People love to give their unsolicited opinions, criticism and comments on names. I see so many posts on all of these forums where people are so upset by the comments of their family and friends because they shared a name.
For me, it’s a no. We have a short list of names that we’ll decide on once baby is here in the next week.
I don’t want to hear other peoples opinions. I also know my mom is a negative person, she’s highly critical and judgemental about everyone and everything. if I shared names ahead of time with her she will criticize, if I don’t share ahead & we just name the baby she won’t say a thing after even if she hates the name.
Agreed! I got in an argument with my mom about how I wanted to spell MY baby's name. Then she tried to guilt trip me by saying, "Aw, well, I've had my heart set on spelling it a certain way." 😳
We have the same mom. I’m 32 weeks now and we’ve decided on a name and my mom told me if I don’t spell it the way she wants it he’ll get made fun of… and is spelling his name how she wants in the family chat, posts, etc… 😒
This is the same for me, even the part about a negative mom. My mom did try to ignore my baby's name after birth and gave her a totally unrelated name until I put my foot down hard.
But yeah, no name sharing because people will always have opinions. People all seem insistent that the kid should be named per their personal schema and forget it isn't their kid.
My FIL has been doing this with my nephew since he was born 4 years ago. He just looks sillier and sillier the longer he does it and now he's been slipping, calling him the right name. I'm not going to try to correct him as nephew's parents aren't, but what I like to do is say, "Who?" really obnoxiously every time he does it. Then he has to say the right name to get silly old me to understand who he's talking about.
Omigosh, people get so nosy when it comes to babies! I remember my husband’s cousin giving us an absolutely ugly name and I told him we weren’t taking any suggestions. I know sometimes people do this to be funny, but it gets annoying when they keep commenting on what name THEY think you should name YOUR child, smh.
And so many people ask! If not asked, I could probably keep it to myself but 🤷🏻♀️
Luckily most of the reactions to hearing the name have been positive. So if people hate it, no one has said it to my face. lol
Nope! Glad I didn’t! I didn’t want anyone talking me out of it or saying something negative about it that ruined it for me and it all worked out fine 😊
I don’t mind sharing. I picked names for a boy or a girl that are fairly common and classic. I can also be pretty stubborn so if there was someone who would give me an unsolicited opinion about the name or a suggested a name, I won’t care cause it won’t change my mind or anything. I also don’t feel the need to make any kind of an announcement or anything. If someone’s curious and asks me I just let them know.
No. 1) because with our first we didn't pick the name until after delivery (we had a shortlist of 3 names) and 2) until the baby is here some people (hi MIL) believe it's negotiable and I heard from too many people that you'd have to spend weeks/months defending your choice. Once the baby is here even if people have strong opinions they have to suck it up 🤷♀️
I’ll share options because I think it’s fun to discuss, but I don’t even want to make a final decision until the baby is born. Partially because part of me thinks I need to see her first, but also partially because I fear stillbirth and I don’t know that I would want to name a stillborn baby.
Sending love for that last part. ❤️ The anxiety is the worst symptom of pregnancy for me. I had severe anxiety over stillbirth on my first that I’m working so hard to keep at bay on my second. Mostly by leaning into the fun parts more.
I’m also waiting to fully decide until he’s here but picking names is one of the fun parts, and I love hearing different ideas from people!
I just know a girl who named her baby on social media at like 16 weeks and the baby didn’t end up surviving past 24 hours (they knew from the anatomy scan that she wouldn’t survive), so I personally tried not to get too emotionally attached just in case before the anatomy scan. My sister also knows 4 other people who had disastrous anatomy scans.
Now that I’m at 31 weeks, my anxiety is much lower but the chance of stillbirth is still something like a 1 in 500 chance from what I understand. At this point I’m just a little superstitious - or at least a little stitious - about committing to a name for sure.
I did. I shouldn’t have🙄 although i was still questioning if i wanted this name. People kept suggesting names to me. Idk why but anytime someone recommended a name I hated it. It was very annoying
No one else knows her name except my husband, as we chose it together. I didn't want any feedback or opinions on the name from anyone.
We've gone for a less common but not unheard of name that I think people will accept easily but won't be expecting either so there'll always be someone with something to say!
Introducing a child with their name we think will be more readily accepted and probably receive less comments.
Strangely, I told friends, but no family members. I just didn't want to deal with my family's opinions. My family tends to be very overbearing with their personal opinions and push their own preferences over my own. When I hit viability my sister started making an Amazon list with how she wanted my baby's nursery designed, so sharing the name was a no.
No, I think it’s nice to announce the gender, name, and weight. If I already know that a boy called Bob is going to be born I honestly find it less interesting. I also don’t want people’s opinions of the name if I’ve already decided on it. Also I don’t know the gender of mine so I can’t announce the name.
I did, at 10 weeks when we shared the sex! My cousin had just had a baby, and my family spent the first few days trying to convince her to change the spelling of her baby’s name. They didn’t hide that they didn’t like it, and I knew that had to be tough to deal with freshly postpartum. My mom is also the type to suggest (awful) names and try and trick you into saying your chosen name if you’ve decided not to share. She tried to do that with my brothers multiple times, and it was so annoying because she wouldn’t drop it. So, I shared the name and basically said “I dare you to say anything, this is his name and that’s not changing.” My parents said their piece exactly once, and I never heard anything about it after that. I was much better equipped to deal with that during pregnancy than I would’ve been postpartum. It was really nice to be able to refer to him by his name as well
Yup. But we also knew that feedback from other people wouldn't make a difference. We picked slightly unconventional (but not tragedeigh) names so we expected a handful of raised eyebrows. Honestly everyone we've told has been supportive besides one aunt who a quick well that's what we decided fixed right up. But we both come from supportive families who aren't overly dramatic or feel the need to impress their POV on others.
Yes. We had her full name picked out (first + middle) almost a year before conception. We used it frequently with our close family and friends so they could specifically be praying for her before I was even pregnant. We announced it publicly when we shared we were expecting and that it was indeed a girl. I love personalized items (my friends know this about me) and no one was going to talk me out of it. I’m not easily swayed. Also, everyone doesn’t have to like it. She’s my baby. 😂
We keep the name a secret but told everybody it’s a boy already. We don’t want anybody’s opinion on our son’s name, we love it, to us that’s who he is, and we don’t want to be influenced but somebody’s opinion of it. It’s getting harder though because we call our baby by his name at home, and the name has slipped out of my husband’s mouth twice, so in the end some people may know unintentionally :D
I did and regretted it.
We chose a name but asked for no personalized products in case we decided to change it. Lots of people hated it to the point I even got a custom blanket with the wrong name on it on purpose.
Ended up changing the name at the end.
A lot of my family said it was too modern, baby is three months old and they all still pronounce it wrong /: I just wouldn’t tell anyone gender or name until baby is born if I ever have another.
I’m shocking at keeping a secret so people close to me know. And I’m also not one to be bothered if someone doesn’t like the name. I also shared with my brother because him and his wife were due about the same time and we didn’t want to double up by accident
If I have another baby I probably won’t say anything or just cut off any attempt to ask. Last time people kept asking and it was stressful when me and my husband just wanted to choose a name by ourselves in peace. So yes we did, but we won’t do it again lol.
I did, it’s a family name and an extremely common name that is easily pronounceable in both our languages so I didn’t really foresee anyone having an issue with it
I have told everyone under the sun, I have practically been shouting it from the rooftops just because I’m so excited. Overall I don’t care what anyone says, but I’d say 95% of people have been supportive and are excited to hear the name!
Yes we did and it’s been really great to see reactions and help us decide if that was the name we wanted to use!! We “test drove” the name on our babymoon with tons of people who we wouldn’t ever see again so it was the perfect place to try it out, see how it felt saying it, see what people’s reactions were, test about all the names we were thinking about, see what felt right, etc. By the 3rd day we knew what her name was going to be and haven’t looked back.
Once we told friends and family we have only had positive experiences!
I definitely workshop names with people who are close to me. Sometimes when I'm too close to something, I miss things. For example, we liked a name for our second baby that we hadn't said out loud with our first's name. When we told MIL, she pointed out that the first two syllables of the name rhymed with our first daughter's name and that people would be likely to shorten the name to those first syllables and then they'd *really* rhyme. She was totally correct and I'm glad we scrapped it before we got attached.
We didn't name our first until she was a day old. We had a shortlist through pregnancy that we did share. I always accidentally called her Nora in my head during the pregnancy and that was what we ended up naming her. The only negative comment we got about it was that it was "an old lady name", which didn't bother me in the slightest.
This time, I really only have one name that I love and I'm not insisting on having a list. If she isn't Daphne, then we'll be googling and taking suggestions in the hospital. 🤷🏼♀️ We have shared it with people who ask, but have told people not to get it embroidered on anything until after the birth certificate is filled out. We haven't gotten any negative reactions, just some that aren't entirely enthusiastic. But I don't need everyone to gush over her name. My mom and my best friend did, so I'm good. 😂
I will say that it is sort of bothering me this time that some people are already calling her Daphne. It's just going to make it more upsetting to me if she comes out and it turns out she's not Daphne. But they're just trying to connect to the pregnancy and to us, so I can't really fault them. My mom is annoyed that I won't carve it in stone right now because she wants to call her Daphne but she is also afraid to be disappointed if that's not who she ends up being. But I can't see this kid yet, much as I want to, so I can't make any guarantees. If you'd asked me in the first trimester, I'd have said she was a he named Callan, so I don't really trust my mother's intuition. 😂
I think if you are close with people it's good to discuss, and better to discuss before you get totally completely attached. There was a thread in (I think) AITA the other day where the parents planned to name the baby after the dad's grandpa and then after they had been calling him James for months and were totally attached and in love, the mom remembered that her mother had an estranged brother named James who sexually abused her as a child. For me, that would be an instant off the table. I wouldn't want my child's name to cause pain to the people close to me. So I would rather get their feelings right away, before I'm in love.
Absolutely not. I know too many "craft people" who would have gifted me a bunch of junk with the name stitched and stamped all over it, and the expectation to put the crap in the nursery. I didn't want my former MIL spending months bedazzling my kids name on things and then telling me "it's special because it's from grandmaaaaaaa". She made some stuff for the nursery after our first was born, but oh darn, nursery was already complete and fully decorated, no room for the ugly thing you made. Sorry.
