Choosing a baby name seems to fall into two camps: Those people that know straight away, and those that pour over baby books looking for that perfect name that 'fits' their child. I have several friends who fall into the former camp, having known exactly what they want to call their child from a young age. This isn't just restricted to my female friends either!
Those that fall into the latter camp may struggle during the pregnancy and even several weeks after the birth, up until the 6 week legal limit, to find the name they're happy to be calling their little darling. Giving your baby the wrong name will stick with them for life, right?
Apparently this isn't the case...
For those that choose a baby name and then find it just doesn't stick or fit, there is a surprisingly easy way to change it. Lena Corner recently wrote a piece for the Guardian discussing how she named her baby Ralph, but later decided that this name wasn't suitable. Lena reported that "I'd always had reservations about it, but after ploughing through endless baby-name books and canvassing opinion from everyone I couldn't come up with anything better.
So after 6 months of calling Ralph "the baby" and flinching whenever anyone else called him Ralph, Lena took the decision to change Ralph's name to Huxley. Before the age of 1, the procedure for changing a name is fairly straightforward. Simply fill in a form at the registry office, and the birth certificate gets changed, and it only costs £33!
Although the legal procedure is straightforward, the emotional fall out can be more difficult. Lena found that although her immediate family was supportive, others muttered about "the future identity crisis I was creating"
However Lena hasn't encountered many issues since changing her baby's name, and her older son has adapted to the name change fairly easily.
Have you experienced baby name remorse? Would you consider changing their name?