naming regrets?

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-22-2006
naming regrets?
22
Mon, 06-25-2007 - 2:29pm

Hi all,

Just wondering if there's anyone out there who went through a period where they found themselves not entirely thrilled with the name they gave their baby? When DH and I originally chose our son's name I liked it, but several months later I found I'm going through all sorts of naming regret and agonizing over names we didnt pick (I know ridiculous, right?)

Anyone with similar stories?

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Avatar for midwestmom2000
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
In reply to: wbe418
Mon, 06-25-2007 - 2:53pm

It's not ridiculous. I think a lot of people feel that way. With my 2nd son, we named him Sean. I liked the name a lot. But once he was born, I began to feel that the name was too short when compared to my first son, Alexander. At about 2 months old, I nearly changed his name to Jonathan.

But now he's 13 and I'm so glad we stuck with Sean. It suits him well and is not too common.

Good luck deciding what to do. You won't be the first person who ever changed a name, if you decide to do that. Or maybe you'll grow to love it again.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-22-2006
In reply to: wbe418
Mon, 06-25-2007 - 3:07pm

Thanks for sharing your story with me. I think back to the timeline of how we came up with our son's name and as DH and I combed through potential baby names we hit an impasse over the names he and I liked. There was one name he really liked, and that name just kinda stuck with me even though it was one of those names that had never been on my radar. I basically liked the potential the name lived up to and how it sounded with our last name.

So here we give our son this name we agreed to and then one day several months later, the name just doesn't gell with me. I've kept this feeling to myself hoping I one day just embrace my son's name and not get wrapped up in this weird regret thing.

I do find other people's stories encouraging of how they just came around and ended up loving their kid's name.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-01-2006
In reply to: wbe418
Mon, 06-25-2007 - 3:19pm

My DH picked out D's name (Darius). It was his favorite name since he was a kid. I liked it so we went with it. When he was born though he didn't "look" like a Darius. We kept it though and it has been really hard for me to get used to calling him that. Just recently I have started using his name more and I think it totally fits him. There was a time when I wanted to change his name but I'm glad we didn't. I really couldn't imagine him anything but Darius now.

KT

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-22-2006
In reply to: wbe418
Mon, 06-25-2007 - 3:54pm

There's so much pressure/opinion/connotation with every name that's out there. Its so hard not to get caught up scrunitizing a name too much.

I think as time passes and as my son's personality comes through, I'll start to chill out over his name and appreciate the reasons why we went with that name to begin with.

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-27-2006
In reply to: wbe418
Mon, 06-25-2007 - 4:51pm
I have regrets with 3 out of my 4 kids.With Alexa I was 16 so...my naming style has changed a little.With Isaiha I spelled his name wrong.With Ty we picked the name after he was born(we fought until the end). Erin
Avatar for dr_kae
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
In reply to: wbe418
Mon, 06-25-2007 - 5:13pm
I don't regret our son's FIRST name at all (though it gets occasionally mistaken for Ben and I know he's going to be spelling "pen" with two ns for ages and I'll have to explain to him the difference between his name and what he writes with a lot,) but it struck me when he was two weeks old that we'd given him an E first middle initial, thereby setting him up to be Penn E. for the remainder of his days. I actually stood in my kitchen and went "crap, one more way I've ruined his life." (Isn't postpartum a wonderful thing?) I couldn't tell you what I would've put in there other than Ezra, though, so I guess we'll just have to let him work his way through it, whether it's to use his second middle initial on things or to compel people to use the full name when they announce him or to use both middle initials or none at all...it's not like he doesn't have alternatives, but it really did strike me badly that day.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 06-08-2000
In reply to: wbe418
Mon, 06-25-2007 - 8:20pm
My only regret is that with my second son I let dh convince me to go with a more popular spelling. I wanted Rhys, but because I was getting 'my' name, I went with dh's spelling choice. Overall though, I love all three of my kids' names.
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Avatar for shelly888
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-10-2003
In reply to: wbe418
Mon, 06-25-2007 - 9:35pm
My son's name is Benjamin Nathaniel. His mn is after my great uncle Nathan, and my husbands friend Nathaniel. Now I wish I had saved that for a future boy, and used my dad's first name which is Allen and names him Benjamin Allen. While I like his name, it is a mouth full and it's quite a big name for a little guy. I guess I could have done worse.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-02-2005
In reply to: wbe418
Mon, 06-25-2007 - 9:51pm
I wouldn't worry about it too much. How often will he need to actually say his first name and middle initial? Probably never. It might be slightly more problematic if E were his last initial, but I know you wouldn't be cruel enough to make his initials P.E.E. LOL.
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-04-2005
In reply to: wbe418
Tue, 06-26-2007 - 9:17am
I was saved from a naming regret - with my 1st, we had decided on Riley for a boy - by the time DD was born, I was getting tired of the name. Thankfully, SHE was a SHE - because a month later, my older stepson became friends with a Riley that drove me bonkers!! I would have lost my mind! Whew!!
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