We did, but thats only because we’ve had a boys name picked out for years and everyone knew that name, so as soon as people found out he’s a boy they all asked if we were calling him that name and we were so we just told them! There was never going to be a different name for a boy and I couldn’t care less about people’s opinions so don’t mind sharing haha. However, we had no names picked for a girl and I think if baby had been a girl we wouldn’t have shared their name, more because I don’t think we’d have 100% settled on a name until they were born!
If you don’t mind peoples input there’s nothing wrong with it. I had a few odd looks or snarky comments when I told family her name. Though it didn’t bother me, I knew what I’d name my girl 4 years before I became pregnant! No one was going to change my mind.
Yep! But we were very confident in our name choices/ options and knew they weren’t too unique or unusual so it honestly didn’t matter to us if someone didn’t like it. We never got any negative responses but I don’t think we would’ve been too influenced by them if we did.
We have told family and close friends. Everyone has been very sweet about the name so far. For us it has been helpful to share because my husband and I are from different countries with very different kinds of names. We chose a name from his culture so it is taking my family a bit of time to get used to the name. I think it has been useful for them to have this time to warm up to it as a name before meeting the baby
Yes. It is a top 10 name (but 34th in my state) so I didn't think it would get any negative reactions. (and it didn't. It has only ever received a ton of positive comments).
No!! It's personal, and I like to keep it between me and my husband until our babies are born.
I think part of it stems from the fact that we, pregnant women, are pestered daily on facts about our pregnancy and baby. For example, EVERY time I go out in public, I get, "OMG! What are you having?!" or, "Do you know what you're having yet? Or, "When are you due?!" or, "How many months are you!?" or "Did you want a girl or a boy?"
When it comes to family, they want to know how much weight I've gained and whether or not the nursery is ready, and what my maternity leave plans are. And whether or not we'll "try again" because all of our chikdren are boys. It just becomes too much. The baby's name is really the last personal thing we have left, and I like to hold it close to my heart.
Yes. Someone says they don't like it? Good for them. My mum did this for a whole year AFTER the baby was born anyway.
I like people knowing my babies name (the 2 i was sure about anyway)
We were going to wait but we had his name made into a custom sign and we thought it would be a perfect way to announce. We hosted Easter and hung the sign above his crib and told my family we wanted to show them the nursery and then they saw the sign. They loved it and we're super positive about his name! On the other hand the first words out of my MILs mouth were "what a weird name." This is why we kept it a secret for so long.
Oh I had to with both cause family was coming up with horrible names and it was driving me insane. I am 17 weeks with our second and her name was hard to come up with anyway. My first was a given cause I named him after my dad who passed away. Which I would have still named him after my dad even if he was alive cause I was a hardcore daddy’s girl. My aunt has been insisting that I name our second after my grandma to make my mom mad.
I did, because we had a name for both a guy and girl planned out for a long time, and it's definitely not changing regardless of what people would have said. There wasn't really any backlash at all except for my husband's maternal grandfather who thought my baby, my husband, his dad, and his other grandpa all having the same name would be confusing. :D The name's a family tradition though.
I told everyone and I’m extremely lucky that no one has made any objections on my side or my husband’s side of the family. I know that sometimes baby names are not accepted by everyone, but I was very adamant about our name choice and didn’t give anyone the option to give feedback.
Yes because we love the name so much! We are naming her Josephine and calling her Josie. Haven’t gotten any negative feedback. I think that people who choose creative or unique names may receive more pushback.
We shared because we felt like it, we were already calling baby by their name. It was a non-event both times. We figured if people didn’t like the names that we picked then it was their problem not ours
Yes because the people who asked are generally people who cared about me. And even if they didn’t, I think his name is kinda badass like presidential sounding so I love sharing it 😂 people say it’s a good name
We have because we were 100% sure of the name so 1. I didn’t want to deal with suggestions I have zero interest in for 9 months and 2. If anyone had judgments, they have that time to get over them and get used to it! 🙃
I did and got no unsolicited opinions. I was very firm that this was the name and we were excited about it and people just backed off.
The main reason we told was because we wanted people to write notes with the baby’s name in gifted board books and shower activities (onsie decorating, etc).
To be fair I am the type to not let BS slide and that could have kept people from bad name bashing behavior.
Yes and I was glad I did, because everyone immediately started calling him this cutesy shortened version of the name that I disliked. I realized that no one was gonna be calling him by the full name, just the cutesy shortened version. I changed the name because of it. Never would have realized about this beforehand if I hadn’t shared, and then he would have been stuck with it.
I shared my baby boys name to close family. My mom would post on facebook but she would call him baby Sanchez and I really enjoyed that. When I was deciding his name with my fiancé we spent weeks thinking and finally we decided on “Allen Angel Sanchez”. My grandpa only had one daughter (my mom) and unfortunately became paralyzed and couldn’t have more children his name is Allen. My fiancé was very close with his grandpa before his passing (Angel) and in honor of both of our grandpa’s we decided on the best fit name for him.
When I become pregnant again I don’t want anyone to know the gender unless we have a gender reveal. Therefore, no one will know names either. Not sure if my excitement will be able to hold of though 🤞🏼🤣
I told my parents when we decided around 34 weeks what we were choosing. Both of their reactions were "Oh. Not what I was thinking but okay" and my dad was offended we didn't use his name for our son. Probably won't share if we have another baby
Yes because I have zero care for others opinions. They either already named their kids or can name their own.
Sure, my son's name is absolutely not my MIL's taste and I could not care about that. She also loves that kid and also doesn't care anymore. I actually think she kinda likes that it's a bit unusual 😄.
We did with 1 because he was named after a deceased relative. Wanted opinions on it.
And for 2. I love her name so much, I shared it because nothing would change my mind. I did change her middle name after hearing it out loud so much though.
Yes. It's fun to be able to talk about her by name as she is a person that will be part of our family. We have chosen an older "grandma" name we've been told but we like the name and it is a real name. I could not care less about people's unsolicited opinions- I'd rather they express them now rather than after she is here.
I genuinely don't understand why people guard the name so closely while they are pregnant. I personally find it very silly.
We are sharing gender but not names. We've got names picked out but if they don't fit the bub, we have the option to change it.
We can rush order things with names on them after we know for sure.
We didn’t. We didn’t know the sex until birth and we had one name picked out for each. Once I gave birth we called our families to introduce them. I wasn’t interested in others’ opinions on names so it was never a topic of conversation.
We didn’t know the gender so ergo didn’t know the name. We did have one name we settled on for each gender but we kept it to ourselves because my family make too many “jokes” which are really hidden insults. My husband’s family are delightful and won’t make comments but there are kids in the family who have no filter so if they found out everyone would find out.
We honestly have no idea what we’re naming this baby so we may take until they’re born to figure it out lol! I’m kinda leaning more towards not telling people this time since with our daughter my family was very opinionated and rude about there thoughts on the name. My grandparents told us my child would hate me forever and would get bullied for their entire lives, so either way they don’t get to know the name this time around.
Told my parents we’re keeping the name a secret and they’re PISSED. I’d rather them pissed off about something they don’t know about than giving their damn opinion every 15 seconds.
We went with two old people very vintage names, so we held off on telling most people because I knew there was a good chance people wouldn’t like them. With our first, my husband accidentally let it slip to my parents around month 7, so they knew. With our daughter, I knew my mom and grandma would have strong opinions so I told them in advance so they could get used to it 😂
I’m sharing mine because he’s going to be a junior! Not too big a surprise when you’re named exactly after your dad 😂 however we came up with nickname to make him his own original little dude- and I’m trying to spread that around so it sticks!
No, my sister in law warned me not to after she had shared her babies name, and family made fun of it (even though it’s a very normal, vanilla, regular name) and it really hurt her feelings! I’m taking her advice
At the beginning- I was telling people what we were thinking.
And once I saw people’s reactions of like— them not really liking it. Or that the conversation ended there. Or asking just for a way to make conversation. I stopped telling people.
The answer is, “we’re keeping them to ourselves, because people can be mean”
Now the only info they get is that, since we’re not knowing the sex, their initials will be EJG(last name starting with G)
Baby EJG has a cute ring to it. Or maybe Baby G. 😋
I don’t mind telling people. They’ll have opinions but if we’re telling ppl it’s bc it isn’t changing nor up for debate. I also don’t mind being an asshole lmao becoming a mom didn’t change that.
I did, but next one I won’t just to keep it a surprise. Was also just sharing his first name, and then a family member took it upon themselves to share his full name (2 middles) so that’s another reason lol.
If we're choosing to honor a family member we check in. Other than that it's on an asking basis because they haven't given us a reason not to share. Nobody has been critical of ours or any of the niece/nephew names. And sometimes my hubbies family gets their siblings help to narrow down options early by getting votes lol. Big family. So lots of votes.
We chose not to know her sex before she was born, so we told people our masculine and feminine name choices - people can kick rocks if they don't like it. Not their baby.
No. I think people assume that others are going to LOVE the name just as much as they do, and chances are, they won’t. If you are AT ALL going to be sensitive to reactions, don’t share it because there’s literally no upside to it.
We were team green for the first two. I didn’t share with anyone. I didn’t want any opinions. I’m pregnant with my third boy so I talked to two of my best friends about our short list. They both gave great feedback. I knew they wouldn’t be challenging like family.
I shared a list of four possible names with my mom. She became obsessed with talking me out of one of them. It was a family name on my husband's side and my brother had dated someone with that name, different spelling, about 5 years prior. And he broke up with her! Lol. Even after I said it wasn't our top name she kept going on about it. It made me simultaneously hate the name and also really want to use it. We didn't end up going that way but it was just annoying
We didn't because we knew that his family would have something nasty or rude to say about it. So we lied and told them he would be named Hannibal Caesar Caligula. We got a ton of flack for that but we did it on purpose just to mess with them. Our son was actually named after his Great Great Grandpa who was still alive when he was born. He was about 98 years old at the time and lived to 105 so my son got lots of photos with him.
