Polite way to say "We are not revealing our name choices?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm always a little offended when people won't tell -- although I don't show it. I know it's their choice, but it seems rude to me. I think saying you haven't decided is better.

Why is it rude? I don't think it's rude to ask, but I wouldn't be offended if someone replied that they hadn't decided yet or were keeping it to themselves.

I was astounded to realize once I told my family I was pregnant that my dad knew the name of practically every celebrity baby ever born, and would recite long lists of baby names that were unacceptable every time we talked...and for variety, he would add in names of co-workers' children that he thought were awful. My mother did something similar. We only liked one first name for a girl, so if people hated it, that was tough...and I didn't particularly want to hear about it for nine months, so we decided not to share our name choices with anyone before the baby arrived.

[Anonymous]

I just told people I was waiting to introduce them properly.

[Anonymous]

We're also using the combination explanation that we want something to be a surprise, and we want to be able to change our minds in case we look at her and say "She's not a Gertrude!" I actually don't mind hearing other people's ideas and just smile sweetly. I have a colleague (50s and unmarried) who loves offering me ideas. I think it's kind that she's so happy for us and interested, so I enjoy the discussion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just told people I was waiting to introduce them properly.

Clever response.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You could say: we are waiting to meet the baby to decide on a name that suits him or her best.

I have heard it all - and I like this reply the best!

[Anonymous]

For those who think they are coming up with clever answers - trust me, you just sound like a moron when you tell people those "clever" answers but then again I imagine you are the same people who announce "we're pregnant!"

Its your child's name and people will be using for the rest of that child's life. Its not some major secret that, if revealed, will cause harm.

[Anonymous]

I tell people we are keeping it a secret otherwise they do not stop asking! For me it is in part the jinx factor and in part the fact that I am too easily influenced (i.e. if someone said something negative I would have second thoughts). I am surprised by how many people ask though. I thought it was common to keep the name a secret.

[Anonymous]

'We prefer not to reveal our name choices' say it the way it is. It's not rude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those who think they are coming up with clever answers - trust me, you just sound like a moron when you tell people those "clever" answers but then again I imagine you are the same people who announce "we're pregnant!"

Its your child's name and people will be using for the rest of that child's life. Its not some major secret that, if revealed, will cause harm.

And YOU sound like a nosy, intrusive, abrasive, jerk. We chose not to tell people because we did not find out the gender (several people accused us of "knowing" that but just not wanting to tell, so weird). We told a few folks our name initially and one of the people, a colleague who annoys everyone, decided she thought it was going to be a girl and told everyone she *knew* I wanted a girl, and then proceeded to call the unborn child by the girl's name we had picked out. After that, we decided not to tell anyone else.

Oh, and, it was a BOY.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those who think they are coming up with clever answers - trust me, you just sound like a moron when you tell people those "clever" answers but then again I imagine you are the same people who announce "we're pregnant!"

Its your child's name and people will be using for the rest of that child's life. Its not some major secret that, if revealed, will cause harm.

Right, that's all well and good. Until you tell people the name of your baby female fetus and everyone refers to it that way and everything is monogrammed with her name and lo and behold a baby boy is born.

With our second, we said, sorry, we're not talking about names with anyone--the baby will be named when when we lay eyes on him/her.

[Anonymous]

Unless the pregnant person is your BFF since the four-year-old kindergarten and you guys took a blood oath that you would tell each other the names of your children as soon as the decision was made, you have no right to be offended if someone doesn't want to tell you. Honestly! Respect boundaries, people.

[Anonymous]

I don't believe anyone is for one moment actually offended when someone won't reveal a name. They *pretend* to be offended to put pressure on you. It is obnoxious. There is not one rude thing about keeping the name to yourselves until birth. As another PP said, you don't need a new polite way to say it, the way you've written it *is* polite.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't believe anyone is for one moment actually offended when someone won't reveal a name. They *pretend* to be offended to put pressure on you. It is obnoxious. There is not one rude thing about keeping the name to yourselves until birth. As another PP said, you don't need a new polite way to say it, the way you've written it *is* polite.

Amen!

[Anonymous]

A good friend of mine just told everyone that in her family it was bad luck to give the childs name before it was born. She always said it in a rather sullen way so it really cut people off at the pass.

[Anonymous]

Well, I will be the first to say that I didn't tell people our name because I didn't want to hear the criticisms. Maybe my family is just more opinionated than others, but I decided my family was less likely to say "How could you give a child such an awful name?!? How about Brayden/Aiden/Greyson/etc.?" if we kept it to ourselves.

Of course, I told them that we hadn't made a final decision yet. Worked for me, and family had fun guessing and providing suggestions. No big deal, no one offended.