy names, I sort of knew it was a girl I guess. then when we officially knew, we had it narrowed down to a couple, but very quickly we picked our favorite, then picked a middle name, and that was that. so, we knew her name for months before her birth, and yes, we did tell family and friends too. not everyone initially loved it as much as we did, but we just knew it would suit her. and, now no one can imagine her with any other name. she is absolutely Cordelia Isabella, Cordy for a nickname, and no other name would do. and, knowing her name months before she was born really helped my husband and I, and our families, to bond with her well before her arrival.

Amber S on October 7th, 2008

We had told everyone the name we picked out for our 3rd son but then about 2 weeks before I was due I changed my mind. I didn’t tell anyone the new name and even in the delivery room the doctor’s asked what his name was and we were unsure but we went with the name I liked and it fits.

With our twins we had named picked out at 5 months, told everyone, and kept the names.

lorelei on October 7th, 2008

With our three we told everyone their names ahead of time and had no comments made to us. We have Andrew Ivan, Mari Stephanie and Adam Robert. A few family names were thrown in there. Being stubborn I truly didn’t care what anyone else thought. They name their children and we chose the names we loved for our children.

Ash on October 7th, 2008

We told people our first 2 kids name. But, after dealing with peoples opinions on our 2nd childs name, never again have I told the name before. So with our 3rd and 4th(who I am pregnant with now), we did/will not reveal the name.

Sara on October 7th, 2008

I have found that when you tell people the name before the birth, you have to hear their thoughts and opinions about it. Whereas, once the kids already named that, they don’t feel the need to share as much And I have 3 boys and made the mistake of telling the family the girl name we liked. Now my sister in law says that’s the name she’d like. It’s a race to have a daughter now!!!

Harley on October 7th, 2008

Nope. My godson wasn’t supposed to be Tyler so his grandmother made him a blanket with the original choice on it only to have the mother take one look at her newborn son and declare, “Oh my God, you are definitely Tyler”. lol, I want to avoid that with my friends and not only that but, eh, I don’t want criticism.

Lulu on October 7th, 2008

When I was pregnant I told people that I really loved the name Phoebe Violet and that if I had a girl I would probably call her that. Thank goodness I said so, as my dear best friend pointed out that the child would be stuck with the initals PVC if I went ahead! As it happened, she looked nothing like a phoebe when she arrived. If I’m blessed enough to have another baby, I’ll put ot a few suggestions to people for their views, but definitely won’t finalise until the baby is born.

Monika on October 7th, 2008

We didn’t reveal the name until it was confirmed we’re having a girl. Then if people asked, we told, but didn’t offer the information first. We already have our next names picked out, but won’t reveal until we get pregnant and know the gender.

Sarah on October 7th, 2008

Yes, my husband and I named and shared both of our children’s names before their births. As I recall, there were mixed reactions depending on if they were friends or family–with the latter being a tad more judgemental. I’m not sure if waiting til after the babies’ births would have made that much of a difference. People react how they are going to react no matter what situation…

Amber on October 7th, 2008

We had decided to reveal our baby’s sex and name before birth, and I regret letting everyone know her name. My mother kept calling me offering up other suggestions, and it was just really rude, in my opinion. We didn’t let anybody sway our decision, but next time around, we’re going to keep the name choice to ourselves. People get so RUDE when it comes to naming your own child, it’s ridiculous. Some people just have no class.

Meg on October 7th, 2008

Since with both of my pregnancies with my sons, I didn’t know the sex of the babies at the time, so we couldn’t really reveal a name cause we didn’t know if we were chosing for boy or a girl. This time I am finding out the sex since it will be my last baby and I’ve already had 2 surprises, but I still wouldn’t name the baby before seeing it for the first time in person.

Gigi on October 7th, 2008

i have a good friend who is greek. she is named after her mother, her son is named after her father, the other son is named after the husbands father, and if she has a daughter, she will be named after the maternal grandmother, so on and so on. everyone in the family is named after someone else! if you’ve ever seen ‘my big fat greek wedding’, lol, the movie is exactly what her family is like! everyone in the family knows what their babies names are going to be before they are even conceived!!!
i personally wouldnt like my child’s name already chosen for me but i guess their cant be any grief over a name choice that way. and they dont seem to mind….they are the happiest people ive ever seen!

brannon on October 7th, 2008

I shared because there were so many people pregnant that i knew and I didn’t want anyone taking my son’s name before he was born! Glad I did because my neighbor had her baby 3 days before I did and told me it had been one of the names they were considering – until they knew I had chosen it! (Of course, they could have been mean and gone ahead with it – make sure you know nice people if you try it this way!) In any case, my Oliver is the only one around

Nikki on October 7th, 2008

I did not share our choices. We wanted a delivery surprise and to reveal his/her name then, too. I did this mainly because people can be cruel. I figured they couldn’t say anything mean once the name was attached to a little person. And neither name was unusual at all. But I was wrong. My husband’s sister was sure to insult our choice while we were still in the hospital! In-law’s…ugh! Oh, I did tell my OB. And he liked them a lot. He’s such a great guy!

Mindola on October 7th, 2008

My husband and I didn’t tell a soul our name choices. I think part of the excitement of having a baby is the element of surprise that’s why we didn’t find out what we were having and didn’t reveal our name choices… in fact even after we had my daughter, in the delivery room on a peg board were two envelopes with boy and girl printed on them… inside were our name choices… and I asked my mom to go and open up the girl envelope after my daughter was delivered… everyone was thrilled…. It was so much fun announcing it this way!!

kaya on October 7th, 2008

@SouthernBelle

Woah, that’s mean! May I ask what the names were?:) (Can’t steal them now lol)

wmeyer on October 7th, 2008

I think if you do chose to share the name (or possible name choices) you need to be prepared for all sorts of comments and have a thick skin ready. Sometimes even the well intentioned positive comment can leave a bit of sting. That concept coupled with the fact that my hormones were surging in all directions, led my husband and I to keep our choices to ourselves. I am a teacher and it was difficult enough to come up with a couple options that didn’t immediately evoke images of a particular person. I didn’t want any additional information/ideas/comments on the topic or a new reason to burst into tears. I also wanted the option of changing my mind at the last minute if need be.
Names can be very personal and everyone has their own ideas about what a name represents to them. I try to keep that in mind when friends do share their names and just offer a quick, “Oh that’s a cute name” comment and move on.

