More often now the question everyone’s been asking us is, “Have you thought of names?” Well, yes, of course we’ve thought of names. I mean, we aren’t REALLY going to call the baby “Baby Boy X”, although that does have a certain mysterious charm to it.
One day a couple of weeks ago I was sitting out on the front porch chatting with my next-door-neighbour, whose front porch is close enough to our house that I could jump from mine onto hers if I was feeling a little more like a lithe, graceful cat and less like a lumbering, clumsy oaf. She asked me how I was feeling, if the baby is moving a lot and, as I mentioned above, if we’ve thought of any names for him. My neighbour is actually a very sweet lady, and although it took a few years for Graham and I to warm up to the folks living around us, we’ve become quite friendly with one another. She even bought a cute little outfit for the baby at a yard sale last weekend, saying it looked just like something Graham would wear if it were bigger (she was right, it did). So when she asked us if we’d thought of any names, I told her that yes, we were trying one out to see how it fit, but that no, we weren’t going to share it with anyone until the baby was born.
“Oh, come on, you’re not even going to tell me?” she asked.
“No, I’m sorry…we want it to be a surprise.”
If I’m not going to tell my mother, I’m sure not going to tell my neighbour (or the Internet, sadly).
It turns out that the name we were trying out just didn’t seem to fit. It felt like I was referring to a stranger, and not the person wiggling around inside of my belly. I think Graham was disappointed because he really did like the name we were trying…but I just felt like it wasn’t right, somehow. It’s hard to explain.
Then yesterday while I ate my near-daily helping of chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, I was watching A Baby Story (why I continue to torture myself in this manner is beyond me) and a couple was sharing possible names with their family members and EVERYONE had an energetic reaction to the names they mentioned. It made me very glad we’ve decided to wait to tell anyone the name we give our newborn son.
So now we’re trying out another name, which will probably just be one in a string of names this poor child is bound to have. Wouldn’t it be easier if babies would just be born, mosey on over, shake your hand and introduce themselves?
We’re keeping our baby’s name a secret, too, presuming we actually find one we like
. (of course we had a perfect girl’s name chosen)
we had a girl's name all settled on, too.
And are people offering suggestions, too? We keep getting “have you picked a name yet? No? How about X? How about Y? I think Z would be great!” I have been nice so far, but dude… Not planning to name my kid by committee
We did that twice. My mother (who lives 3000 miles away) was desperate to be involved and would call us at o’god o’clock in the morning and shreik WEIRD names at us.
‘Ooh! What about Lance? Or William! Or…or…Ruhla!’
This was at the HEIGHT of the Backstreet Boys craze. NO.
William is a beautiful name. And I know she wanted to honor her father. BUT THAT’S WHAT HER SISTER NAMED HER SON.
And Ruhla? The name my mom thought was so exotic, so alluring? Is her maiden name plus an A.
Thanks Mom.
(I should say that on one of those freaky-deaky phone calls she did come up with our son’s name. Or one of them. She’s not TOTALLY nuts.)
oh my gawd, I'm so glad my mom hasn't done that! Glad you didn't give birth to a tiny Backstreet Boy!
And where are my manners??
CONGRATULATIONS!
We had a name for a girl all picked out. Then we found out #1 was a boy. We picked the name Aidan and changed our mind around 6 months into my pregnancy. We ended up naming him when he was turning three DAYS old. Ha.
#2 was named at 38 weeks but we didn’t finalize it until a few hours after he was born.
Glad you’re keeping it a surprise!
Maria, I really like the name Aidan, too, but when I hear it I think of Sex and the City!
When we chose KayTar’s name (the ONLY girl name we could agree on), my mother decided the time was right to tell me my dad had been previously married to an evil woman with the same name we had chosen. Baby names, great for outing family secrets!
Oh no! Yet another good reason to keep the name to ourselves!
I totally agree with your methods. We did it both times. Telling people, you are just asking for their opinions. Which are usually completely unhelpful!!!!
Yep, almost all of my friends with kids have stories about their family's reaction to their choice.
We told the first time, but not with our second. I liked not telling MUCH better.
We told a few people the name we’re thinking about for our little boy and some of the reactions we’ve gotten are just terrible. Don’t people think first?! It’s not like we’re naming a puppy! So we’ve stopped telling people. It’s a shame, really! Some people just don’t get it… until they’ve been there maybe!
How rude! The baby is a person, after all. If you introduced a person to these people, would they think it's okay to critique their name? Goodness!
and here is where I admit I don’t really like the name we chose, it still doesn’t “feel” right so I TOTALLY get what you mean. and yeah DON’T tell anyone…it leads to nothing good.
How did you come up with the name, Jen? I think it's great, by the way.
Hold strong and don’t let out a peep because when you find THE perfect name you’ll want to share with SOMEone.
I got so sick and tired of being asked what we were going to name him and since I wasn’t telling the suggestions kept pouring in…finally I just broke!
At about 18 weeks we shared with family and close friends the name we have chosen (Jonah btw) and I totally wish we hadn’t because the slightest hesitation in response or the simplest “are you for sure?” sent me into defense mode and frantic thoughts like WHY ARE YOU QUESTIONING MY SON’S NAME? WHAT IN THE HELL IS WRONG WITH JONAH??? Etc. Etc. *sigh*
If we had decided to wait until his birthday to tell everyone, he could be Popeye or Casper the freaking friendly ghost (no offense to children named Casper) and they wouldn’t care at that point. Oh well, live and learn!
My mom is pretty desperate to know the name…she swears she won't tell anyone, but that kind of defeats the purpose of it being a surprise!
We had two names we were trying out for my son when I was pregnant. My hubby's sister was pregnant at the same time (4 months ahead of me) and she said she was naming her son Evan. I told her we were considering Aidan and a month and a half later when she had her baby, guess what she named him?? Yup, Aidan. I was so ticked, but I realized it had gotten way too popular anyway so I didn't want to kill her any more. The other name we thought we had settled on, but when he was born it just didn't fit. He didn't end up with a name until 2 days after he was born.
Baby girl already has a name, and has since before we knew her brother was a boy. I have told a few people but, like you, don't feel like announcing it on my blog until she is here!