Lol |
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Pregnant with my third now. We’ve never shared beforehand, because we genuinely haven’t chosen yet - partially because I feel like I need to meet/see the baby first before I know what name “fits” him/her, and partially because - logical or not - it feels jinxy to me to name a baby before (s)he is born. The past two times we did go into the hospital with an unofficial shortlist of favorites we’d been tossing around - the risk of sharing that widely is that people take it as an opportunity to vote.
I know some people have a name 100% chosen and keep it a secret, but I think for a lot of people they don’t share because they really haven’t decided yet |
I didn't tell him I was upset. He doesn't know that. He just pushed me to reveal my name to everyone, but he and his wife would never do the same. You pick really weird things to confront people and fight about. Are you this socially awkward in person, or is your life really that boring that this is what is fun for you? |
| It's very common not to announce names before they're born. Nobody wants that kind of judgement and pressure to change a decision. Once the baby is born and named, then the deed is done and MIL can't have a conniption over it. We definitely didn't tell anyone our name list and we also didn't get any grief or questions about the names. We did get name suggestions but that's par for the course. |
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Totally normal. Babies get names and Social Security numbers. Around here, fetuses don't get baby names.
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| A little amused by the random references to MIL exclusion...was there some MIL-centric discussion in this thread that got deleted? |
I'm not disagreeing with you but its irritating when couples are super smug about not sharing the name, like it's some big secret the rest of the world is on eggshells waiting to hear. Do what you want but my point is, no one cares about being surprised and no one really cares more than you do about the name anyway. They are usually just asking to be nice, not to be nosy. |
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I think it's ok to not to share. Everyone has an opinion! Plus, I always wanted to reserve the right to change my mind when the baby was born if I felt like another name "fit" better.
We had 99% decided to name our son Noah and a day or two before he was born, my husband's brother asked what names we were thinking and I gave him the short list including Noah and he was like - definitely don't use Noah. I still used Noah and no regrets. That's fine if my BIL doesn't like the name - he doesn't have to name HIS kids Noah.
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Because the only people who get butt-hurt when couples don’t share the name are MILs who feel like they’re not being “included” by being invited to participate in the naming discussion (corollary, the baby being given the name they want) check out the family forum for some great examples. |
| Yes, it's normal. |
My spouse and I weren't trying to be smug and we weren't expecting everyone to be on eggshells. We kept it under wraps solely because we just knew if we didn't, we'd get unwelcome feedback and have to explain ourselves. And as it turned out, sure enough, even keeping it a secret, we got unwelcome input anyway. One of the in-laws said, unprompted, "You know what I don't like? When they make the wife's last name the baby's middle name." We sat there listening, already knowing that we had planned to do exactly that. And once the baby came, and we announced the name, the in-law never said another word. |
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People will say the rudest things about a name when you are still pregnant. But once that baby is here, most of them will shift to "how nice" even if they secretly hate it.
I kept it a secret both times for this reason. Also for some reason my MIL thought she should have a say? Hell no. I choose my 1st ones middle name, my DH choose the 2nd ones middle name. She did not get a say. |
Right. Which is why when someone responds "we aren't sharing the name yet" the only acceptable answer is "ok". Not "wow what a smug B you are". |
When you share that you are naming your child XYZ unless you say “we want opinions and aren’t sure” no one will give opinions. My family has zero boundaries and they’ve never given opinions on names. Also, why share gender but not name? No one cares about your child’s name as much as you and it’s a surprise no matter what. You’re just delaying the surprise because you think people care and no one cares. |
Yes!!! |