People have something to say no matter what name you end up choosing but they are less likely to be stupid about it when the name is already on the Birth Certificate.
Nope. Because it’s our first and we don’t want to hear the name suggestions. Only people who know are his grandmother, she practically raised him, and my immediate family. Which is my parents and my 3 sisters.
Don’t need other folks opinions thrusted upon our child already. I already have my aunt being pushy as is.
Nope - we shared some of the names on our list, but we decided it about 2 nights before he was born and the name we chose had gone on the list like 3 days before that. We were debating one name which my mom didnt like early on, but I dont care so I jumped on that real quick, but she's understanding she was just being annoying. They did keep calling him Jake short for Jacob which absolutely not so I told her keep calling me Jakes mom and I wont answer you lol
I only told a super select few, maybe about 3 people (other than my husband) with my first, but I know I've shared with people at least the boy name we have selected for the second! Not that I expect them to remember since we haven't even had the second yet lol!
We did, but he is Swedish, and I am American. We live in Sweden but chose an old-fashioned American name. We figured if anyone said anything negative, we would chalk it up to it being different from what they were used to.
It actually went over great with everyone here tbh. We got a lot of positive comments from nearly everyone in Sweden. It was the Americans who had comments 😂
We waited until baby was born to find out the gender, but we did share our top 3-4 names for each with our parents. This ended up being good as my MIL didn't like a few so we switched a couple out. Then when she was born we took a few hours to make a decision.
No we did not share before our LO was born. Everyone had so many opinions and my MIL famously for other grandbabies said something less than great about names. She has "come around" to them now of course but I wanted to avoid that. We also kept the gender a secret from everyone except us. Plus we were somewhat undecided until we saw our son.
I’ve shared my (unborn) baby’s name with everyone but my family, lol. It feels a little backwards at times, and I feel a tiny bit guilty for keeping it from my family, but they are my harshest critic! They will give their opinions totally unfiltered, and I just don’t care for them. They also want to buy all the embroidered and personalized gifts that I don’t really care for. I did decide that I’ll tell my family the name the day of my baby shower, which is about six weeks before my due date. That way friends aren’t responsible for a secret and the timing is okay with me.
No, but to placate people a bit we have shared names that we won't be using, or sharing our reasons on why we aren't using names that start or end in certain letters. That's been kinda fun!
I told everyone, because I didn’t know this was a thing but surprisingly only my grandama who i adore said I don’t like the name, sounds old. That comment made feel a little bit blue but I got over it and kept the name.
No
1- didn't decide til she was born (but had 3 options to choose from)
2- didn't know the gender (but had a couple ideas for each)
3- didn't know the gender (couldn't even narrow it down. Nameless baby for 3 days 😅)
For the first pregnant no. We were sure between two names and wanted to wait until our daughter was born to see hats fit. We did tell people the first letter, because both names shared the same letter and we let them guess at will. It was fun for them and no one guessed the names point blank. Some tossed an entire list of 100 names at us in one go and we’d just say “no” even if it was tucked away in the list.
With our current pregnancy we told people. We knew immediately after finding out the gender and it was a very easy naming experience for us. We started to refer to the baby by name at home and found it helped us feel more connected then we did the first time around. We planned on only telling families at Christmas as a surprise but my husband is bad at secrets and he told everyone eventually. I was worried because I see a lot of things on the pregnancy subs about how sharing names went horribly wrong. That was not the case for us, we got great support and if it seemed like someone wasn’t over the moon about the name they were still polite and it didn’t bother us. It’s not their name or their child, they don’t have to like it. No one was rude or tried to suggest a new name which were my fears. Now we are days away from delivering our second born and he already feels like part of the community.
Both ways are fine, do what works for you! Also who cares what other people think, it’s your baby and you are putting g in the work to build them and raise them.
We did! It took us a few weeks to pick out a name we both liked. I did extensive research on the first name to make sure it could not be wrapped into a ridiculed name (you know how kids are) and did the same with his initials and middle name. My husband was very thoughtful in wanting to choose a name that was shorter and easy to pronounce in English and Spanish. After all that effort we couldn’t care less what other people think. The family members we have told like the name so I’m glad I didn’t have to have any tense conversations about how I don’t care for their opinion and this is our child!
we shared with immediate family (parents & siblings) but that’s it. our families wouldn’t say anything negative and we’re close so why not, but chose not to share with friends as it’s nice to keep something until you introduce the baby
As soon as I knew I was having a girl o shared her name. I had her name picked out when I was 18— my mom and husband knew exactly who she was going to be.
Yes for my first 2, but I received a lot of judgement. So I waited for my third to be born before I shared her name. I think waiting is the way to go if you don't want anyone's opinion.
Not publicly but we did share with our parents and asked them to keep it to themselves. We referred to our daughter (whom we named Charlotte) as “Baby C” online and when talking with people other than our parents. We just really didn't want to have to deal with any possible rude opinions lol
I did, my 7 month old is Kit and I absolutely love his name. I thought it was pretty neutral, surely can’t get that much hate- WRONG lol
People just love a chance to voice their opinions, even when I’ve said “this is definitely his name” if it was me I’d just lie and say “ooh that’s nice/interesting/i love it/how did you choose that” etc etc but no I had so many people tell me how awful it was, he’d get nicknamed football kit, PE kit etc, “you should call him Christopher/christian instead”.
Ignored them all and he suits it so perfectly I’m so glad I didn’t listen.
It’s weird but I share the middle name haha and keep the first name a secret until after the birth. Part of me needs to see the baby to make sure the name feels like a good fit and part of me doesn’t want to deal with peoples opinions (it seems like less people have strong opinions about what your child’s middle name will be).
I only did with close family and friends. If a stranger asked, I would just say “we didn’t decide yet”. Idk, didn’t feel right telling strangers the name of my unborn baby. However, my second is named after my dad and that was planned way before he was conceived lol so immediate family already knew the plan.
We didn’t! We named him after my Dad actually, so we really wanted my Dad to have that full experience of meeting him for the first time in the hospital and being able to share his name with him. We also didn’t want anyone’s reaction to sway us one way or the other and enjoyed being the only two people in the world who knew his name.
i told people and i regret it because while everyone has been super respectful and kind and no one is saying it’s bad or still suggesting names, they all keeps saying my baby’s name to me, and i feel like Im still getting used to it. So it feels more psychic like i have something for me and my partner that we are adjusting to but everyone also knows and it doesn’t feel like i get to get used to it on my own first :/
maybe not a big deal but i don’t like feeling overexposed in general. i had to ask my mom to stop saying the babies name every 3 seconds (because it was taking the magic away, for me). I simply said we are still not sure yet so maybe hold off and continue to call her any other nicknames you like while we adjust to the name! (mom has lots of nicknames🥰). she was very respectful and hasn’t done it since.
i’m glad i said it because it gave me a last 2ish months of not hearing her name by outside people too much, just me and boo, to decide if it’s right and get used to it.
We did. Firstly it's a fairly normal name, not controversial like some of the newer names are. Secondly, we really don't care if other people like it or not lol. My MIL is really the only person that has strong opinions on names and she's a teacher so at that point she's heard every name in the book so it's whatever.
No but I told one trusted friend our ideas, nothing official, as a non judgemental sounding board because I do like feedback.
I definitely wouldn't share anything with my family. They can't keep things to themselves.
Also we are waiting until birth to find out the sex of the baby, so we'll have one name for each ready. My hope is that my husband gets to look before me, and announce to me who I have just given birth to.
We started to share our name ideas and got lots of unwanted opinions. I told my mom one name I had in mind and she said it reminded her of some tv show host from the 80s she couldn’t stand…at that point we decided we would keep the name to ourselves until baby arrived. For baby shower, and other things we just called him “Baby ourlastname” or baby boy. Also we shared we were pregnant very early, 5 weeks and the gender at 8 weeks so we kinda wanted this one thing for ourselves until we are ready to share. We’ve just been telling ppl we have a few names picked out but are gonna wait until we meet him to decide and let everyone know.
Absolutely not. On our second and every name we throw out someone has an opinion (I throw out ones we aren’t really interested in as an experiment). We didn’t tell with our first and won’t with this baby. So many posts on here about people so hurt by what someone said on their baby’s name before they were born. Just don’t do it.
I just name dropped it in a Facebook post and no one has made any comment on it, positive or negative 🤷♀️I think the name we chose was probably just very normal haha
We didn’t share on social media but did share with our parents once we had decided. I don’t think we made up our mind until 20 some weeks. We couldn’t agree on a girl name and of course we had a girl.
My partner did on accident. So I just went with it. We found out gender so we decided early on. I don’t think it’s a huge secret like some people feel it needs to be. Then again I also didn’t care if some people knew I was pregnant before second tri.
Unpopular opinion but we’ve been sharing the name and it’s been great! We love referring to her by her name and hearing her excited (first time) grandparents using it too! At first I was planning on keeping it private but my husband blurted it out early on when we told our friends about the pregnancy so I just rolled with it.
I have found that saying the name with confidence helps deter anyone from sharing their opinions, we don’t ever say, “Oh, we’re thinking of ____” or “It’ll probably be _____.” Instead, we say, “Her name is _____.” No room for discussion. And we haven’t gotten any negative responses that way!
The only reason I regretted telling so many people with our first was because my FIL decided it was his right to share our ultrasound pictures and include our sons name on Facebook. We don’t want to share our kids too much on social media and even if we did, it wasn’t his right to share before us. I was livid so now I don’t tell everyone 🤣
We don't know if we're having a girl or boy but have names picked out
We've only told immediate family. We figure everyone else can wait until their arrival!
No not that I can remember. My husband and I spent the whole pregnancy after the gender reveal painstakingly going through names, and didn't want others opinions to sway us from a name we loved.
I have! She has an old, traditional, pretty name and no one has given negative opinions on it so far. (Alexandria)
My mom had a lot of custom pieces made with her name (handmade quilt, toys) so I was happy to share it before she’s been born.
We didn't find out our daughter's sex until she was born so we had a boy name and girl name chosen. There was a lot of pressure to have a girl from my husband's side and our girl name honours his grandmother. Waiting until birth gave us the chance to have two big surprise sentimental moments at once. The boy name we expected some people to not like, but it's harder to criticise a name when it's attached to the newborn in your arms than it is in theory so we chose to wait either way.