Miche on October 7th, 2008

We told everyone what we were naming our daughter. When I was pregnant, I loved having people ask me for months “How’s Chloé doing today?” For my husband especially, it made her more “real” and it did create a bond with her. I didn’t have anyone say anything negative about her name. Mostly, we were told it was a beautiful name. We got the name Chloé from the Bible and her middle name is a family name.
Just like someone else said, we, our friends and our family felt like we had known her forever when she was finally born.

Tiffany on October 7th, 2008

I told my pregnant sister in law the name I’ve had picked out for when I have a daughter….a name my husband I have had for over 5 years! Well, I guess that was a mistake because she had her baby a few months later and “took” our name! We still plan on naming our daughter that, but I was really surprised by her.

emma on October 7th, 2008

With both of my boys I told anyone who asked what their names were going to be before they were born. However, I wouldn’t do it again. I do feel a bit like we missed out on the excitement of telling everyone what sex the baby is and what his/her name is straight after the birth. It’s a personal choice but next time I wouldn’t find out the sex and I wouldn’t share the name.

Jean on October 7th, 2008

We don’t share before birth. Heck, WE don’t know before birth! We don’t even share what we’re thinking of though. We never find out gender before birth. My first son was one name for a little over half a day and we changed it, my second son had no name for 9.5 days after he was born. We DO have a girl’s name picked out in case we ever have a girl and some people know it (and my husband’s sister chose to use the masculine form of it for her boy – I told her I was fine with that IF she was fine with me using it as well). The girl’s name is very meaningful personally to me, and isn’t common so it’s fine. I’ll use it no matter who else does.

babyboopie on October 7th, 2008

I think it’s better to wait until the baby is born before naming them because you don’t know what they will look like or whether that name you chose will suit them. I had name choices for my baby when I was pregnant- David for a boy and Madeleine for a girl. However, when my son was born, my first thought was ‘ Oh my god, it’s a boy!’ and I was obsessing all day over the fact that he was a boy but then when all my friends/family said ” Oh, David’s gorgeous, he really is!” I looked at this beautiful boy and thought, ” No way, he’s not David!”
Then when he was 2 days old, I named him Pierre David Francis!
Here’s another example: my best friend found out she was expecting a boy and so named him Jack and she told everybody his name and even bought things with his name on like his bedroom plague on the door and blankets etc.
BUT when he was born, my best friend looked at him and said, ” It doesn’t feel right calling him Jack.”
In the end, she decided to name him Dylan.
That’s why I think it’s best if people TELL people their name PREFERENCE and then confirm it when the baby’s born!

C on October 7th, 2008

We didn’t reveal our son’s name before his birth because we wanted to keep something for ourselves. We told everyone it was a boy and we didn’t want people to say ‘Oh M. is finally here’ upon receiving the news he was born. Plus the name we picked is quite unusual and we didn’t want people to give negative feedback. We are glad we made that decision because our family was really surprised with his name as they expected us to pick something more ‘mainstream’.

Stéph on October 7th, 2008

I’m not pregnant and I don’t a baby yet. But if I was pregnant I think I wouldn’t say it to everyone but to some people, yeah.

Helen on October 7th, 2008

Also parents do need to think twice before giving names. Parents need to realise that their child will be attending school. A silly sounding name only promotes – bullying. I hate parents giving children names that rhymme with their surname. Stacy Tracy is a good example.
Lulu, you are right about the initials. My friend’s daughter attends kindergarten and one of the boys with the initials which spell out a 4 letter swear word. All is he going to get is ****head or don’t play with him as he’s ****

Tam on October 7th, 2008

I don’t quite understand the choosing a name after a baby is born just by looking at it option. For me, I’ll be so wrapped up in the moment of seeing my child for the first time, I don’t need a distraction such as choosing a name!

Kristina on October 7th, 2008

i am 4.5 months pregnant, and my name preferences had already changed a couple of times. each time it feels like its a final decision, but then… oops, i change my mind…

Maria de Jesus on October 7th, 2008

I personally did not think it was a big deal to reveal the names before the birth of my children. I have six and never had any negative comments or experiences.

SouthernBelle on October 7th, 2008

Kaya, the names were Holly Noëlle, but my EX SIL named her daughter Holly Noel because she never asked how we were going to spell it. Otherwise, she would have spelled it exactly the way I would have…she was just that type of person and still is to this day. Unfortunately, her daughter turned out just like her.

Jess from Ohio on October 7th, 2008

I have had my kids names picked out for years, yet I don’t want to share them. I would hate to get everyones opinions on the names. It might make me hate the name! I just consider the names private and my future hubby and I’s business.

Michelle Z. on October 7th, 2008

I had a similar experiece as Southern Belle’s.

I mentioned once to my sister-in-law that I liked the name Isabella, and planned to use it if I had a daughter (I wasn’t pregnant at the time). She went on and on about how she thought it was such an ugly name (my apologies to anyone named Isabella or who named their child that. I absolutely love the name!) and how it would be mean to name a child that. Meanwhile, she got pregnant about 15 minutes later (at least it felt that way) and named that child Annabella. I know it’s not the same name, but it is similar enough that I felt really hurt. When I finally did become pregnant, we kept our name choices to ourselves. DS’s name is very unusual, and I had LOTS of pregnant friends and relatives at the time. I was afraid someone would ‘steal’ the name.

SouthernBelle on October 7th, 2008

And Kaya, the same thing happened to a friend of mine. She told a pregnant friend the girl’s name she had picked and a week later, the woman came by her cubicle rubbing her own belly saying, “Little ___ ___ is really kicking today.” My friend was speechless, as this woman had told her a completely different name she had already picked out for her daughter. When the baby was born a few weeks later, sure enough, she named the little girl both the first and middle names that my friend had picked out. I have seen this ugly streak on more than one occasion and don’t understand the competition and backstabbing of the whole thing. It also happened to another of my family members and it involved a beautiful older feminine name that had been in the family for centuries. The one SIL had her girl before the other SIL did and she changed the name she had picked out to this beautiful name that had already been picked. It has forever strained the relationship and I don’t think it will ever mend.

