Did you chose your child/children's names before or after they were born?

I cannot remember apart from my last child who we picked it several days after.

We could not agree n names, so it took several days.
Our middle child had my mother SO upset as in those days, we called him Todd and my mother said that is not a name and only a surname (Richard Todd)!

by Finy

Todd is a lovely name. I wonder why she perceived it as a surname.

Oh! Rice, 'cos in her day, it was! It's only become 'fashionable' to use surnames as first names, in the last few decades. My s/i/l's first name is Blake!

P.S. Saw UK actor, Richard Todd, in an old 'Silent Witness' last week. He as still handsome! When I was a kid, he was in a Disney series, 'When Knighthood was in Flower', with Glynis Johns.

Glynis Johns! She was a treat. Even in While You Were Sleeping she was still as funny as ever. Yes, Toddie was certainly a good looker. As for Blake . . . well . . .

I had some names in mind but I was waiting to find out whether they were boys or girls, and whether the names seemed to suit them.

by Jennifer Muirhead

I had my first child's name picked out for a few years before she was conceived. I just "knew" she was going to be a girl and that she would be named after my grandmothers. Our son I think we had a boys name picked out before hand (we also had a girl's name picked out beforehand) but it took us a couple of hours to pick the middle name.

by lizzi

After. We had all boys names in the air and got a girl. It was a good thing really . . . we hadn't agreed on any male names and totally agreed on her name.

by Rice

I haven't had a child yet, however, my partner and I have discussed our children's names for the future. Won't know if we would end up using any of them until I have one though

by elise

We picked our children's names out well before they were born. We picked out a male and a female name, just in case the sex we were told at ultrasound was wrong. We picked the names out well before, in case something goes wrong, and the child has to be born months early. Fortunately, all my children were safe and healthy and born ' on time'. There could be nothing more undignified for the child than to lie unnamed in the nursery....I imagine I would feel quite unwanted if it were me. Naming the child together is a bonding experience for the mother and father in order to PREPARE for the birth of their much wanted child. I found that even if I wanted to be disorganized, I couldn't. I bonded with all my babies and I felt that the best way to do that was to refer to the child by name, well before it was born. That gives it an identity, and we felt like we knew it when it arrived then. When I say I referred to it by name, I spoke to it and about it, just between my husband and I. No one else knew. The name always suited it, because you had had some months to get used to the idea !! When it finally arrived, you could not think of any other name that would suit its personality better, because you had been calling it by that name for months, and that was its identity.

by Lluxi

Well before first son was born.

With 2nd baby, thought it was a boy, so had the name ready.

At -4 weeks, O&G said better choose girl's name, as baby was smaller than previous baby, ie 8lbs i/o 9lbs!
Had to buy Baby Name Book, to help! Lol!

by donjo

That's odd. Size isn't any indication of the sex of the baby (just an anecdote but I have a boy and a girl who were the exact same weight at birth to the gram). I wonder if that was the common belief back then or just that doctor.

Oh! Jennifer, the above last sentence is right, on the two counts!
Well, that 'little' baby girl is 5'10", & now has a 6 month old beautiful baby, born 7lbs 7ozs! And gorgeous? Has inherited Nanna's dimples! Lol!

I had all the names picked out well before my girls were born. I too, "knew" that I was having girls even though some of the family were convinced a boy would be arriving. Even when I was wheeled down to give birth some of the girls in my ward were sayihg it's going to be a boy but I knew it wasn't. All have different names chosen for specific reasons but no weird ones of course.

by helga

One was chosen years in advance and one was a choice from 3 names - had to wait and see which one fit.

by lynne

They were all picked before.

In the days of having children in my time, it was not good a parent did not have a name!

One has 9 long months.

by jonaja

I had hoped for a girl ,and we had picked out a name,but then I figured that my ex always seemed to get his own way with so many things that we'd better choose a boy's name!!! Good thing we did!!!!

by Jules

The names were picked before our son came along. Of course my husband did not like any of the names I picked. Luckily for me, I liked the name he chose for our son.

by Vee

Oh! Vee, what a conundrum you had to go through, with what should be a happy occasion.................

I have to laugh, donjo. Choosing a name for your child is serious business. I would imagine that it's often a contentious task for many parents.

Yes, Vee, it is. We spent much time on ours'. Main aims were: name couldn't be shortened; initials couldn't spell a 'word' or 'meaning'; would stil 'sound' good when they were in their nineties', & no 'family' names.

We chose good, strong English, & Irish names which WE really liked, & they suit the children perfectly.

My moronic m/i/l was really shirty when we'd not named our son after her husband! Stiff s@&$! Our children, our naming rights! Cheers!

I totally agree with you. Others should be quiet - to put it mildly!

What happened? We saw neither of those two options. Our kids had their names with many other instructions in their little hands when they came out. B1 & B2. No, not bananas, brats!

Ha ha. Merry Xmas.

by Doctor Dave

What happened? We saw neither of those two options. Our kids had their names with many other instructions in their little hands when they came out. B1 & B2. No, not bananas, brats!

Ha ha. Merry Xmas.

by Doctor Dave

The names for the children were picked before they were born, they will continue to carry on the names of the fathers and grandfathers and mother and grandmothers.

by lmars

We did a lot of research before settling on a name.

by Gia

We did a lot of research before settling on a name.

by Gia

We are expecting our first and we have the name picked out. We are not telling anyone the name until the baby is born.

by AJ

I'd chosen the name for my child before birth. I had to change the name though because he turned out to be a Jake instead of the Madeline I though I was carrying!

by carolyncordon

The names were picked before our baby girl came along. name is Smily

by megha

Before, one for each sex depending which one was born
Farley

by farle

I choose a girls name when someone I knew said his daughter was called Simone. My husband didn’t like the name for 12 months'. Our 2nd daughter’s name I found when I started looking through the Woman’s Weekly’s baby name book. I choose, Alicia. Then when my husband was choosing the 2nd names I thought they were too common, so I agreed to shorten them! I really should have thought of using our mother’s names, as their 2nd names,
My eldest daughter & partner, on the other hand, didn’t name their 2 daughters, for 5 & 6 weeks! their eldest daughter was named Jinx, after 3 people, & at aged 4 she wanted her brother or sister to be named, "Risotto for a boy or Chilli for a girl” It turned out to be a sister, named Ginger. (No she didn’t have ginger coloured hair!)
I won’t go into how they got their 2nd names! In hospital they were: Baby ……(by their surnames)

by miro_

We chose both our babies names before birth. We did not tell anyone. With our second child, we chose not to know the sex before birth, so we had a boy and girl name picked out and didn't know which name we'd be using until the birth. That was fun and I'm glad we did that!

by Aleigha

We are 23 weeks pregnant and have chosen a name for our baby girl. She already exists and just referring to her as 'she' or 'the baby' is too frustrating and not personal enough. Our baby will enter the world around May 4th, but she is already alive and a growing human being who deserves a name. We told the family her name once we found out she was a she.

by pippa

We chose our child's name before he was born. We chose a name for a girl and boy, although my husband and I couldn't agree on name, we agrred if it was a boy I would choose the name, and if it was a girl he would choose it.

by Diana Nairn

Diana, Did you have a daughter or a son?

Hi Diana, Same as there question above! + What's the baby's name, & how old is the baby now?