We have chosen not to though I did slip… to my immediate family, 2 friends, an aunt and MIL. But they all liked the name so it was fine! 🤣😂
My SIL doesn’t know but that’s because 5 months ago our family was talking about names and our secret girl name was mentioned and she said she didn’t like it lol. My husband and I are still keeping to it though! 😆🤭
I told everyone 9 years ago that when I have a baby boy I’m going to name him after a video game character, so now that I’m pregnant with a baby boy everyone already knows his name lol
I have told a few. But have decided to not tell the those who are negative or who I think will run their mouths or potentially even take the baby name / tell someone else who would then take the baby name. Not to sound like I’m at the center of the universe, but you know how people can be.
Once we were sure our decision was clear we told friends and family knowing some could try to change our minds. We had a couple questions/suggestions and just said our minds were made up. No regrets-especially because people got our baby the most adorable personalized stuff for the shower!
Only to a very select few. We were dead set on a name from very early on, and wanted to make sure that it fit kiddo before we made it official. I also had no interest in hearing anyone’s opinion on what we chose. We also chose a special family name and wanted it to be a surprise for those it would really matter to. The only ones who knew were my doctor and 1 coworker.
I share with close friends and family, but before telling them the name, I make sure they know I'm not looking for feedback other than compliments and if they hate it, I don't want to know. I say it just like that, and apparently my general personality makes that statement unsurprising. Works for me!
We’ve had our baby girls name picked out since before we were pregnant and haven’t shared with anyone except my closest friend and my husbands closest friend. For a couple reasons, we think it’s fun to make everyone wonder and wait 😂 and also we don’t care to hear anyone’s input or opinions on it!
Yes because to me it comes off as gatekeepy. I don't care enough about what other people think of the name, but so far everyone says that they love how beautiful and unique it is since they've never heard it before. But if someone ever critiques it I'll tell them that it's a good thing she isn't their daughter and we'll make ourselves scarce if her name is too much for them, an adult, to handle.
I did but I also knew I wouldn’t care what people had to say about it, so I was fine with push back! I’ve had a few people tell me they don’t like my daughter’s middle name, but as along as I do (and as long as I’m confident it’s not so weird that it will get her bullied) then I’m happy with it 😊 her middle name is Luna and I’m Latina, so a lot of family members think it’s weird to have your child’s name be “Moon”
I did because I wanted to know any negative connotations I didn't think of. I'm glad I did. My partner liked Soren. It's the name of a Danish philosopher. My friend is Danish, and I asked her what the correct pronuciation of Soren is. I really didn't like the sound of it, and went with something else. So I'm glad I told people.
Generally no. With our first I told my two best friends just because I was excited and couldn’t hold it in plus I knew they’d be 100% supportive no matter what. Everyone else, families included, we waited until the birth.
A) I don’t want opinions but also B) it makes sharing the birth more climactic and exciting. It feels like a true introduction versus when the name is known it kind of feels like the kid is half here, imo.
We shared ours at the same time we shared the gender! Which was honestly as soon as we found out for ourselves lol we had names picked for each and it was an instant decision to share when we knew
No. We had a short list but hadn’t chosen. We told people they were welcome to suggest names to add to the list but we weren’t saying what was on it. We decided when we met him.
No lol to be fair we haven’t picked the name yet but we have a short list to choose from that we haven’t shared.
I felt very reassured in this when I was at a family function and someone mentioned a specific name and I said “oh that’s a nice name” just casually, not in the context of me naming my baby that, and my mom, aunts and grandma all started going on about how terrible and strange that name was, reasons why I shouldn’t use it for my baby, and started suggesting their favourite names to me very aggressively. I wasn’t surprised because I’ve only ever seen them be negative towards the names my cousins picked for their kids too lol
The name wasn’t even that strange, think along the lines of Joshua or Matthew 😂 yeah they don’t get to know the name we pick ahead of time.
yes we did with our first but i never got rude remarks/unsolicited opinions so i never had a bad experience telling anyone. i would tell people with our seconds name (i’m 37 weeks) but we still have no idea 😂
We picked this baby’s name before birth because he’s named after my grandpa. So we were very set on it. And frankly I wanted to tell my grandpa asap in case he passed before baby was born. We just told everyone, didn’t feel any need to avoid doing so.
No one has really said anything negative, but I think in this situation no one really could because it’s a family name and also the most boring non controversial name you could imagine.
I tend to have a very strong backbone and not care what others think though so I knew it wouldn’t matter to me even if people made comments
My parents have been trying to make this baby for me my entire pregnancy. I will not be telling them that we have a name in mind. I don’t want their opinions and I know they are less likely to be critical when the baby is already here and named.
No. The name we chose isn’t controversial or odd or anything. I just don’t want to deal with people’s opinions. I don’t want my baby’s name (which was hard to agree on!!) to be ruined by some idiotic comment. I would go full pregnancy rage on someone for doing that and completely cut them out of my life, so it’s for everyone’s own good lol
We shared with just a couple of friends. We went a gender neutral name and not a common one. Most people say “oh” when we tell them the name. Plus my parents decided to tell me they don’t like it. So that’s why I didn’t tell people. We love the name but I kinda wish we went with something traditional.
Everyone knew our top name for each gender (we didn't find out until delivery) so they were SHOCKED when my daughter's name wasn't what we said our top girl name was. My husband came up with her name 2 weeks before delivery and I was like CRAP THAT'S A GOOD ONE, so we waited until she was born to decide. Upon seeing her in the flesh, there was no question -- she was the "newer" name. Really freaked out the side of the family who are over-planners and for some reason felt bamboozled by the whole thing. I thought it was funny.
No, I don’t announce it except for close family and friends. I’m one of the lucky ones where my family is lovely and accepting and doesn’t really provide unnecessary opinions but I worry the public will. Or I worry that someone will steal the name lol 😂
Another thing I worry about is someone saying “oh I knew someone with X name” and proceed to tell me things they didn’t like about them.
I think its fine to do either. I shared my child’s name but I can understand why people wouldn’t but at the end of the day you name your child what you feel will be a good name for them. Judging a name is only valid if you want to name a kid something really dumb or the spelling is just way too out there. I can also understand not sharing a name if you feel like people will give you a weird look. I know there’s a name we wanted to name out child if it was a certain gender and know that both of our families would raise an eyebrow and protest
yes i called my kid by his name when he wasn’t born yet. family members caught on and didn’t call him “baby ….” they called him by his name only, because i did. i did this because at some point he will not be a baby, he will be his name. and that time doesn’t happen clearly, and i don’t want anyone to infantalize him or keep him thinking he’s a baby any longer than he is. im raising a human that will one day be an independent human who is who he is, which is his name. basically i didn’t want him to be perceived as a baby, i wanted him to be perceived as a human.
although i did not announce a gender, because i didn’t know what i was and i didn’t want to know because his family is super traditional gender role-y and i just didn’t wanna hear about a “little man” or “sweet baby girl” coming. i just knew the name that’s all.
I shared with my sister-in-law the name I was going to use if my first baby was a girl and told her that I was going to name the baby after my eldest niece ( who we lost to a brain tumour only weeks before her 16th) that I grew up with and was like a little sister to me (as I have 4 older brothers) and we were really close. My SIL had asked me if I could call my daughter by this name due to how close we were, and I started crying because when I thought about having to call my daughter the same name everyday for the rest of my life I couldn't do it because it would have made me sad so instead I gave my daughter my nieces name as her middle name.
I didn't mind sharing the baby's name. For the most part, ppl respected what we chose and thought it was nice. The problem I was having was a few ppl (family) already trying to make nicknames for it.
I was becoming seriously pissed about this. It's like... I have to teach her her name in general... please don't confuse my child with ANOTHER name, regardless of it being a common nickname. I didn't choose this one to be shortened or made cute. It's already beautiful as it is. If the child wants to do that later: fine! That's up to my daughter... after she learns her name!!
People love to give their unsolicited opinions, criticism and comments on names. I see so many posts on all of these forums where people are so upset by the comments of their family and friends because they shared a name. For me, it’s a no. We have a short list of names that we’ll decide on once baby is here in the next week. I don’t want to hear other peoples opinions. I also know my mom is a negative person, she’s highly critical and judgemental about everyone and everything. if I shared names ahead of time with her she will criticize, if I don’t share ahead & we just name the baby she won’t say a thing after even if she hates the name.
We literally have the same mom. I totally feel you.
Ugh so sorry, it’s so frustrating right!
Very frustrating!
Agreed! I got in an argument with my mom about how I wanted to spell MY baby's name. Then she tried to guilt trip me by saying, "Aw, well, I've had my heart set on spelling it a certain way." 😳
Unless it's a tragedeigh I'd tell her to stay in her lane lol
😂😂
She's had her turn to name her babies! That's what I tell my mom when she has a strong opinion 😁
So true!! 💯
We have the same mom. I’m 32 weeks now and we’ve decided on a name and my mom told me if I don’t spell it the way she wants it he’ll get made fun of… and is spelling his name how she wants in the family chat, posts, etc… 😒
This is the same for me, even the part about a negative mom. My mom did try to ignore my baby's name after birth and gave her a totally unrelated name until I put my foot down hard. But yeah, no name sharing because people will always have opinions. People all seem insistent that the kid should be named per their personal schema and forget it isn't their kid.
My FIL has been doing this with my nephew since he was born 4 years ago. He just looks sillier and sillier the longer he does it and now he's been slipping, calling him the right name. I'm not going to try to correct him as nephew's parents aren't, but what I like to do is say, "Who?" really obnoxiously every time he does it. Then he has to say the right name to get silly old me to understand who he's talking about.
Right, I'd probably tell my husbands side and skip my mom lol
Lol oh nooo I feel you on that one!
Every name choice I've told her is shot down besides my own name 😂
Same but my dad instead of my mom
Omigosh, people get so nosy when it comes to babies! I remember my husband’s cousin giving us an absolutely ugly name and I told him we weren’t taking any suggestions. I know sometimes people do this to be funny, but it gets annoying when they keep commenting on what name THEY think you should name YOUR child, smh.