Elizabeth on October 7th, 2008

I am torn as to whether or not to even decide on a name before your baby’s born. I didn’t always believe that some babies don’t “look” like a certain name but I now believe that to be true. A friend of mine has a little girl who is a total tomboy and loves being outside and playing sports. She looks like a Kate or something else very simple. They ended up naming her Kianna and it 100% does not fit her. It was a terrible name choice and I think they would’ve benefitted from waiting to choose a name.

Kristin on October 7th, 2008

Oh my gosh, I didn’t realize “name stealing” was such a big thing! Yikes!

3boyz&anotherontheway on October 7th, 2008

We choose not to tell people because people aren’t always thoughtful. They’ll say, “I knew a kid with that name and I hated him/her”, or “I don’t like that name”, or something that just makes you think… okay, scrap that one… on to the next name.

3boyz&anotherontheway on October 7th, 2008

We choose not to tell people because people aren’t always thoughtful. They’ll say, “I knew a kid with that name and I hated him/her”, or “I don’t like that name”, or something that just makes you think… okay, scrap that one… on to the next name.

3boyz&anotherontheway on October 7th, 2008

We choose not to tell people because people aren’t always thoughtful. They’ll say, “I knew a kid with that name and I hated him/her”, or “I don’t like that name”, or something that just makes you think… okay, scrap that one… on to the next name.

3boyz&anotherontheway on October 7th, 2008

We choose not to tell people because people aren’t always thoughtful. They’ll say, “I knew a kid with that name and I hated him/her”, or “I don’t like that name”, or something that just makes you think… okay, scrap that one… on to the next name.

Shaunie on October 7th, 2008

@ Elizabeth’ comment…

When it comes to the whole waiting to choose your child name to find one they that fits them…you can only wait so long. Alot of a person’s personality traits don’t begin to come out until they’re a little older.

You can’t predict with 100% certainly the person your child will become when they are still a newborn. I kinda have to “go with your gut feeling” on that.

Your friend couldn’t have known her daughter was into sports, and tomboy-ish until she was school aged. That would be a REALLY long time to wait to name her.

MomtoB on October 7th, 2008

I think it is funny when people say “I’m going to wait until s/he is born to see what name fits…” Um, your child is going to look very different as the hours go by not to mention the years!

We knew our name throughout the whole pregnancy, shared it with everyone, and have no regrets.

It would bring tears to my eyes when people would ask, “How is B?”. I loved it.

aurora mia on October 7th, 2008

OH HECK!! I told every one. Liam took 40 years to get here! Once we decided that that would be his name, we told everyone. People had their opinions, but that’s ok. Of course, being a planner we had plans A, B and C, I wanted to spend time with him before it was official, but he was always a Liam. Dh’s mom doesnt love the name, but c’est la vie we do.

TracyG on October 7th, 2008

I think it’s RIDICULOUS to expect people not to use a name just because *YOU* like it or want to use. Okay, I can see family members being upset at that, but NEIGHBOURS? I think my neighbours would think I was crazy as a loon if I walked up and said “This is MY name for my baby and you can’t use it!” That makes me laugh just thinking about it. How ABSURD!!!

We didn’t share our son’s name with anyone because we weren’t sure what his name was going to be. We had two names we loved and one was a name we were going to use for our first baby that we lost. I didn’t want to hear “but that was your first baby’s name.” so we kept our choices to ourselves. Plus, we wanted to surprise my mom if it was a boy because his middle name was going to be after my dad who had passed on and we wanted her to be surprised when we told her at the hospital. She was SO surprised and VERY happy too so I am glad we didn’t spoil it for her!

*still laughing that someone had the gall to tell neighbours that they couldn’t use a name!” LMAO!

Antoinette on October 7th, 2008

i actually shared my sons name with family/friends. Everyone thought it was pretty neat how i came up with his name. i came up with my sons name by taking the first initial of each grandparent..my husbands parents names are Jimmy/Alice, and my parents names are Shawn/Eugene =JASE..so yes i shared Jases’ name and meaning with everyone.

Grandma2Three on October 7th, 2008

I can understand why people wouldn’t want to share the baby’s name before it’s born. My daughter got a lot of negative feedback on the name choice of her first son, Jude. She took it all in stride though. Most people had very negative opinions on her second son’s name, which is Ezra..I’ve gotten comments like “well, that’s DIFFERENT. I’ve even gotten “Ezra? why would they name him THAT?” It hurts my feelings a bit but my daughter doesn’t care. She says it’s her baby, she loves the name and that’s all that matters. She’s right but I still don’t know why people feel the need to be so rude and downright mean.

fay on October 7th, 2008

i have had my names picked out since i was 15 and a sophomore in high school.

when i was 16 i read the book Roots by Alex Haley, and there is a part in the book (and the movie) that says no one has a right to know your name before you do… and there are only a few ppl who know my baby’s name…

on top of that i am west african, and most of my friends at home wld understand the name i’ve chosen for my children… my friends here in mpls wldn’t as much though… and i’d be REALLY offended if anyone said anything abt my baby’s name… i’ve had these names longer than i’ve been pregnant… i’m VERY protective of them… lol

Aelys on October 7th, 2008

I don’t have children yet but when I do, I don’t think I’d hide the names to everyone. I think it’s up to anyone to share the name of their future child and name stealing is low and stupid.

@ Gigi: the “naming after grandparents” thing is not only in your friend’s family or “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” – I’m half Greek and, trust me, it’s the reality in Greece. Most people are named after their grandparents. I understand it but I don’t agree with it because, as a result, everyone’s named the same (Maria, Katerina, Eleni for girls, George, Yannis, Konstantinos, Nikos for boys) and you need to father’s name on official documents to differenciate people.

