How Long Did You Take to Name Your Child?

It took me a long time. I didn't know what I was having. I had both a boys and a girls name all picked out. When I took the first look at my son, that boy's name wasn't going to work for him. He just didn't look like that name.

Just before the hospital was ready to discharge us I had to come up with a name. I picked a combination of his father's name, my middle initial, and my father's name. He totally looks like his name it suits him well. His initals are DJAP. Sometimes we call him that.

A boy name would've taken a while. I had a girl name I have always loved, but her middle name took a while, up until I was 7 months along.

I picked my children's names when I was fifteen years old. I didn't have a child until 24, but she had a name the minute she popped out.

Waiting a couple weeks is REALLY common (working in a women's clinic we'd have a lot of paperwork with BabyGirl a. on it). It's not as common as it SHOULD be though. I don't know the stats on it, but I knew soooo many families who changed their baby's name in those first 6 months (it's free and "no court" to change a baby's name in the first 6 months/ a brand new "original birth certificate" gets issued, instead of a name change certificate). To a family they all had names picked out, but when their child was born it didn't feel right anymore, but they didn't want to leave with the pretend-certificate blank (you don't get a real certificate anymore). So after a few weeks, they said 'screw it, he's an Ian, not a Michael" and changed it.

My friend's parents waited 2 months to name their eldest for very stressful reasons I won't go into. He'd been "BabyBoy a." for so long, that's what they used as his middle name. (making up a first and last here) so he became John a. McCaffrey. Then they kept up the trend.

John a. McCaffrey
Ian b. McCaffrey
Shane c. McCaffrey
Aoife d. McCaffrey
Niamh e. McCaffrey

For myself, I knew my son's name before I knew he was my son (sex undetermined), and it fit him when he was born *perfectly*. But if I'd had a daughter, I'd have been screwed. COULD NOT decide on a girl's name. It would have been awhile.

I wander about their family background? Where I come from 4-6 months is common, I was given my name on my first bday:-), and I´m totally unharmed!

We gave our children their names at the hospital but we totally changed out minds at the birth of our son but it happened right in the same moment for both of us and only took eye contact between us to figure that out. What if that happened to your family but without the eye contact and now they are at a stand still? This can also be a sensitive issue between the new parents so my suggestion is to leave it to them and not get involved in any way, no questions at that!

Congrats on the new little bundle of joy,
H

We had the name chosen for a few months before our daughter was born.

But, I don't believe there is any deadline to naming a child. The hospital might push for a name to put on the certificate, but legally, they don't have to do this by a specific time.

Immediately. I knew long before he was born that he was an Oliver. And I was right :D

I was in the hospital for 4 days and almost left with "baby girl" and our last name. I had names picked out and everything. It was right before we left we named her.
I just wanted make sure I knew that her name fit her well.

We took a couple days. We just wanted to meet her and make sure the name fit and meshed with the way we felt about her.

We had both our children's names picked out before they were born. My little brother didn't have a name for about a week, the hospital almost didn't let my parents take him home without one ha ha!! My husband and I were just discussing this...it would seem more logical to wait until we get to know our kids before we name them.

My first child was named shortly after we knew he was a boy. So I went through the pregnancy knowing I was giving birth to a Tyler, my daughter was the same way...we found out I was carrying a girl and I knew I was giving birth to a Kristen = )
Then when I was pregnant with my third child when we found out I was pregnant with a boy we decided on Luke...Luke even made it on the first copy of our official birth certificate papers. Andy had zero sleep, and I was fine and Baby Luke was fine, so he went home to shower and change and take a nap...I called him in tears ( waking him up ) saying the baby wasn't a Luke and he thought I had lost my mind, he wanted to know what I meant...I said he did not look like a Luke...so then Andy asked me what he did look like and I said an Alex...Andy paused and asked what the middle name would be and I said James ( same middle name we had picked ) and Andy was ok with that = ) So by the time we left the hospital we had an Alexander James instead of a Luke James....which was only a mild inconvenience because I had pre filled out quite a few of the birth announcements! = )

We took about four days to name our first child. But she was bon 2 months early and we were not ready. I'm pregnant again and we will not be naming this one until we see what he looks like so again it may take a few days. Give them some time and don't make it a big deal. This is a big decision and maybe they just need some time to figure it out.

we had all 4 of our boys' names picked out before we went to the hospital and our second one is named benjamin charles:)

Yikes. It's a hassle to name your baby after you've left the hospital. A friend of mine failed to name her daughter for a week, and it took her a year to get the appropriate paperwork filed after that! (I figure, if you pay the $20K for the hospital's services, might as well take them up on the paperwork end of the bargain!)

We didn't know if our oldest would be a girl or boy, and we had a few names for each picked out. She was named within an hour after being born, though. My second child, we knew would be a girl by 20 weeks, and we had a name picked out for her by 21 weeks, so she was named long before she was born. :)

I knew a couple who took three months to name their baby girl. I think they must have enjoyed the attention and surprised inquiries that brought them, but that's only a guess.