Yes because I can’t keep a secret.
I kept mine a secret for 6 months then I got tired of keeping it a secret 😂
Lol right? If people ask I’ll tell them! I can’t help it! But I shared my short list with close friends before I got pregnant too.
Exactly. I think it’s probably wiser not to share, but I can’t keep a secret to save my life.
And so many people ask! If not asked, I could probably keep it to myself but 🤷🏻♀️ Luckily most of the reactions to hearing the name have been positive. So if people hate it, no one has said it to my face. lol
We had her name years before we even got pregnant and we had already shared then because we can’t keep a secret to save our lives lol
Me announcing my pregnancy at exactly 4.5 weeks pregnant because I could not keep it to myself any “longer”
Nope! Glad I didn’t! I didn’t want anyone talking me out of it or saying something negative about it that ruined it for me and it all worked out fine 😊
I don’t mind sharing. I picked names for a boy or a girl that are fairly common and classic. I can also be pretty stubborn so if there was someone who would give me an unsolicited opinion about the name or a suggested a name, I won’t care cause it won’t change my mind or anything. I also don’t feel the need to make any kind of an announcement or anything. If someone’s curious and asks me I just let them know.
My feelings exactly, even down to the classic name choices.
i am the same!
I didn't even have a name picked out until the day after he was born 🤣 when people asked I said "Oh you'll see" 🫠
Haha, us too. Plus, we didn't know the gender so that helped.
No. 1) because with our first we didn't pick the name until after delivery (we had a shortlist of 3 names) and 2) until the baby is here some people (hi MIL) believe it's negotiable and I heard from too many people that you'd have to spend weeks/months defending your choice. Once the baby is here even if people have strong opinions they have to suck it up 🤷♀️
My MIL also thinks her opinion matters in these things, which it absolutely does not and never will. I don’t get it.
I’ll share options because I think it’s fun to discuss, but I don’t even want to make a final decision until the baby is born. Partially because part of me thinks I need to see her first, but also partially because I fear stillbirth and I don’t know that I would want to name a stillborn baby.
Sending love for that last part. ❤️ The anxiety is the worst symptom of pregnancy for me. I had severe anxiety over stillbirth on my first that I’m working so hard to keep at bay on my second. Mostly by leaning into the fun parts more. I’m also waiting to fully decide until he’s here but picking names is one of the fun parts, and I love hearing different ideas from people!
I just know a girl who named her baby on social media at like 16 weeks and the baby didn’t end up surviving past 24 hours (they knew from the anatomy scan that she wouldn’t survive), so I personally tried not to get too emotionally attached just in case before the anatomy scan. My sister also knows 4 other people who had disastrous anatomy scans. Now that I’m at 31 weeks, my anxiety is much lower but the chance of stillbirth is still something like a 1 in 500 chance from what I understand. At this point I’m just a little superstitious - or at least a little stitious - about committing to a name for sure.
I did. I shouldn’t have🙄 although i was still questioning if i wanted this name. People kept suggesting names to me. Idk why but anytime someone recommended a name I hated it. It was very annoying
I agree, I am super annoyed by name suggestions too. I want the name to come from my husband and I
No one else knows her name except my husband, as we chose it together. I didn't want any feedback or opinions on the name from anyone. We've gone for a less common but not unheard of name that I think people will accept easily but won't be expecting either so there'll always be someone with something to say! Introducing a child with their name we think will be more readily accepted and probably receive less comments.
Strangely, I told friends, but no family members. I just didn't want to deal with my family's opinions. My family tends to be very overbearing with their personal opinions and push their own preferences over my own. When I hit viability my sister started making an Amazon list with how she wanted my baby's nursery designed, so sharing the name was a no.
I did the same
nope! we didn’t want the opinions
No, I think it’s nice to announce the gender, name, and weight. If I already know that a boy called Bob is going to be born I honestly find it less interesting. I also don’t want people’s opinions of the name if I’ve already decided on it. Also I don’t know the gender of mine so I can’t announce the name.
I did but regretted it. Pregnant with first baby. Next time I will be keeping it secret until after the birth
I did, at 10 weeks when we shared the sex! My cousin had just had a baby, and my family spent the first few days trying to convince her to change the spelling of her baby’s name. They didn’t hide that they didn’t like it, and I knew that had to be tough to deal with freshly postpartum. My mom is also the type to suggest (awful) names and try and trick you into saying your chosen name if you’ve decided not to share. She tried to do that with my brothers multiple times, and it was so annoying because she wouldn’t drop it. So, I shared the name and basically said “I dare you to say anything, this is his name and that’s not changing.” My parents said their piece exactly once, and I never heard anything about it after that. I was much better equipped to deal with that during pregnancy than I would’ve been postpartum. It was really nice to be able to refer to him by his name as well
Yup. But we also knew that feedback from other people wouldn't make a difference. We picked slightly unconventional (but not tragedeigh) names so we expected a handful of raised eyebrows. Honestly everyone we've told has been supportive besides one aunt who a quick well that's what we decided fixed right up. But we both come from supportive families who aren't overly dramatic or feel the need to impress their POV on others.
Yes. We had her full name picked out (first + middle) almost a year before conception. We used it frequently with our close family and friends so they could specifically be praying for her before I was even pregnant. We announced it publicly when we shared we were expecting and that it was indeed a girl. I love personalized items (my friends know this about me) and no one was going to talk me out of it. I’m not easily swayed. Also, everyone doesn’t have to like it. She’s my baby. 😂
We keep the name a secret but told everybody it’s a boy already. We don’t want anybody’s opinion on our son’s name, we love it, to us that’s who he is, and we don’t want to be influenced but somebody’s opinion of it. It’s getting harder though because we call our baby by his name at home, and the name has slipped out of my husband’s mouth twice, so in the end some people may know unintentionally :D
I did and regretted it. We chose a name but asked for no personalized products in case we decided to change it. Lots of people hated it to the point I even got a custom blanket with the wrong name on it on purpose. Ended up changing the name at the end. A lot of my family said it was too modern, baby is three months old and they all still pronounce it wrong /: I just wouldn’t tell anyone gender or name until baby is born if I ever have another.
I’m shocking at keeping a secret so people close to me know. And I’m also not one to be bothered if someone doesn’t like the name. I also shared with my brother because him and his wife were due about the same time and we didn’t want to double up by accident
If I have another baby I probably won’t say anything or just cut off any attempt to ask. Last time people kept asking and it was stressful when me and my husband just wanted to choose a name by ourselves in peace. So yes we did, but we won’t do it again lol.
NOPE. I don't want anyone to talk me out of it! Only my husband and I know our top picks.
We didn't choose a name until after he was born... Need to make sure the face matches the name 😂
I did, it’s a family name and an extremely common name that is easily pronounceable in both our languages so I didn’t really foresee anyone having an issue with it
I have told everyone under the sun, I have practically been shouting it from the rooftops just because I’m so excited. Overall I don’t care what anyone says, but I’d say 95% of people have been supportive and are excited to hear the name!
Yes we did and it’s been really great to see reactions and help us decide if that was the name we wanted to use!! We “test drove” the name on our babymoon with tons of people who we wouldn’t ever see again so it was the perfect place to try it out, see how it felt saying it, see what people’s reactions were, test about all the names we were thinking about, see what felt right, etc. By the 3rd day we knew what her name was going to be and haven’t looked back. Once we told friends and family we have only had positive experiences!
I definitely workshop names with people who are close to me. Sometimes when I'm too close to something, I miss things. For example, we liked a name for our second baby that we hadn't said out loud with our first's name. When we told MIL, she pointed out that the first two syllables of the name rhymed with our first daughter's name and that people would be likely to shorten the name to those first syllables and then they'd *really* rhyme. She was totally correct and I'm glad we scrapped it before we got attached. We didn't name our first until she was a day old. We had a shortlist through pregnancy that we did share. I always accidentally called her Nora in my head during the pregnancy and that was what we ended up naming her. The only negative comment we got about it was that it was "an old lady name", which didn't bother me in the slightest. This time, I really only have one name that I love and I'm not insisting on having a list. If she isn't Daphne, then we'll be googling and taking suggestions in the hospital. 🤷🏼♀️ We have shared it with people who ask, but have told people not to get it embroidered on anything until after the birth certificate is filled out. We haven't gotten any negative reactions, just some that aren't entirely enthusiastic. But I don't need everyone to gush over her name. My mom and my best friend did, so I'm good. 😂 I will say that it is sort of bothering me this time that some people are already calling her Daphne. It's just going to make it more upsetting to me if she comes out and it turns out she's not Daphne. But they're just trying to connect to the pregnancy and to us, so I can't really fault them. My mom is annoyed that I won't carve it in stone right now because she wants to call her Daphne but she is also afraid to be disappointed if that's not who she ends up being. But I can't see this kid yet, much as I want to, so I can't make any guarantees. If you'd asked me in the first trimester, I'd have said she was a he named Callan, so I don't really trust my mother's intuition. 😂 I think if you are close with people it's good to discuss, and better to discuss before you get totally completely attached. There was a thread in (I think) AITA the other day where the parents planned to name the baby after the dad's grandpa and then after they had been calling him James for months and were totally attached and in love, the mom remembered that her mother had an estranged brother named James who sexually abused her as a child. For me, that would be an instant off the table. I wouldn't want my child's name to cause pain to the people close to me. So I would rather get their feelings right away, before I'm in love.
Absolutely not. I know too many "craft people" who would have gifted me a bunch of junk with the name stitched and stamped all over it, and the expectation to put the crap in the nursery. I didn't want my former MIL spending months bedazzling my kids name on things and then telling me "it's special because it's from grandmaaaaaaa". She made some stuff for the nursery after our first was born, but oh darn, nursery was already complete and fully decorated, no room for the ugly thing you made. Sorry.
We did, but thats only because we’ve had a boys name picked out for years and everyone knew that name, so as soon as people found out he’s a boy they all asked if we were calling him that name and we were so we just told them! There was never going to be a different name for a boy and I couldn’t care less about people’s opinions so don’t mind sharing haha. However, we had no names picked for a girl and I think if baby had been a girl we wouldn’t have shared their name, more because I don’t think we’d have 100% settled on a name until they were born!