Lis on October 7th, 2008

Ha! This is so funny to me! One of this first things I want to know when I hear that someone is preggers is “what are your names?!” For some reason it’s just one of my favorite parts! I get so mad (to myself) when someone doesn’t share! Even though my husband and I don’t plan on starting a family for at least two years, we already have names picked out(Jack and Lilly), and I LIKE to tell people (if it comes up in conversation) so they DON’T steal them!

Aelys on October 7th, 2008

Oh, and I have nothing against people who do not wishing to share the name of their future child. When my former boss’s wife was pregnant, they did share they were having a girl but refused to reveal her name because they believed sharing the a child’s name before it’s born is bad luck.

JT on October 7th, 2008

I’m torn as to whether it’s better to share favourite names as soon as you get pregnant so you can “claim” them – albeit risking judgement and harsh comments. Or wait until after the birth and surprise everyone – if anyone steals the name before this then you can be guaranteed it wasn’t out of spite or just them liking it after hearing you say it.

It’s already happened that someone has “stolen” my name. It was a name that they had never heard before, they only heard it as my future baby name. I rememeber at the time him saying “oh that’s nice” and thinking “well it’s mine” lol. They got pregnant first and used the name. For me, it was heartbreaking. It was the name my husband and I used to talk about our future child.

We’ve only now (a few years later) come up with a suitable replacement. And we have decided not to tell anyone. If we had a baby and the baby looked like our old favourite name and the new name didn’t, we’d have no drama using it. At the time they told me the name they had picked was my name I stubbornly told them that we’d both have a child named this – of course they weren’t surprised and just said “yes, we will”
Of course this has got the better of me and my husband over the years and the name no longer feels like ours.

I know a lot of people think name “stealing” is hilarious and just not possible. But for us the name represented a future child, one we haven’t been able to conceive yet…

AllAngela on October 7th, 2008

We named our 14-month-old daughter Ava Kendall four months before she was born. My husband chose her first name and I wasn’t all that thrilled with it because it’s so common (and because I wanted to name her Kendall), but it turns out that she is appropriately named. Ava means “like a bird” and it describes her perfectly.

We are due with a delivery surprise in January and have been playing around with names, but we will decide on this child’s name after he or she has been born. There was a bit too much drama when we picked out our daughter’s name and everyone wanted to chime in on what they thought about it, so I want this decision to be ours alone and uninfluenced.

Sarah on October 7th, 2008

We had chosen to name our daughter Margaret (Maggie) after my grandmother however we held back telling our family in case it was a boy (ours was a delivery surprise) When our daughter was born, everyone was over the moon and loved that we had called her after Nanna. All except Nanna, who commented that we couldn’t call her Maggie as our new daughter was too beautiful to be called Maggie ! I went on, tactfully, to explain that we couldn’t use her shortened version of Margaret which is Peggy as everyone would be confused. She then relented once she realised how much we liked the name. But of all the people I thought would comment….

Parisina on October 7th, 2008

I’m so shocked about Southern Belle’s story, how on earth can be people that mean…! “Stealing” your SIL’s choice for a name is beyond mean.
I bet she did it on purpose for the solely pleasure of hurting you…!
These are the type of people that bring shame on us women, and perpetuate the myth that we are mean, jealous and backstabbers…

I don’t have kids yet (not even a boyfriend LoL) but I’ve always loved the names Alexia, Cristianna and Adriana for a girl(I don’t live in the States, so feel free to “steal” them if you like, LoL)

Abigail on October 7th, 2008

I’m a gigantic namenerd and, of course, I think i have the best names ever picked out for my future, non-existent children (ha ha ha), so I would never ever ever ever tell the name(s). I don’t want anyone to “steal” my names!

kaya on October 7th, 2008

@SouthernBelle, JT,…
I don’t think it’s silly to get upset over something like that. I mean, it’s a difference if I ‘steal’ a name from, say, a Celebrity or someone I simply don’t really know. (Like I steal it from you lol) but from a friend or even a family member? I don’t even understand how you could do that and I see how this could be a good reason to not tell anyone.

Sara Christine on October 7th, 2008

We of course shared our daughter’s name. That is actually how we announced it, we gave the ‘grandmas’ a little book with her first picture (the ultrasound) and her name. I couldn’t care less what people thought of our baby’s name. It is what the mama and daddy decides! However, we were lucky, when we told people her name people loved it…Makena.

And we loved calling her by her name while she was in my belly. Its a great way to start that bonding early.

Rose on October 7th, 2008

My SIL and I haven’t spoken for a year over this topic. DH and I have always talked about our future son’s name…it is a family name, I’ve even laughed with SIL about how we’ll need to use intials because there will be 3 generations of men in the family with that name. She got pregnant with #4, brings up the name topic herself and says they are thinking about a specific name….not the family name she and I had talked about that DH and I were looking forward to someday using. Then, she delivers and we get the call that #4 is here…and she named him the name DH and I picked out. I was floored and hurt, very hurt. I understand that we don’t own the name and I wouldn’t presume to tell someone what to name thier child but the fact was that we had talked names and she had been so willing to talk about it….then why not just say to me “hey, so you know, we are going to be using this family name that you and my brother picked out.” That way, there would be no shock at the birth. It is my issue but i really don’t think it would have been too much to give us a heads up esp. because she was so forthcoming in talking about it before. She had 2 children to use this name with and made the choices to not use it….why suddenly decide now to use it? We haven’t spoken since. Her response to my silence? That I am jealous that she has children and I do not.

EditorJax on October 7th, 2008

Oh yeah, name stealing is big. I had wanted to name my daughter Alexis for years, so even before we were married my husband and I decided to name our first daughter Alexis Justina, after his grandmother. Well, his younger brother’s skeezy (now) ex-girlfriend got pregnant, and at his grandmother’s funeral, my sister-in-law and I were talking to her about the baby and she mentioned it was a girl and that they had a name: Cecilia. I’m thinking blech, but hey, not my kid, and not my place to give an opinion. Anyway, both my SIL and I mentioned our choice girl names … and five months later, I got a call at work from my husband saying we have a niece, and I said, “Ah, we have a Cecilia?” and he paused, and goes, “Uh, no, actually, Alexis Tina.” I about hit the roof.

