New Post
Search
HelpRe: I have a question for those of you who have children, What was the process like for naming your child?
in reply to a message by Francisinfp5w4
In a word, interesting!
My first pregnancy was quite unusual and I couldn't imagine a mere male surviving it, so we spent our days considering girl names and failing to agree. We wanted to use our mothers' names as mns - Beatrice, and Bertha Maria - and I would have been staying with a friend whose full name is Vickie when the child arrived (husband on the other side of the planet for excellent reasons) so we also wanted Vickie. We shuffled the names like playing-cards, but no luck. I was hoping for a boy so I could name him Peter. The TV one night, while we were visiting my cousin, mentioned that a celeb named Peter had been born on the day we expected our baby, and we laughed merrily and said 'If it's a boy, it's got to be Peter'. And it was, and he is Peter David (a form of my birth surname) Alastair (after two good friends).
Next time around, we had a daughter. Beatrice was fine, but my mother had disliked her name so we were hesitant about using it as a first name. Bertha Maria was too much to deal with, so we ignored Bertha and used Mary instead of Maria. I secretly wanted to name her Lucy but didn't say so. Just as well: when she was born she somehow didn't look at all like a Lucy. So I took a name book and went through the girl names, looking at her to see if any of the ones I liked would be OK. The first one I found and liked was Caroline, and I was very grateful to her for not looking like Zoe! Caroline Beatrice Mary pleased us very much; sadly, she died when she was four. We decided to have another child, and to use one of Caroline's names for her if it was a girl. Peter, aged 6, said that if it was a boy, he'd leave home. He didn't have to, and we decided on Beatrice as the first name, Elizabeth (my step-MIL and also because it's so beautiful) Anne. So her initials are BEA, and her nn of choice is Bea.
My husband has two younger brothers. All of them got family names as their mns: the younger boys each got Fraser, and to his mild regret, DH got Ernest.
My mother, Beatrice, had an elder sister Eva. I asked my grandmother why, and she said 'Well, she was our first'. I asked if they'd have named a son Adam, and my Granny had obviously never thought of that and couldn't say a word for minutes on end!
My first pregnancy was quite unusual and I couldn't imagine a mere male surviving it, so we spent our days considering girl names and failing to agree. We wanted to use our mothers' names as mns - Beatrice, and Bertha Maria - and I would have been staying with a friend whose full name is Vickie when the child arrived (husband on the other side of the planet for excellent reasons) so we also wanted Vickie. We shuffled the names like playing-cards, but no luck. I was hoping for a boy so I could name him Peter. The TV one night, while we were visiting my cousin, mentioned that a celeb named Peter had been born on the day we expected our baby, and we laughed merrily and said 'If it's a boy, it's got to be Peter'. And it was, and he is Peter David (a form of my birth surname) Alastair (after two good friends).
Next time around, we had a daughter. Beatrice was fine, but my mother had disliked her name so we were hesitant about using it as a first name. Bertha Maria was too much to deal with, so we ignored Bertha and used Mary instead of Maria. I secretly wanted to name her Lucy but didn't say so. Just as well: when she was born she somehow didn't look at all like a Lucy. So I took a name book and went through the girl names, looking at her to see if any of the ones I liked would be OK. The first one I found and liked was Caroline, and I was very grateful to her for not looking like Zoe! Caroline Beatrice Mary pleased us very much; sadly, she died when she was four. We decided to have another child, and to use one of Caroline's names for her if it was a girl. Peter, aged 6, said that if it was a boy, he'd leave home. He didn't have to, and we decided on Beatrice as the first name, Elizabeth (my step-MIL and also because it's so beautiful) Anne. So her initials are BEA, and her nn of choice is Bea.
My husband has two younger brothers. All of them got family names as their mns: the younger boys each got Fraser, and to his mild regret, DH got Ernest.
My mother, Beatrice, had an elder sister Eva. I asked my grandmother why, and she said 'Well, she was our first'. I asked if they'd have named a son Adam, and my Granny had obviously never thought of that and couldn't say a word for minutes on end!
This message was edited 3/2/2024, 12:43 AM