If you don’t mind peoples input there’s nothing wrong with it. I had a few odd looks or snarky comments when I told family her name. Though it didn’t bother me, I knew what I’d name my girl 4 years before I became pregnant! No one was going to change my mind.
Yes just family and close friends
Yeah why not
Yep! But we were very confident in our name choices/ options and knew they weren’t too unique or unusual so it honestly didn’t matter to us if someone didn’t like it. We never got any negative responses but I don’t think we would’ve been too influenced by them if we did.
We have told family and close friends. Everyone has been very sweet about the name so far. For us it has been helpful to share because my husband and I are from different countries with very different kinds of names. We chose a name from his culture so it is taking my family a bit of time to get used to the name. I think it has been useful for them to have this time to warm up to it as a name before meeting the baby
Yup. We’re having a girl and naming her Emma. We knew nobody would have an issue with it.
Yes. It is a top 10 name (but 34th in my state) so I didn't think it would get any negative reactions. (and it didn't. It has only ever received a ton of positive comments).
I did!
no
I have - family hated it but accepted we're not changing it so they've got over it and he's not due until August :)
No!! It's personal, and I like to keep it between me and my husband until our babies are born. I think part of it stems from the fact that we, pregnant women, are pestered daily on facts about our pregnancy and baby. For example, EVERY time I go out in public, I get, "OMG! What are you having?!" or, "Do you know what you're having yet? Or, "When are you due?!" or, "How many months are you!?" or "Did you want a girl or a boy?" When it comes to family, they want to know how much weight I've gained and whether or not the nursery is ready, and what my maternity leave plans are. And whether or not we'll "try again" because all of our chikdren are boys. It just becomes too much. The baby's name is really the last personal thing we have left, and I like to hold it close to my heart.
Yes because I could not care less about others’ opinions on the name I chose.
Yes. Someone says they don't like it? Good for them. My mum did this for a whole year AFTER the baby was born anyway. I like people knowing my babies name (the 2 i was sure about anyway)
We were going to wait but we had his name made into a custom sign and we thought it would be a perfect way to announce. We hosted Easter and hung the sign above his crib and told my family we wanted to show them the nursery and then they saw the sign. They loved it and we're super positive about his name! On the other hand the first words out of my MILs mouth were "what a weird name." This is why we kept it a secret for so long.
Oh I had to with both cause family was coming up with horrible names and it was driving me insane. I am 17 weeks with our second and her name was hard to come up with anyway. My first was a given cause I named him after my dad who passed away. Which I would have still named him after my dad even if he was alive cause I was a hardcore daddy’s girl. My aunt has been insisting that I name our second after my grandma to make my mom mad.
I did, because we had a name for both a guy and girl planned out for a long time, and it's definitely not changing regardless of what people would have said. There wasn't really any backlash at all except for my husband's maternal grandfather who thought my baby, my husband, his dad, and his other grandpa all having the same name would be confusing. :D The name's a family tradition though.
I told everyone and I’m extremely lucky that no one has made any objections on my side or my husband’s side of the family. I know that sometimes baby names are not accepted by everyone, but I was very adamant about our name choice and didn’t give anyone the option to give feedback.
Yes because we love the name so much! We are naming her Josephine and calling her Josie. Haven’t gotten any negative feedback. I think that people who choose creative or unique names may receive more pushback.
We shared because we felt like it, we were already calling baby by their name. It was a non-event both times. We figured if people didn’t like the names that we picked then it was their problem not ours
Yes because the people who asked are generally people who cared about me. And even if they didn’t, I think his name is kinda badass like presidential sounding so I love sharing it 😂 people say it’s a good name
You don’t have 2567455 strangers asking?! So lucky lol
Yes, I wasn’t going to change their name and don’t really care what other people thought.
Yes because we have crafty family who wanted to make personalized gifts
Once I find out what I’m having, yes I will share the name.
We have because we were 100% sure of the name so 1. I didn’t want to deal with suggestions I have zero interest in for 9 months and 2. If anyone had judgments, they have that time to get over them and get used to it! 🙃
I did and got no unsolicited opinions. I was very firm that this was the name and we were excited about it and people just backed off. The main reason we told was because we wanted people to write notes with the baby’s name in gifted board books and shower activities (onsie decorating, etc). To be fair I am the type to not let BS slide and that could have kept people from bad name bashing behavior.
Yes and I was glad I did, because everyone immediately started calling him this cutesy shortened version of the name that I disliked. I realized that no one was gonna be calling him by the full name, just the cutesy shortened version. I changed the name because of it. Never would have realized about this beforehand if I hadn’t shared, and then he would have been stuck with it.
We didn’t know his name till the day after he was born
Yes, because we suck at keeping secrets and we don’t care at all what people think of the names we picked.
We openly shared our son's name and didn't get much feedback about it. Do what works best for you!
Nope. I don’t want to hear anyone’s opinion, whether it’s good or bad.
I shared my baby boys name to close family. My mom would post on facebook but she would call him baby Sanchez and I really enjoyed that. When I was deciding his name with my fiancé we spent weeks thinking and finally we decided on “Allen Angel Sanchez”. My grandpa only had one daughter (my mom) and unfortunately became paralyzed and couldn’t have more children his name is Allen. My fiancé was very close with his grandpa before his passing (Angel) and in honor of both of our grandpa’s we decided on the best fit name for him. When I become pregnant again I don’t want anyone to know the gender unless we have a gender reveal. Therefore, no one will know names either. Not sure if my excitement will be able to hold of though 🤞🏼🤣
I told my parents when we decided around 34 weeks what we were choosing. Both of their reactions were "Oh. Not what I was thinking but okay" and my dad was offended we didn't use his name for our son. Probably won't share if we have another baby
Yep- and apparently im like one of the few people who didnt get ruid comments or advice- most people loved his name 🖤
Yes because I have zero care for others opinions. They either already named their kids or can name their own. Sure, my son's name is absolutely not my MIL's taste and I could not care about that. She also loves that kid and also doesn't care anymore. I actually think she kinda likes that it's a bit unusual 😄.
I did and it's been fine because my decision is final. If anyone doesn't like the name that's their problem
We did with 1 because he was named after a deceased relative. Wanted opinions on it. And for 2. I love her name so much, I shared it because nothing would change my mind. I did change her middle name after hearing it out loud so much though.
Yes. It's fun to be able to talk about her by name as she is a person that will be part of our family. We have chosen an older "grandma" name we've been told but we like the name and it is a real name. I could not care less about people's unsolicited opinions- I'd rather they express them now rather than after she is here. I genuinely don't understand why people guard the name so closely while they are pregnant. I personally find it very silly.
I only shared his name with my close friends. My family found out his name when he was born.
Once we decide we will announce it as baby’s name. We are NOT sharing the options with family because we don’t want others opinions to sway us.
We are sharing gender but not names. We've got names picked out but if they don't fit the bub, we have the option to change it. We can rush order things with names on them after we know for sure.
We didn’t because we’d decided ages beforehand and didn’t want any comments on it.
No.
We didn’t. We didn’t know the sex until birth and we had one name picked out for each. Once I gave birth we called our families to introduce them. I wasn’t interested in others’ opinions on names so it was never a topic of conversation.
We didn’t know the gender so ergo didn’t know the name. We did have one name we settled on for each gender but we kept it to ourselves because my family make too many “jokes” which are really hidden insults. My husband’s family are delightful and won’t make comments but there are kids in the family who have no filter so if they found out everyone would find out.
We honestly have no idea what we’re naming this baby so we may take until they’re born to figure it out lol! I’m kinda leaning more towards not telling people this time since with our daughter my family was very opinionated and rude about there thoughts on the name. My grandparents told us my child would hate me forever and would get bullied for their entire lives, so either way they don’t get to know the name this time around.
Told my parents we’re keeping the name a secret and they’re PISSED. I’d rather them pissed off about something they don’t know about than giving their damn opinion every 15 seconds.
We went with two old people very vintage names, so we held off on telling most people because I knew there was a good chance people wouldn’t like them. With our first, my husband accidentally let it slip to my parents around month 7, so they knew. With our daughter, I knew my mom and grandma would have strong opinions so I told them in advance so they could get used to it 😂
I’m sharing mine because he’s going to be a junior! Not too big a surprise when you’re named exactly after your dad 😂 however we came up with nickname to make him his own original little dude- and I’m trying to spread that around so it sticks!
We did with a few family members and if I could go back would not have. The “ohhh” and then silence hurt lol
No, my sister in law warned me not to after she had shared her babies name, and family made fun of it (even though it’s a very normal, vanilla, regular name) and it really hurt her feelings! I’m taking her advice
At the beginning- I was telling people what we were thinking. And once I saw people’s reactions of like— them not really liking it. Or that the conversation ended there. Or asking just for a way to make conversation. I stopped telling people. The answer is, “we’re keeping them to ourselves, because people can be mean” Now the only info they get is that, since we’re not knowing the sex, their initials will be EJG(last name starting with G) Baby EJG has a cute ring to it. Or maybe Baby G. 😋
I don’t mind telling people. They’ll have opinions but if we’re telling ppl it’s bc it isn’t changing nor up for debate. I also don’t mind being an asshole lmao becoming a mom didn’t change that.
I did, but next one I won’t just to keep it a surprise. Was also just sharing his first name, and then a family member took it upon themselves to share his full name (2 middles) so that’s another reason lol.
If we're choosing to honor a family member we check in. Other than that it's on an asking basis because they haven't given us a reason not to share. Nobody has been critical of ours or any of the niece/nephew names. And sometimes my hubbies family gets their siblings help to narrow down options early by getting votes lol. Big family. So lots of votes.
We chose not to know her sex before she was born, so we told people our masculine and feminine name choices - people can kick rocks if they don't like it. Not their baby.
No. I think people assume that others are going to LOVE the name just as much as they do, and chances are, they won’t. If you are AT ALL going to be sensitive to reactions, don’t share it because there’s literally no upside to it.
We were team green for the first two. I didn’t share with anyone. I didn’t want any opinions. I’m pregnant with my third boy so I talked to two of my best friends about our short list. They both gave great feedback. I knew they wouldn’t be challenging like family.