The thing is, Alexis is so common now that I don’t know if I would still use it, but she totally stole the name, and I just don’t think you do that. You can’t “own” a name, but if someone says they are thinking of said name, I would wait and see if they named their kid that or were totally hellbent on it.

That being said, we will tell some people what our names are. None of my friends are having kids right now, so I don’t have to worry about them being stolen.

Dounia on October 7th, 2008

What’s up with sisters in law? Is there that amount of jealousy between them?
I’ve witnessed bitter arguments in my family between sisters in law, not necessarily over baby’s names, but for instance my mom doesn’t talk anymore with one of my aunts…
I’m lucky I have a wonderful SIL who’s pregnant and who’s finally decided to name her son following my suggestion: Marc Sebastien.

Elizabeth on October 7th, 2008

My husband and I told the name and sex because all our friends were wanting to know.

Mia on October 7th, 2008

I’m not closer to having kids, nor am I even in a serious relationship/any relationship to be contemplating marriage haha

but I’ve always just loved babies/baby names, and I have my little list of what boys names I love and girls names.

My brother recently got married, and when my brother/I were little we both loved the name “Rachel”. Now neither one of us is crazy about the name, and luckly he plans to name his first child with an “M” name anyway, so that doesn’t take from my current list.

Lauren on October 7th, 2008

We sure did! My husband and I picked out most of the names we hope to use before we were even married, and made sure to let everyone know once we found out the genders of our pregnancies. It makes bonding a lot easier for extended family when they can refer to the baby by the name they will be given.

Ratty on October 7th, 2008

Of the two friends I have who’ve had kids, both announced genders and names as soon as they could. I don’t know if either got any negative comments, I personally think it would be pretty rude to say to someone’s face that you hated the name they were going to call their child, even if you did. Though I wasn’t a big fan of my friends’ choices, I respected that that was what they wanted to call them. So far, neither have decided that the name didn’t suit. I couldn’t imagination Briana or Stella, my friends’ kids being anything but Briana and Stella. As for their other children, I will find out soon when they make their grand entrance.

As for myself personally, I have already picked out names I like (need the husband first!) and I have told a few people and unfortunately had disappointing reactions (I expected this though; they’re not exactly ordinary names!). But by the same token, I don’t think you can definitively say what you’re going to call your child till its born and you can get a good look at it. So we’ll see what happens!

Ratty on October 7th, 2008

Of the two friends I have who’ve had kids, both announced genders and names as soon as they could. I don’t know if either got any negative comments, I personally think it would be pretty rude to say to someone’s face that you hated the name they were going to call their child, even if you did. Though I wasn’t a big fan of my friends’ choices, I respected that that was what they wanted to call them. So far, neither have decided that the name didn’t suit. I couldn’t imagination Briana or Stella, my friends’ kids being anything but Briana and Stella. As for their other children, I will find out soon when they make their grand entrance.

As for myself personally, I have already picked out names I like (need the husband first!) and I have told a few people and unfortunately had disappointing reactions (I expected this though; they’re not exactly ordinary names!). But by the same token, I don’t think you can definitively say what you’re going to call your child till its born and you can get a good look at it. So we’ll see what happens!

dickie on October 7th, 2008

The lesson I have learned from reading these comments: dont share the name with anyone, unless you are using a family name, and then you should forewarn the family. This sounds very reasonable to me.

By the way, does anyone know of any good “C” names for boys?

coco on October 7th, 2008

no i didnt because i had chose my daughter’s name yet. i wasnt sure if i was having a boy or a girl but i did have a pool of names i chose from,boy names,girl names, and unisex names. but shortly after i had her, a friend of mine who shares the same first name as me had a son and named her son the same name i chose for my daughter. i was like “OMG!” i couldnt believe her. ive decided to never share name secrets with people if i ever decide to have another baby.

Shanique on October 7th, 2008

I am 8 months pregnant with boy/girl twins. We have decided not share the babies names because we don’t want any unsolicited opinions. So, we will revealed the babies names on the day of their birth.

Mrs. R. on October 7th, 2008

We told people we were having a girl, but not the name. We had 3, and then picked the name that fit our daughter when she arrived.
I have a firm belief from a second-hand experience that one should not share names ahead of time. It’s basically what happened to a lot of people, with the ‘no don’t name her that’ business, but the added horror is the baby died after she was born, and the mom and dad had to deal with a TON of monogrammed baby items that were completely useless and EXTREMELY difficult to deal with afterward. The mom declared to me at the time that it was WAY harder to throw away all the monogrammed things than it was to pack up all the other baby stuff because at least she could focus on the hope of someday being a mother to another child with the baby stuff. The monogrammed stuff just would remind her she would never get to mother the baby that died. It was so awful and sad that it was then I decided never to share a name before a birth.

AVM on October 7th, 2008

I did with my first and second sons, with my second my sister in law told us how much she disliked the name (Mason James)and that I should name the baby after my husband David, which neither of us wanted to do. I was so mad at her for being so rude and classless, then when we found out we were pregnant with boy #3 not only did we keep the gender a secret we kept the name a secret also, best decision we ever made!

Teddy on October 7th, 2008

I am certainly nowhere near ready to have kids, but my best friend and I have had our children named since we were about 8. The girls anyway. FOr me, boys names are so hard to think of. I decided a long time ago that I dont’ want to know the sex of my baby before its born, so I’ll tell people if it’s a boy it’ll be (somethign I hoe my future husband can help me with because I’m terrible at thiking up boys names), and if its a girl it’ll be (whatever off my list my husband and I can agree on… ) As far as having someone “steal” my child’s name, I don’t really care. All of my friends could name their daughter Olivia and that wouldnt’ stop me from using the name, which I’ve loved for years. And if I change my mind after seeing the baby, so be it. People can get used to it. I’m sure they’ll love it just the same. And the comment someone made about “I dont’ want peopel going around telling her, “you were going to be named X instead of Y.” I found that really interesting, because I LOVE the story about how my middle name got changed, and how parents called my aunt and uncle to tell them they had a new neice, and then my parents ended up changing my middle name entirely. I looked at some old cards my parents got from when I was born, and there are even a couple that have my original middle name on them. I think its really cute and fun. I was also disappointed when I was little that my mom was so sure I was a girl (even though she didn’t actually KNOW), that she didnt’ pick out any boy’s names. I’ve always wondered what I would have been named had I been a boy.

