What's in a Name?
RachelSince I've been pregnant, the number one question I've gotten is "Do you have a name picked out?"
Admittedly I've always thought about names for my future children, even since I was a kid. I always thought it was fun to imagine my kids and their names and even to live a little vicariously through this by imagining alternate names for myself.
As a side note, think Rachel is an ok name, but wouldn't be my first choice...sorry Mom ;)
So to answer the question...
yes!
We do have a first and middle name picked out.
And we actually arrived at the name with little disagreement.
But like many others before us, Shaun and I have decided to keep her name as a surprise for when she is born. We actually have a list of three names that we love, but with one as the clear front runner. We are fairly certain that this will be her name, barring anything changing once she enters the world (like if she really, really doesn't look like the name we picked!)
When I was first pregnant, I casually discussed some names that we liked with some friends and family members.
We soon made the decision to keep our picks a secret for a number of reasons.
First, we got some typical strange looks and clear dislike for the names we chose. Not that it would change my mind, but i don't want our thoughts tainted by anyone else's reaction or commentary. Secondly, believe it or not, we actually had people saying they would take some of the names we picked after hearing them, should we have the opposite gender (though hello! Those are still the names we plan to use down the line should we be lucky enough to have more kiddos). And lastly, we are hesitant to officially announce her name prior to her birth since we don't want anyone (including us) referring to her by name until she is born. That's just a personal preference thing.
So for now, she'll continue to be Baby H. Or Baby TAA.
And so the decision was an easy one to keep our narrowed down name choices to ourselves and announce it once she arrives. I'm super excited to let the cat out of the bag in a few short weeks! I already have little nicknames for her (of course I only call her these names in my head!). And though we are 90% sure on her name, Shaun and I don't refer to her by name, even in private. Instead, we have other little nicknames for her that have evolved over the last 9 months.
So what do you think?
Have you or would you announce your child's name prior to birth?
Any funny name-sharing stories to share?
Have you ever fought with your significant other over a name?
Reader Comments (6)
It's ok, rachel. I know I'm your favorite cousin. You can tell everyone it's Alyson. Everybody knows it's an easy name.
We too kept the names of our two kids to ourselves until after they were born. The one thing we didn't think of was my parent's accent. It took them a while to pronounce my daughters name right, but they got it eventually.
I definitely want to keep my future baby name a secret (although as a Jennifer, I too have wished for something a little more exotic...ha ha!). Since I work with kids, picking a name is really hard. I will love a name and then have a naughty kid with that name or somethng and it changes. It's like being a teacher. You definitely have ideas that won't work. Looking forward to hearing your baby's name!
Good idea keeping the names hush hush. I hated the comments we got about ours. It made me feel bad. We didn't want to know the sex of the baby so choosing names was a big task. We had a list of both girl and boy names and the girl list was a lot longer. We had a boy and were able to agree on one name. My mom hated it but grew to love it.
It is such a tough decision! You only hope the child will like it! We announced ours, I don't really know why..?? We agree on a boy's name, but it was tough when we found out we were having a girl! Her middle name was actually my first choice, but so many little one's were given that name, we decided to use it for a middle name! I can't wait to hear what you two chose! You'll probably use her nicknames more than anything!
I like this decision. I think it's interesting that you don't even say her name out-loud in private, but I totally get why. I don't really like my name either. People are always asking me how to spell it, and I've seriously only met like ONE other person with my name, ever. I just wish that I had a name that was a little bit more popular, I guess.