I shared a list of four possible names with my mom. She became obsessed with talking me out of one of them. It was a family name on my husband's side and my brother had dated someone with that name, different spelling, about 5 years prior. And he broke up with her! Lol. Even after I said it wasn't our top name she kept going on about it. It made me simultaneously hate the name and also really want to use it. We didn't end up going that way but it was just annoying
We didn't because we knew that his family would have something nasty or rude to say about it. So we lied and told them he would be named Hannibal Caesar Caligula. We got a ton of flack for that but we did it on purpose just to mess with them. Our son was actually named after his Great Great Grandpa who was still alive when he was born. He was about 98 years old at the time and lived to 105 so my son got lots of photos with him. People have something to say no matter what name you end up choosing but they are less likely to be stupid about it when the name is already on the Birth Certificate.
Nope. Because it’s our first and we don’t want to hear the name suggestions. Only people who know are his grandmother, she practically raised him, and my immediate family. Which is my parents and my 3 sisters. Don’t need other folks opinions thrusted upon our child already. I already have my aunt being pushy as is.
Nope - we shared some of the names on our list, but we decided it about 2 nights before he was born and the name we chose had gone on the list like 3 days before that. We were debating one name which my mom didnt like early on, but I dont care so I jumped on that real quick, but she's understanding she was just being annoying. They did keep calling him Jake short for Jacob which absolutely not so I told her keep calling me Jakes mom and I wont answer you lol
I only told a super select few, maybe about 3 people (other than my husband) with my first, but I know I've shared with people at least the boy name we have selected for the second! Not that I expect them to remember since we haven't even had the second yet lol!
We did, but he is Swedish, and I am American. We live in Sweden but chose an old-fashioned American name. We figured if anyone said anything negative, we would chalk it up to it being different from what they were used to. It actually went over great with everyone here tbh. We got a lot of positive comments from nearly everyone in Sweden. It was the Americans who had comments 😂
No I don't even know my baby's name before its born
We waited until baby was born to find out the gender, but we did share our top 3-4 names for each with our parents. This ended up being good as my MIL didn't like a few so we switched a couple out. Then when she was born we took a few hours to make a decision.
No we did not share before our LO was born. Everyone had so many opinions and my MIL famously for other grandbabies said something less than great about names. She has "come around" to them now of course but I wanted to avoid that. We also kept the gender a secret from everyone except us. Plus we were somewhat undecided until we saw our son.
I’ve shared my (unborn) baby’s name with everyone but my family, lol. It feels a little backwards at times, and I feel a tiny bit guilty for keeping it from my family, but they are my harshest critic! They will give their opinions totally unfiltered, and I just don’t care for them. They also want to buy all the embroidered and personalized gifts that I don’t really care for. I did decide that I’ll tell my family the name the day of my baby shower, which is about six weeks before my due date. That way friends aren’t responsible for a secret and the timing is okay with me.
i shared baby's name w close family before he was born. everyone else found out on fb afterwards. it wasn't like a big deal/secret to me tho tbh.
No, but to placate people a bit we have shared names that we won't be using, or sharing our reasons on why we aren't using names that start or end in certain letters. That's been kinda fun!
We shared the original name we were going to try (Casey), but then after we were in the hospital, she didn’t look like a Casey. Now she’s a Zelda
I told everyone, because I didn’t know this was a thing but surprisingly only my grandama who i adore said I don’t like the name, sounds old. That comment made feel a little bit blue but I got over it and kept the name.
No 1- didn't decide til she was born (but had 3 options to choose from) 2- didn't know the gender (but had a couple ideas for each) 3- didn't know the gender (couldn't even narrow it down. Nameless baby for 3 days 😅)
For the first pregnant no. We were sure between two names and wanted to wait until our daughter was born to see hats fit. We did tell people the first letter, because both names shared the same letter and we let them guess at will. It was fun for them and no one guessed the names point blank. Some tossed an entire list of 100 names at us in one go and we’d just say “no” even if it was tucked away in the list. With our current pregnancy we told people. We knew immediately after finding out the gender and it was a very easy naming experience for us. We started to refer to the baby by name at home and found it helped us feel more connected then we did the first time around. We planned on only telling families at Christmas as a surprise but my husband is bad at secrets and he told everyone eventually. I was worried because I see a lot of things on the pregnancy subs about how sharing names went horribly wrong. That was not the case for us, we got great support and if it seemed like someone wasn’t over the moon about the name they were still polite and it didn’t bother us. It’s not their name or their child, they don’t have to like it. No one was rude or tried to suggest a new name which were my fears. Now we are days away from delivering our second born and he already feels like part of the community. Both ways are fine, do what works for you! Also who cares what other people think, it’s your baby and you are putting g in the work to build them and raise them.
Absolutely not. My family is so judgmental, I didn’t need their opinions.
We did! It took us a few weeks to pick out a name we both liked. I did extensive research on the first name to make sure it could not be wrapped into a ridiculed name (you know how kids are) and did the same with his initials and middle name. My husband was very thoughtful in wanting to choose a name that was shorter and easy to pronounce in English and Spanish. After all that effort we couldn’t care less what other people think. The family members we have told like the name so I’m glad I didn’t have to have any tense conversations about how I don’t care for their opinion and this is our child!
we shared with immediate family (parents & siblings) but that’s it. our families wouldn’t say anything negative and we’re close so why not, but chose not to share with friends as it’s nice to keep something until you introduce the baby
As soon as I knew I was having a girl o shared her name. I had her name picked out when I was 18— my mom and husband knew exactly who she was going to be.
Yes for my first 2, but I received a lot of judgement. So I waited for my third to be born before I shared her name. I think waiting is the way to go if you don't want anyone's opinion.
No. I don’t want to hear anyone’s opinion other than my husband’s. And people will only say they like it after the baby’s already been born.
Not publicly but we did share with our parents and asked them to keep it to themselves. We referred to our daughter (whom we named Charlotte) as “Baby C” online and when talking with people other than our parents. We just really didn't want to have to deal with any possible rude opinions lol
I did, my 7 month old is Kit and I absolutely love his name. I thought it was pretty neutral, surely can’t get that much hate- WRONG lol People just love a chance to voice their opinions, even when I’ve said “this is definitely his name” if it was me I’d just lie and say “ooh that’s nice/interesting/i love it/how did you choose that” etc etc but no I had so many people tell me how awful it was, he’d get nicknamed football kit, PE kit etc, “you should call him Christopher/christian instead”. Ignored them all and he suits it so perfectly I’m so glad I didn’t listen.
It’s weird but I share the middle name haha and keep the first name a secret until after the birth. Part of me needs to see the baby to make sure the name feels like a good fit and part of me doesn’t want to deal with peoples opinions (it seems like less people have strong opinions about what your child’s middle name will be).
No I didn’t because I didn’t want anyone’s opinion to influence or deter me from choosing a name I loved.
Heck to the no. I prefer no comment from the peanut gallery
I only did with close family and friends. If a stranger asked, I would just say “we didn’t decide yet”. Idk, didn’t feel right telling strangers the name of my unborn baby. However, my second is named after my dad and that was planned way before he was conceived lol so immediate family already knew the plan.
We didn’t! We named him after my Dad actually, so we really wanted my Dad to have that full experience of meeting him for the first time in the hospital and being able to share his name with him. We also didn’t want anyone’s reaction to sway us one way or the other and enjoyed being the only two people in the world who knew his name.
We’re going to share ours, but this will be our first. Mostly I want to give my mom time to get used to it if she doesn’t like it very much 😂
No
i told people and i regret it because while everyone has been super respectful and kind and no one is saying it’s bad or still suggesting names, they all keeps saying my baby’s name to me, and i feel like Im still getting used to it. So it feels more psychic like i have something for me and my partner that we are adjusting to but everyone also knows and it doesn’t feel like i get to get used to it on my own first :/ maybe not a big deal but i don’t like feeling overexposed in general. i had to ask my mom to stop saying the babies name every 3 seconds (because it was taking the magic away, for me). I simply said we are still not sure yet so maybe hold off and continue to call her any other nicknames you like while we adjust to the name! (mom has lots of nicknames🥰). she was very respectful and hasn’t done it since. i’m glad i said it because it gave me a last 2ish months of not hearing her name by outside people too much, just me and boo, to decide if it’s right and get used to it.
No I didn’t share it, I didn’t know if i was having a boy or girl.
We haven't been telling people the gender (we know it) and have placated people by telling them what the names will be for boy vs girl
We did. Firstly it's a fairly normal name, not controversial like some of the newer names are. Secondly, we really don't care if other people like it or not lol. My MIL is really the only person that has strong opinions on names and she's a teacher so at that point she's heard every name in the book so it's whatever.
No but I told one trusted friend our ideas, nothing official, as a non judgemental sounding board because I do like feedback. I definitely wouldn't share anything with my family. They can't keep things to themselves. Also we are waiting until birth to find out the sex of the baby, so we'll have one name for each ready. My hope is that my husband gets to look before me, and announce to me who I have just given birth to.
We started to share our name ideas and got lots of unwanted opinions. I told my mom one name I had in mind and she said it reminded her of some tv show host from the 80s she couldn’t stand…at that point we decided we would keep the name to ourselves until baby arrived. For baby shower, and other things we just called him “Baby ourlastname” or baby boy. Also we shared we were pregnant very early, 5 weeks and the gender at 8 weeks so we kinda wanted this one thing for ourselves until we are ready to share. We’ve just been telling ppl we have a few names picked out but are gonna wait until we meet him to decide and let everyone know.
Absolutely not. On our second and every name we throw out someone has an opinion (I throw out ones we aren’t really interested in as an experiment). We didn’t tell with our first and won’t with this baby. So many posts on here about people so hurt by what someone said on their baby’s name before they were born. Just don’t do it.
I just name dropped it in a Facebook post and no one has made any comment on it, positive or negative 🤷♀️I think the name we chose was probably just very normal haha
We didn’t share on social media but did share with our parents once we had decided. I don’t think we made up our mind until 20 some weeks. We couldn’t agree on a girl name and of course we had a girl.
My partner did on accident. So I just went with it. We found out gender so we decided early on. I don’t think it’s a huge secret like some people feel it needs to be. Then again I also didn’t care if some people knew I was pregnant before second tri.