Incidently, though, my mom changed my middle name at the last minute because my granparents hated it and she got so many negative commetns about it. She wanted it to be “Althea” so that calling me “Teddy” woudl make more sense since that isn’t actually my name. But she went with a different family name instead. BOth are pretty, and she’s fine with the name I do have. She, however, despite her own experience, doens’t hesitate to express her dislike for the names I’ve chosen for my future (and as yet non-existent) children. I told her, my kid, I choose. Her kid, she chose.

karen on October 7th, 2008

I have a friend at work who is from Columbia..she’s planning on having a baby within the next year or two….she wants to name him Jeronimo (Her on E mo)

We’ve been trying to nicely tell her that in this country nobody uses that name…we told her you say that when you jump off a cliff or that it’s a famous american indians name…we honestly told her the kid will be made fun of forever.

She wasn’t offended but really didn’t know all that background about the name…she has other choices that are more normal hopefully she’ll take our advice.

Kat on October 7th, 2008

with all our kids, we were very vocal about it.

We wanted input and then, once we had decided, we wanted any initial reactions to have faded so that everyone could embrace the name and the baby when he/she was born and realize why we chose it.

Cace on October 7th, 2008

We told the world of the names we liked when expecting the first time, we were having twins and everyone wanted to make sure we weren’t doing the matchy match names. we kept the delivers a surprise but the names public… our girls Thea Elise, and Georgia Kay… had they of been boys we would of had Hugh Robert and Thomas Sean…

second time around we chose not to share the name… when we were blessed with a third little girl it made it more fun having her come into the world as just hi sweetheart…. When we finally told them her name Nora Belle they all loved it

Nelle on October 7th, 2008

I picked my future (i’m 22 now and thinking kids 25-30)children’s names a couple of years ago. i’ve told a few friends (if it comes up in conversation) that i don’t want anyone stealing them! LOL
I have one friend who is battling for Phoenix as a middle name for her son
.
I don’t particularly mind if they name their baby the same first name as mine AFTER mine are born, I just don’t want them taking the name 1st then saying i can’t have it.

BOYS
Archer Orion Phoenix
Daemon Xander Blaze
GIRLS
Luciya Milicent Grace
Ayva Eila Jesselle

All the names have special meaning to me.

I haven’t told my boyfriend that i have planned names, so hope he agrees w them

Margot on October 8th, 2008

I’m in two minds. I know that if we reveal our chosen names, certain people (my mother in particular) will have a fair bit to say, nothing positive. We just have different taste in names. On the other hand, I live in fear of someone using one of the names that my fiance and I have chosen by accident. We’ve named our children already. They’re real to us. I would cry a river if I had to rename them.

Anna on October 8th, 2008

I have names for my future children already chosen but Im not going to reveal them!
Dickie – what about: Caleb, Cillian, Carter, Callum, Collin, Cullen, Cai, Cavan, Cameron, Corbin, Calvin…

phoebe on October 8th, 2008

I accidentally found out my daughter was a girl and so had her name picked out pretty early on. I didn’t tell a sole other than my mum (and my partner obviously!) what the sex of the baby was, and they didn’t tell anyone else. Therefore, we didn’t tell her name either. Though her name (Ava) is one I had said previously I liked (going back to before I got pregnant) so I don’t think it was a huge shock to anyone.

We kept it quiet because so many people get involved in one pregnancy these days that it’s nice for mum and dad to have that one thing for themselves.

But I do think that it’s totally personal choice, and I don’t take offence to people saying they don’t want to reveal their baby names. Parents can easily change their minds when their angel is born anyway, so I don’t think revealing the name is a massive deal anyway. Now, revealing the sex is another thing entirely….!

Lisa on October 8th, 2008

My Husband & I have been trying for 4 yrs to get pregnant. With him in the military & with our 3rd D coming up, it’s not easy getting preg. Anyways! We have our first son’s & first daughter’s names picked out & I’ve been open with people about what we plan to name our first’s. First & Middle Names even. Both children’s names have special meanings to us. I realize that the names can change during preg or after we see our child for the first time but I also know we’re not finding out the sex until he/she comes into this world. If the name changes when we see him/her, then it changes. I’m not going to worry about it.

Jessica on October 8th, 2008

You dont get many suprises when someone has a baby..
and i am always so excited to hear the name.

Everyone judges the names and i think that it is up to the mother and father to choose names and that they should avoid people putting too many of their negative opinions in.

I also firmly believe you need to see the baby first, obviously you wont understand their full personality as a newborn but you can tell. E.G. my brother was born when i was 15 and my parents were torn between all sorts of names, he came out with a massive mohawk and just looked like a baby needing a unique and cool name.. he ended up being called Phoenix and fits it 100%.

It’s all up to the parents i think and theres no wrong and right but i dont like friends telling me what the babys being called because theres not as much anticipation.

Lindsay on October 8th, 2008

We did, and then regretted that decision later. Once it was told, I didn’t feel we had the option to change our minds. My mother in law even had a blanket made with the babies name months before she was born. I actually wanted to change the name, but felt obligated to keep it. Next time, we won’t “settle” on a name until the baby is born.

Shannon on October 8th, 2008

I have always shared my children’s names before the birth. I loved being able to talk to my baby using their own name, and felt like I had known the baby for ages by the time they were born. Not to say other people didn’t want to give their opinion. With all 3 kids, I had a name chosen for a boy or a girl before I found out the sex. With all 3 kids everyone has loved the girl names(Abigail Celeste, Maggie Lynne, and Kathryn Lorelei) I chose, but had issues with the boy names. The first one I chose was Emrys, which was apparently too unusual for everyone, but my husband and I loved it for what it meant (“immortal” in Gaelic), but that one wound up being a girl anyway. My second we chose Terry Winstanley, which no one liked because there were already several Terrys in the family and, again, the middle name was just too weird. But now, everyone who sees my son agrees it is the perfect name for him! And with my 3rd I chose Joseph for a boy, and my mother about had a heart attack b/c it was one of my dad’s middle names, who she does not get along with. Again this one was a girl too so it didn’t really matter. I just learned to tell people if they didn’t like the name, just say okay and move on, because it’s not up to you to name my kids, and if you don’t like it I don’t really care!! : )

Nicole on October 8th, 2008

Ratty how are these names for a boy that start with a C. Carter, Calab, Collin, Cameron, Calvin, Corbin, Corey, Connor, Conan, Cai, Callum, Carl, Christopher and Criss. I always had the names of my children picked out and I’m not pregnant yet. The names are Angelita Elizabeth, Summer Rain.

