With about a month to go in my pregnancy, my husband and I still can’t agree on a name for the baby. We must text each other several times a day with names we’ve come across or one someone suggested, only to get an “eh” or a “not horrible,” or simply an emoji of an angry face. We’ve scoured “top baby names” lists and found a few we like, but nothing we both love.
With our first son, we started the process earlier in the pregnancy and came to agreement by the second trimester. It was fairly easy — we both just loved the name. The baby wouldn’t need to have a specific look or background to pull it off for the rest of his life. (You know when you meet someone, and their name just doesn’t mesh with their appearance or personality?) As for the middle name, it was more my selection since I wanted to preserve my Irish maiden name that I didn’t easily let go of when we got married.
But, at this rate, our second baby may never have a name! I pulled out our old lists from when we were naming our first and a lot of the same names are in contention this go ’round. There are also a few new additions, one in particular that I love, and everyone who asks me if we’ve chosen a name, I say, “I have, but my husband doesn’t like it.” When they hear the name they absolutely love it! He is the only one to this day who doesn’t like the name I am completely sold on.
So I’m having a hard time even warming up to other names at this point. It flows so nicely with our other son’s name and just so happens to be another C-name, though that isn’t a sticking point for either one of us. I even pulled the, “Haven’t I earned the right to name this kid?” card, but it didn’t go over so well.
With a dad from Italian descent and a mom with an Irish and German lineage, this kid could favor one background more than the other like my first son, who is clearly the spitting image of my husband — olive skin and brown hair and eyes. Maybe I’m overthinking this, but I am hesitant to give him a name like Rory or Jamison if he looks more like a Luca or Marco (just to be clear only one of these are on the potential list).
On top of that, my 6-year-old wants to have a say in his brother’s name, which is so sweet. But, he of course wants to name him after his best friend or suggests more traditional names, which are perfectly fine, just not my preference. I prefer a name that when called in class, four other kids won’t answer. I think there are a total of two other kids in my son’s entire elementary school with the same name as him.
We even had our friends take a stab at naming him one night over dinner and drinks. We wrote the name on the back of a paper plate that everyone signed as witnesses. A few days later, I had a change of heart and no longer liked what we thought was the perfect name after a few too many drinks (not me, of course)!
Our family also often weighs in, sending texts like, what about “X” or “Y”? A few of their suggestions have made it to the for-consideration list, but again, no frontrunner, except for the one I am still personally holding out for.
So, here we are, with no name for our second child, who is due in late April. It’s likely going to be a game-time decision once we first see his little face; maybe we will just know what name is meant to be his. Or, I will just sign the birth certificate when my husband is in the bathroom and end this mystery once and for all. Kidding (not kidding).
Have you and your partner ever completely disagreed on the baby’s name? How did you resolve it?
