One of the cardinal rules of having a baby (at least in my rule-book) is never to share your baby’s name before they are born.

I’m a bit superstitious about things like that so when I was pregnant I remained completely silent if anyone asked for name details.

Opinions and More Opinions

As it is, people have advice about literally everything:

“Don’t give birth unless it’s ‘natural’.”
“Demand that your doctor gives you a caesarian.”
“You HAVE to breastfeed no matter what.”
“Seriously, don’t even bother giving the boobie – just go straight to bottle.”
“Cloth nappies are the only way to go – you do love the environment don’t you?”
“Geez, are you a hippie? Stock up on boxes of disposables.”

What A Name!

It’s enough to drive you crazy with confusion. Now just imagine throwing a name into the mix and you can imagine the cacophony of criticism.

“Oooh, that’s an i-n-t-e-r-e-s-t-i-n-g name?”
“Hmmm..how do you spell that?”
“That’s exactly what I want to name my child!”

If You Don’t Have Anything Nice To Say, DON’T Say It!

But one new mum-to-be was so excited about her upcoming arrival that she didn’t consider the consequences of blabbing her bub’s name.

She shared her baby’s name with her grandmother and was devastated when her nanna’s response was pretty rude. She reached out to the Mumsnet forum to gauge whether she should consider changing the baby’s name before it is born.

“Due with our baby girl in just a few weeks. It took us a long time to pick a name that will flow nicely with the middle name as well as the surname and a name we both love equally,” the mum shared.

“My nan texted me this morning and ask if we’ve picked a name yet so I told her that we have and told her the name we chose is Esmé.”

Didn’t Expect That!

She then wrote that her nanna’s response was definitely not what she expected.

“Her response was simply ‘such a weird name’. Nothing more, nothing less. I’m gobsmacked and don’t know what to say back.”

The mum continued asking whether she should consider other baby names.

“I know it doesn’t matter what others think about the name we chose for our baby girl but it really got me doubting myself and now I’m sat here worrying whether we picked the right name. Am I being unreasonable?”

Shocked!

Many parents sympathised with the mum, saying that they too would be shocked by the grandmother’s reaction.

“People will comment if you tell them the name before baby arrives but hopefully have the decency to keep it to themselves once it’s a done deal,” one said.

“I’m sure it is a generational thing with grandma, mine is the same, any name she hears that is not the standard Mary/John she thinks it’s strange. I wouldn’t be getting into an argument with an old lady about it though,” another suggested.

Stick With It!

Many said that they thought her name choice was lovely and she should definitely not change it.

“This is my daughter’s name, and I think the name is absolutely beautiful. People are just so rude, no one should have any opinion on anyone’s name,” one mum said.

“Esme is a beautiful name, not weird at all. It’s pretty, suits a baby and a grown-up, I think of a successful, kind woman,” reassured another.

Did you share your baby’s name before they were born? Did you get any unexpected reactions? Tell us in the comments below.

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