SoSo on October 8th, 2008

I find it bizarre when people get uppity about someone ‘stealing’ a name as common as Isabella.
When you add up all the Isabel/Isabella spellings it makes it one of the most popular names in America.
I understand if you have ‘The Name’ and it’s wellknown you plan on using this obscure name you have coveted since childhood, but claiming a popular name and those that sound similar (Isabella and Anabella are not close enough to warrant a dispute in my opinion) is ridiculous.

We had a couple of names to choose from before my daughter was born, but hadn’t told anyone because we weren’t sure.

I went into labor convinced we were having a Juliet Sophia Carys. Instead we had a Viola Sophie Carys.
Within the first hour my husband was referring to her as Julie rather than Juliet, which seemed really dated to me so we had to come up with something else- and it wasn’t even one that was on our shortlist.

SHARiE on October 8th, 2008

WHEN i HAD MY FiRST DAUGHTER [ SAVANA MiCHELLE ] MY MiL TH0UGHT THE NAME WAS AWES0ME — N0W, THREE GiRLS LATER..
SHE HATES THE NAMES!! i D0NT LiKE BEiNG RUDE.. BUT THEY ARE MY KiDS — N0T HERS!!
THEY ALL HAVE S NAMES [ AS D0 THE HUBBY & i ]
SYDALEE JADE
SiENNA RUBY
SHAELYN R0SE

jess on October 8th, 2008

Since my daughter was named after my late grandmother, I had the name picked out for years. When I knew she was a she (officially; I ‘knew’ she was a girl long before that), i started sharing the name.
And, yes, there are a lot of “emma”s out there, but not a lot of Emma Collette.

Keyshla on October 8th, 2008

I guess it doesn’t really matter whether you tell the name before or after the birth because a couple of months AFTER I was born, a distant cousin was born and her parents didn’t know what to name her. They asked my aunt what I had been named (Keyshla Marie) and decided to name her the same thing except they didn’t know how to spell it and ended up going with Keysla Marie. I’m a little over a month pregnant and when I find out, I think I’ll let everyone know what the names are just b/c it’ll feel a bit more special and I’m not really into caring what people think of a name…it’s just a name. Afterall, my name is pretty unique here in the states (i was born in Puerto Rico). For a boy I’m thinking Nikolai Alexander and for a girl I’m thinking about Katiria Noelle.

Emely on October 8th, 2008

My SIL told her friend she wanted the name Julia if they had a girl. This friend, who was pregnant at the time and my SIL was not, later on had a girl and named her Julia. My SIL now has two children, Jonathan and Emilia, and I like Emilia much better than Julia and so does my SIL.

I decided early in my pregnancy the name Max for a boy, and I was 90% sure it was going to be a boy. We did not find out though…
Of course it was a girl. She was nameless for a couple of days until we agreed on a name, Alba, and not everyone liked our name choice, but we didn’t care… We love that name and it fits our daughter perfectly! We kind of ‘stole’ our second daughter’s name though, from Joely Fisher; her name is Joely!

About the name Max, which is very popular today and I really dont like it that much now, my cousin had a son and they named him Max after my suggestions…

Holly on October 9th, 2008

for the longest time Ive have been madly in love with the name ‘GraceLynn Marie’…since Im a major elvis fan..its closets to Graceland as I can get,

I told my sister my name choice if my bf and I ever had a child she always told me that it was extreamly hill-billy or redneck…and wouldnt you know when I went to the hospital and my new neice’s name was ‘Grace Lynn K.’

I have never so mad at someone in my entire life (I know its only a name but my goah! lol)

my bf and I have picked new names based our fave movie (NBC) and our fave music for our possible future children and the only person that knows them is my mum

Yori on October 10th, 2008

I’m Dutch and is not common to share the name of your unborn baby. A lot of mums share the sex though.
Me and my boyfriend, who is British, decited to keep our son’s name (James Alan George) a secret.
Most of my friends and family supected that the baby was going to be named James, since I made it no secret that I liked it. But that was before I got pregnant.

Christina on October 11th, 2008

We’re keeping quiet on the baby’s name and gender — we originally didn’t want to even find out the gender, but at the ultrasound, I peeked. However, with the names, we want to keep quiet out of superstition; a former professor of mine told me years ago that in her country, you never tell the baby’s name before birth because then if the baby is named, the devil will be able to steal its soul. Creepy & morbid, I know, but explaining that certainly keeps people from asking me! Besides, we like the element of “surprise!” (in spite of my peeking!) so we look forward to the birth & being able to tell everyone.

Corinne on October 11th, 2008

We were sneaky about naming our girls, two sets of identical twins, and both times we tricked everyone! Our first girls are Geneva Lorelai and Adelaide Vivienne, age 5, and our second girls are Madeleine Rhiannon and Allegra Josephine, age 3.

We told people that our first girls were going to be Gianna and Amelia and our second girls were Meredith and Angelina, then told people that we weren’t sure of what spellings we were going to use, so if they wanted to get us any gifts for our girls, they had to be initial-only gifts. Our girls had Gs and As and then Ms and As, then we used Geneva, Adelaide, Madeleine, and Allegra, respectively.

This was a great idea for us, because we never wanted to give our actual names away, and my neighbor eventually used Giana for her first daughter, spelled that way, and Merideth, for her second. It was a horrifying experience to see her have her daughters around the same time as us and then STEAL our names rightout. I talked to her husband a couple of years later, as we’d moved right after our second twins were born, and he admitted that she changed her mind at the last second from Lucie and Jayne to Giana and Merideth. He wanted Navaya and Ela, so their poor kids were doomed either way.