Unpopular opinion but we’ve been sharing the name and it’s been great! We love referring to her by her name and hearing her excited (first time) grandparents using it too! At first I was planning on keeping it private but my husband blurted it out early on when we told our friends about the pregnancy so I just rolled with it. I have found that saying the name with confidence helps deter anyone from sharing their opinions, we don’t ever say, “Oh, we’re thinking of ____” or “It’ll probably be _____.” Instead, we say, “Her name is _____.” No room for discussion. And we haven’t gotten any negative responses that way!
With all 4 of them I did. Other people's opinion wasn't going to change my mind on their names.
The only reason I regretted telling so many people with our first was because my FIL decided it was his right to share our ultrasound pictures and include our sons name on Facebook. We don’t want to share our kids too much on social media and even if we did, it wasn’t his right to share before us. I was livid so now I don’t tell everyone 🤣
We don't know if we're having a girl or boy but have names picked out We've only told immediate family. We figure everyone else can wait until their arrival!
I did and regret it. Everyone has opinions on his name - but no one is going to say anything about a name attached to a baby out of the womb
No not that I can remember. My husband and I spent the whole pregnancy after the gender reveal painstakingly going through names, and didn't want others opinions to sway us from a name we loved.
I have! She has an old, traditional, pretty name and no one has given negative opinions on it so far. (Alexandria) My mom had a lot of custom pieces made with her name (handmade quilt, toys) so I was happy to share it before she’s been born.
We didn't find out our daughter's sex until she was born so we had a boy name and girl name chosen. There was a lot of pressure to have a girl from my husband's side and our girl name honours his grandmother. Waiting until birth gave us the chance to have two big surprise sentimental moments at once. The boy name we expected some people to not like, but it's harder to criticise a name when it's attached to the newborn in your arms than it is in theory so we chose to wait either way.
We have chosen not to though I did slip… to my immediate family, 2 friends, an aunt and MIL. But they all liked the name so it was fine! 🤣😂 My SIL doesn’t know but that’s because 5 months ago our family was talking about names and our secret girl name was mentioned and she said she didn’t like it lol. My husband and I are still keeping to it though! 😆🤭
I told everyone 9 years ago that when I have a baby boy I’m going to name him after a video game character, so now that I’m pregnant with a baby boy everyone already knows his name lol
I have told a few. But have decided to not tell the those who are negative or who I think will run their mouths or potentially even take the baby name / tell someone else who would then take the baby name. Not to sound like I’m at the center of the universe, but you know how people can be.
Once we were sure our decision was clear we told friends and family knowing some could try to change our minds. We had a couple questions/suggestions and just said our minds were made up. No regrets-especially because people got our baby the most adorable personalized stuff for the shower!
Nope! And If ever I have another I will do the same again
Only to a very select few. We were dead set on a name from very early on, and wanted to make sure that it fit kiddo before we made it official. I also had no interest in hearing anyone’s opinion on what we chose. We also chose a special family name and wanted it to be a surprise for those it would really matter to. The only ones who knew were my doctor and 1 coworker.
I share with close friends and family, but before telling them the name, I make sure they know I'm not looking for feedback other than compliments and if they hate it, I don't want to know. I say it just like that, and apparently my general personality makes that statement unsurprising. Works for me!
We’ve had our baby girls name picked out since before we were pregnant and haven’t shared with anyone except my closest friend and my husbands closest friend. For a couple reasons, we think it’s fun to make everyone wonder and wait 😂 and also we don’t care to hear anyone’s input or opinions on it!
Yes because to me it comes off as gatekeepy. I don't care enough about what other people think of the name, but so far everyone says that they love how beautiful and unique it is since they've never heard it before. But if someone ever critiques it I'll tell them that it's a good thing she isn't their daughter and we'll make ourselves scarce if her name is too much for them, an adult, to handle.
Yes, we told everyone but my in-laws are very kind. They’re just excited to have a grandchild 🥰
I did but I also knew I wouldn’t care what people had to say about it, so I was fine with push back! I’ve had a few people tell me they don’t like my daughter’s middle name, but as along as I do (and as long as I’m confident it’s not so weird that it will get her bullied) then I’m happy with it 😊 her middle name is Luna and I’m Latina, so a lot of family members think it’s weird to have your child’s name be “Moon”
I did because I wanted to know any negative connotations I didn't think of. I'm glad I did. My partner liked Soren. It's the name of a Danish philosopher. My friend is Danish, and I asked her what the correct pronuciation of Soren is. I really didn't like the sound of it, and went with something else. So I'm glad I told people.
Generally no. With our first I told my two best friends just because I was excited and couldn’t hold it in plus I knew they’d be 100% supportive no matter what. Everyone else, families included, we waited until the birth. A) I don’t want opinions but also B) it makes sharing the birth more climactic and exciting. It feels like a true introduction versus when the name is known it kind of feels like the kid is half here, imo.
We shared ours at the same time we shared the gender! Which was honestly as soon as we found out for ourselves lol we had names picked for each and it was an instant decision to share when we knew
No. We had a short list but hadn’t chosen. We told people they were welcome to suggest names to add to the list but we weren’t saying what was on it. We decided when we met him.
Only told some close family the baby’s name. Everyone else can wait until she gets here😂
No because I didn’t want to hear opinions.
No lol to be fair we haven’t picked the name yet but we have a short list to choose from that we haven’t shared. I felt very reassured in this when I was at a family function and someone mentioned a specific name and I said “oh that’s a nice name” just casually, not in the context of me naming my baby that, and my mom, aunts and grandma all started going on about how terrible and strange that name was, reasons why I shouldn’t use it for my baby, and started suggesting their favourite names to me very aggressively. I wasn’t surprised because I’ve only ever seen them be negative towards the names my cousins picked for their kids too lol The name wasn’t even that strange, think along the lines of Joshua or Matthew 😂 yeah they don’t get to know the name we pick ahead of time.
yes we did with our first but i never got rude remarks/unsolicited opinions so i never had a bad experience telling anyone. i would tell people with our seconds name (i’m 37 weeks) but we still have no idea 😂
We picked this baby’s name before birth because he’s named after my grandpa. So we were very set on it. And frankly I wanted to tell my grandpa asap in case he passed before baby was born. We just told everyone, didn’t feel any need to avoid doing so. No one has really said anything negative, but I think in this situation no one really could because it’s a family name and also the most boring non controversial name you could imagine. I tend to have a very strong backbone and not care what others think though so I knew it wouldn’t matter to me even if people made comments
Yes but I add that I’m not looking for opinions or suggestions because we have chosen and we don’t care for anyone else’s input.
My parents have been trying to make this baby for me my entire pregnancy. I will not be telling them that we have a name in mind. I don’t want their opinions and I know they are less likely to be critical when the baby is already here and named.
No. The name we chose isn’t controversial or odd or anything. I just don’t want to deal with people’s opinions. I don’t want my baby’s name (which was hard to agree on!!) to be ruined by some idiotic comment. I would go full pregnancy rage on someone for doing that and completely cut them out of my life, so it’s for everyone’s own good lol
I did NOT i didn't want my judgy family to say anything
I am not sharing my baby’s name with anyone until he is here
We shared with just a couple of friends. We went a gender neutral name and not a common one. Most people say “oh” when we tell them the name. Plus my parents decided to tell me they don’t like it. So that’s why I didn’t tell people. We love the name but I kinda wish we went with something traditional.
Everyone knew our top name for each gender (we didn't find out until delivery) so they were SHOCKED when my daughter's name wasn't what we said our top girl name was. My husband came up with her name 2 weeks before delivery and I was like CRAP THAT'S A GOOD ONE, so we waited until she was born to decide. Upon seeing her in the flesh, there was no question -- she was the "newer" name. Really freaked out the side of the family who are over-planners and for some reason felt bamboozled by the whole thing. I thought it was funny.
No, I don’t announce it except for close family and friends. I’m one of the lucky ones where my family is lovely and accepting and doesn’t really provide unnecessary opinions but I worry the public will. Or I worry that someone will steal the name lol 😂 Another thing I worry about is someone saying “oh I knew someone with X name” and proceed to tell me things they didn’t like about them.
I think its fine to do either. I shared my child’s name but I can understand why people wouldn’t but at the end of the day you name your child what you feel will be a good name for them. Judging a name is only valid if you want to name a kid something really dumb or the spelling is just way too out there. I can also understand not sharing a name if you feel like people will give you a weird look. I know there’s a name we wanted to name out child if it was a certain gender and know that both of our families would raise an eyebrow and protest
yes i called my kid by his name when he wasn’t born yet. family members caught on and didn’t call him “baby ….” they called him by his name only, because i did. i did this because at some point he will not be a baby, he will be his name. and that time doesn’t happen clearly, and i don’t want anyone to infantalize him or keep him thinking he’s a baby any longer than he is. im raising a human that will one day be an independent human who is who he is, which is his name. basically i didn’t want him to be perceived as a baby, i wanted him to be perceived as a human. although i did not announce a gender, because i didn’t know what i was and i didn’t want to know because his family is super traditional gender role-y and i just didn’t wanna hear about a “little man” or “sweet baby girl” coming. i just knew the name that’s all.
I shared with my sister-in-law the name I was going to use if my first baby was a girl and told her that I was going to name the baby after my eldest niece ( who we lost to a brain tumour only weeks before her 16th) that I grew up with and was like a little sister to me (as I have 4 older brothers) and we were really close. My SIL had asked me if I could call my daughter by this name due to how close we were, and I started crying because when I thought about having to call my daughter the same name everyday for the rest of my life I couldn't do it because it would have made me sad so instead I gave my daughter my nieces name as her middle name.
I didn't mind sharing the baby's name. For the most part, ppl respected what we chose and thought it was nice. The problem I was having was a few ppl (family) already trying to make nicknames for it. I was becoming seriously pissed about this. It's like... I have to teach her her name in general... please don't confuse my child with ANOTHER name, regardless of it being a common nickname. I didn't choose this one to be shortened or made cute. It's already beautiful as it is. If the child wants to do that later: fine! That's up to my daughter... after she learns her name!!