I've never known any other baby not named by the time it left the hospital. I had chosen my own daughter's name a few months before her birth (and a boy's name, just in case, but I had a strong feeling she'd be a girl.)

We picked names for all three by the third trimester.

We had names chosen before they were born. Boys' and girls' names as we didn't find out the sex until they arrived. If we ever have a girl I still have the perfect name for her. I didn't tell anyone the names we chose. I didn't want anyone saying anything negative about the names for our boys. I think maybe we should have called my middle child 'Buster'.

I took a full day to name my little guy. We had 5 names picked out, but we weren't sure any fit. Our daughter finally chose from the 5 we had.

We had two names chosen for our daughter and named her at birth. Our son was 2 1/2 months early and we had not chosen a name. However, we found it troubling to have a sick baby in the nicu without a name, so we chose (a name on our list) David. For some people naming a child is a really serious personal thing and it takes longer for some than others... In both our cases I am glad that we waited to meet our kids before settling on a name.

I already have names picked out because my husband I have been trying for a baby for some time.

If it's a girl:
Deliya Elise or Aubrie Michelle. We love these two names and will decide one of them when we see her.

If it's a boy:
Kafferan Robert or Harlen Christopher. Same idea. one name will fit.

I can't imagine that it should take 3 or 4 days to name your child lol. You have had months to decide.

My daughter was 4 days old before her father and I could agree on a name.
As a little girl, I dreamed of being a mother. I constantly thought of names for my children.
When I was pretty sure I was having a girl, none of the names I'd thought of came to mind. I wanted to name her my middle name, which is the name my grandfather wanted me to have as a first name. She was to be his first great grandchild and I wanted to honor him.
Nothing doing.
I never imagined it would be so hard. There were lots of names I liked and he just wouldn't agree to anything.
It took 4 days.
My son's name was picked well before he was born and I'm glad I didn't go through any of that a second time.
Doing the birth certificates at a hospital, it's surprising how often that happens though.
Some people are like, "Dang...you had 9 months to make up your mind."
I was always pretty understanding though because I went through it myself.
Births have to be registered within 10 days and you might faint at how many original birth certificates have no first or middle names. Just a last name.
It happens.

Almost 24 hours, both times. We very nearly named our second Benjamin Charles, but ended up with Benjamin Joseph.

OMG we started coming up with baby names when we were dating. When we were pregnant we seriously looked at names, went through a 100,000 name baby name book several times, looked online, and then some. It was AWFUL! We were having a hard time. We narrowed it down to about 4 names for a boy and 4 for a girl (we didn't find out what we were having) and then decided right after our daughter was born. Out of the 4 names we decided against 2 together and then my husband vetoed the name I wanted more than anything. That made our decision! lol :) It was a long hard road and a very tough decision to make. Most everyone else we know knew the sex of their child, went a couple of rounds with names and chose one. I think people like us are the exception rather than the rule!

Don't people have 9 months to figure it out ? I find this a bit hard to believe that you cannot come up with a selection of names in that time frame ? Seems odd to me.

With all 3, my hubby and I were still discussing names while we held them in our arms. I can't imagine picking out a name months before and assigning it to that child. It's a very personal choice and one that needs to be taken seriously. With the last, I was in labor 3 weeks early, pushing the baby out with the laptop on, doing baby name searches (she was born on St. Patrick's day and we're of Irish descent, I think it's law you need to name a baby an Irish name, then, lol). Then we had to have the name approved by the other kiddos, it was a very democratic process, well, except for the part of trying to name her after a mermaid, I had the veto pen.

With my first son, when I was about 6 months pregnant.

With my second son, he was about 2 1/2 days old... we also were juggling 3 names and only made the very last minute decision b/c they needed the birth certificate.

We knew before we went to the hospital. With our son, we only knew a few days before--because we had been told early on that he was a girl. OOPS! Found out 3 days before his 10 day late delivery that he was a HE. So we chose a boy name and the doc was writing it on the birth certificate while I was still laboring, lol.

Daughter, we knew she was a she, and knew her name probably a month or more before I went into labor with her. But we were undecided on her middle name until the day I went into labor. We just couldn't decide on what to put with her first name. One of my husband's co-workers suggested Victoria as a middle name (not knowing that it was MY name) and since our son has my husband's name as his middle name, we gave our daughter my name as her middle name. I used to feel weird about it... but she likes it, so I don't care anymore. :)

I am 24 weeks and we have the name all along, just had to find out if we were having a boy or girl and we did tweak the middle name a little, but it is settled now :) With our first two boys, we had the name settled before going to the hospital, so we have been calling our babies by their names a while before they actually come! We refer to baby #3 by name all the time :) But I have heard of people taking like a week sometimes!

We knew our children's names before they were born. They picked out their own names in utero. When I was about 22 weeks or so-- we picked the names.

M

I would say within a week of knowing the sex, we had a permanent name. However, we spent a ton of time deciding on various options before we knew the sex of both girls!

And we do know what we'll name a boy, should one ever happen... :)