Our Gen, Vivi, Rhea, and Allie are quite fond of their names. Geneva isn’t actually the only Gen- in her grade, there’s a Genevieve and a Jennifer; Adelaide doesn’t even go by her first name or any diminutive; Madeleine was once Maddie, but she’s Rhea to us now; Allegra was once my favorite name of all, and Allie was never my favorite nickname, but they work for us anyway.

Funnily enough, Allegra is the middle name of my goddaughter, Freya Allegra, who was born on the same day as my younger twinsies, and my sister-in-law and I didn’t actually know that we were each using Allegra. It isn’t a family name or anything! So funny
–See, there’s a case in which a SIL isn’t the devil herself , mine’s the best!!

Chyna doll on October 11th, 2008

umm since i was a young age i have told all my friends the names that i am going to name my kids lucky for me i had quads so i could use them all their names are Jayln Nicole, Riley Elizabeth,Kali Michelle and Landon James. Kali is pronounced (kaylee)

phoebe on October 12th, 2008

My mum told people mine and my sisters names before we were born and low and behold, just two years later, there were a set of kids in our town called exactly the same. And not just first names, the whole entire name! The mother, who knew my mum a little, didn’t even have the courtesy to mention it to my family! Now people that know both families always say to me ‘Oh you have Phoebe and Lola’s names!’ and I have to say ‘Actually, no, their mum stole our names!’. For some reason, I feel the need to defend us! I think the other Phoebe and Lola’s mum did them an injustice by name-stealing lol.

Btw, my mum learned her lesson with my brother and didn’t tell anyone his name until he was registered!

Mairead on October 12th, 2008

My parents decided we should be the first ones to know our names. I really like that idea, it’s my name so I like that I knew it first.

Also people who choose nice names and an unusual spelling- I consider that cruel! I love my name because it’s Irish and so is the majority of my family but new people pronounce it wrong all the time and I’d say please think twice before changing the spelling of your child’s name!

Sheila on October 12th, 2008

I told everyone what I planned on naming both of my girls. I don’t see why its such a big deal. I don’t care if you don’t like it, this is my child I’ll name her what I want. Ya know??

Teresa Peschke on October 12th, 2008

My Husband an I have had a girl and a boy name picked out for years. We’ve been trying for 4 years and are finally pg. We told everyone both names as soon as we found out, partly because ther girls middle name is my grandmothers and she has cancer and most likely won’t make it to see the baby so we wanted her to know the name. and the boy will be named after my husband. One of my sisters of course had make the rude comment that the boy name sounds like a law firm or an accountant. To which my husband and i said that our kids can grow up to be whatever they want to be, and its not any of her concern. We weren’t trying to be rude but with that particular sister you have to lay it out like that or she’ll never lay off, she hasn’t said a thing since.

ore on October 13th, 2008

My husband n I juz want 2 give my babies name is Madeo Benjamien, Raoul Maximilian for the boys And Charlotte Rosemarie, Sarah Eustacia ..
That’s all

kari on October 30th, 2008

We found out the sex of both of our kids before they were born. Our oldest was originally going to be named Courtney Shea, but after a couple of months of that we started second guessing ourselves. We finally looked at a baby name book and picked out about 8-10 names we liked. We listed them into 2 columns and tried to various combinations to see what they would sound like w/our last name. We couldn’t agree on any of them for the first name. The one thing we liked was using a “family” name for the middle name. So…on to how we got her first name. Well, we were watching the movie “Aliens” (honest truth) and I blurted out, hey, how about Ripley? My hubby looked at me like I was crazy. Okay, I said, Ripley, Ripley,Ripley, um how about Riley? My oldest is named Riley Elizabeth. The 2nd daughters name came from having relatives in Australia. Our second daughter is Sydney Eleanor. Both middle names are family names. They fit each of them perfectly!

ms. jaQ on October 30th, 2008

i’m with mairead… my mother broke a huge english-language rule, and decided to NOT put the “u” after my “Q”. never in my life has anyone spelled my name right, without me straight telling them how it’s spelled (usually having to repeat myself, and/or say, “no, NO ‘u’.”). then some people get this look like, “what the heck, don’t you know there’s supposed to be a ‘u’?” and most people continue to spell my name wrong anyway. i don’t know if they do it by mistake (most likely, it’s like a reflex) or if they think their way is better.
i can understand online, people will think it’s a typo, but i wrote to pen pals for yeeeears, and got a dozen different spellings, though i always signed my name the same. :/

i hope i haven’t come off sounding snotty, but i sooo wish my mom had just chose jacquie, jackie, or even jacqui. it would be too weird to change it now, though, as i’m well into my 20s…

Samantha on October 31st, 2008

We told our family and friends the names before each child was born.~ Only once did we change the name and that was with my second. He was originally going to be named Crayton, a name I love and also my husbands cousins name. A couple weeks before my son was born I decided I wanted him to have his “own” name, not once shared with a family member, also I didn’t want confusion whenever we were with my husbands cousin, so we named him Joshua Crayton~
I did have a bad experience with my last child’s name.~ I asked for opinions, as I wasn’t sure what name I wanted and unfortunately (lol) I got opinions~ I got so very nasty comments on his name, and almost didn’t name him the name I loved because of it.~And being pregnant and more emotional then usual, I was very upset, cried for days, till my husband said “we love this name and how really cares what others think.~ We know this baby will be loved whatever his name is, so don’t stress about opinions.”~ I learned not to ask opinions unless I was prepared for all opinions~ And his name is Jude~ he’s now 7 weeks old and my husband was right~ who wouldn’t love this little guy whatever his name is?~

chowchowpug on December 25th, 2008

We knew that we were having a daughter, so we shared that we were going to name her Cameron Danielle. We got ingraved gifts that said Cameron Danielle and Cameron, but when she came out, she looked nothing like a Cameron so we named her Alexia Mae. People were mad because we changed the name and we already had some engraved stuff, but oh well.