Changing Baby’s Name

Australian blogger Sophie Cachia made headlines last week when she announced a name change for her new daughter.

Sophie – who blogs at The Young Mummy – welcomed daughter Betty, a little sister for Bobby, on January 14th. Two weeks later, Sophie and her husband announced that they’d made a mistake. Betty is now Florence, Flossy for short.

Many parents experience occasional frustration with their child’s name. Maybe it’s that Evelyn is far more popular than they realized, or because Grayson is sometimes spelled Greyson instead.

That’s not name regret. There’s a difference between these relatively minor annoyances, and the unshakable feeling that you’ve given your child the wrong name.

It sounds like Sophie quickly realized that another name from her original shortlist would suit her new daughter better. When that’s the case, a name change – especially for a newborn – is usually pretty straightforward.

Other families report starting their name search anew when their child is a few weeks or months old. If there’s pressure to choose a name before your baby arrives, that’s nothing compared to the challenges of choosing a name for a three-month old, as family and friends continue to use the name that you’re working so hard to replace.

Have you ever considered changing your child’s name? If so, did you go through with it?