Choosing a name for your child is a difficult process.
On one hand it’s difficult to narrow down the choices but then there’s the part of you that’s scared to commit to a name only to realise days, weeks, months or years down the track that you don’t actually like it very much after all.
These parents sadly fall into the second category.
Sharing their stories on the parenting website BabyCentre there were many varied reasons for their change of heart.
For Jo it was an unfortunate coincidence that proved to be an annoyance that her and her partner just had to get over. Luckily they did with time and now love their daughter's name Florence.
"Sometimes, things are out of your control. The day after we named our baby, David Cameron [former UK Prime Minister] gave his baby the same name," she said.
"My partner and I had so many annoying comments, even though we got in there first. But now the shock has passed [and] we are very happy with Florence Isla."
Unfortunately for Sam she had to pick a name in a hurry and the remorse still hasn't worn off.
"I hate my baby's name, and I regret choosing it every day," she told Baby Centre.
"I wish I'd called him Arthur or Isaac. Actually, I wish I'd called him anything other than Lewis. I hate names that can be shortened, and Lewis' name gets shortened to Loo, which is just awful.
"He was named in a hurry, at just three days old, because of family pressure" she said.
Pronunciation changes were also a source of annoyance. Sacha wanted an unique name for her son and initially became annoyed at all the negative comments she received from complete strangers, but now she's happy she stood by her original decision.
"I picked a very unusual name and was initially shocked by people's reactions. Even strangers felt they had the right to comment negatively on it," she said, unfortunately choosing not to share the name.
"In the early days, when I was hormonal, I did have regrets, but now I'm back in love with his name. I would love to tell you what it is, but I want it to remain unusual!"
While mum Hayley loves that Cole isn't a very common name, she finds herself constantly having to repeat herself when people ask.
"I have to repeat myself about five times when people ask what my son's name is," she explained
"They think I've said Paul or Joel, but never his real name, Cole! But once they get it right I get nice comments, because it's unusual."
Other parents were worried that their chosen names gave them scope for teasing and wanted to protect their kids.
Solveiga went with her husband choice, naming their son Kamal, after his father. But she worries the name could make her child a target for bullies.
"I never liked it as I'm worried children will call my son camel in school," she said.
Instead she wishes they had gone with the name Ayaan.
"The name would have been perfect for him as we had difficulty conceiving, and it means 'gift from god,'" she said.
Jasmine's remorse comes from a similar place.
"We called our baby Amara, which means 'blessing', but I never liked the name. Her dad picked it because he loved it,"she said.
"I wish we'd called her Amelia because I'm more of a traditional person. I prefer nice, 'solid' names, where there's no room for mispronunciation or teasing."
Can you relate to these parents' baby name remorse? Tell us in a comment.
Top Comments
A little advice to Sam about Lewis getting called Loo. It's up to you to nip it in the bud. And doing that does work.
We picked a distinctive first name for our son, a name which peaked in popularity 100 years ago and we are yet to meet anyone with his name. It is more popular in central Europe these days. We get lots of lovely compliments about it, and it fits him with his bright personality.
We always introduce him by his first name, but occasionally someone new shortens it affectionately to the first three letters, which is a very common first name for boys quite recently. We make a point of calling him by his first name (either in conversation or to him); if that doesn't do the trick, then we diplomatically say that he doesn't know the nickname as his name. And they revert to his first name.
To anyone else wanting to shorten a kid's name to something which might feel obvious, you mean well of course, but follow the parents' lead.
When I was 5 months pregnant with my first baby her Dad and I went to his home city to visit his family. While there I made the mistake of telling his sister the names that we had settled on for both a girl or boy. They weren't set in stone but both my husband and I really liked them. The middle name we had chosen for a girl is similar to their mother's name, with only one letter different, although to me the two names are nothing alike as the pronunciation becomes very different minus that letter. My sister in law carried on and on about changing that letter and hence the name to honour their mother as there weren't any grandchildren named for her etc etc bla bla. I don't particularly care to name my kids "after" anyone so I pushed back pretty hard. She used the tactic that my child (were the baby a girl) would be teased because of this name even though it was a middle name. She moaned and bitched until our baby girl was nearly a week old and in the end I just gave in. My husband was surprised as he didn't pressure me at all but I think that some weird after birth hormones must have made me more easily bent because I caved in and gave her my damn MIL's name as her middle one. And I will be turned into a dog's hairy toe if I am lying to you, 6 years later that same sister in law did have a little girl herself and gave her the name that she had convinced me to change. Can't help who you are related to can you?