8 Percent of Parents Regret Their Baby's Name, Survey Finds

[Mark]

It took Kelcey Kintner nine months to conceive her baby girl's name, Presley, but nearly a year of gnawing regret before she changed it.
Kintner, a 41-year-old who blogs about parenting on Mama Bird Diaries, said she and her husband chose the name Presley from a baby book, not as an homage to the king of rock, even though their older daughter's name is Dylan.

"I actually like the name Presley -- I don't dislike the name," said Kintner, who lives in Westchester County, N.Y. "It just didn't feel like her name."
Today at 4, Presley has been legally renamed Summer, inspired by the television teen drama, "The OC," and Kintner said she is satisfied that she finally got her girl's moniker right.

"It's such a difficult thing," she said. "It's hard to name a child before you meet them."

Kintner is one of an estimated 8 percent of parents who got it wrong the first time round, according to a nonscientific survey from the website site YourBabyDomain, which is getting a lot of press attention this week.

Some say that number is even higher. A February survey by the online Baby Center showed 11 percent regretted their name choice.

"It's sort of an awkward thing," said Kintner. "I don't think anyone takes it lightly. But some people are really struggling with it."

Parents in the survey cite a number of reasons for regret, including being influenced by trends (that turned out not to be trendy) or discovering other parents had chosen the same name for their newborns. read more
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Do you regret what you named your kids?

My daughter has a unique name and I don't regret it one bit. I think it is awesome and fits her perfectly. My son has a common name that I also don't regret.

[Sugr]

No, I don't regret our choices. My two have very common names, Daddy wouldn't have it any other way. I would have gone a little outside the box with their names but it wasn't worth a battle. They have grown into them and made them their own.

[Kid Lester]

My oldest's name was very uncommon when she was born. It caught on a bit from a TV show that came out after she was born.

My youngest daughter has a common name, but it's not been in fashion for a couple decades.

And my son...well, we made his name up. But it works.

I think all my kids' names fit them. No regrets.

[terri]

My oldest was going to have his name whether he was a boy or a girl. I was SURE he was a girl... But the name fits him very well, 'cept for the fact that he's never going to be a Quarterback. (sigh)

My younger son... we had a list of names and were undecided when he was born. I looked into his little face and said, "You know... he looks like a J to me." My ex-husband said, "You know, I was thinking the exact same thing." Considering we rarely agreed on anything, we decided to take it as a sign. And oh, yeah. This kid is definitely a J.

[hockey]

My oldest's name was very uncommon when she was born. It caught on a bit from a TV show that came out after she was born.

My youngest daughter has a common name, but it's not been in fashion for a couple decades.

And my son...well, we made his name up. But it works.

I think all my kids' names fit them. No regrets.

You're killing me ...... just tell us their names, PLEASE!!!!

I am a bit of a bitch when it comes to names and I'd think that GL's wife would have some opinions on them too since she is a teacher. My biggest pet peeve is the last names becoming boys names becoming girls names.....

A few examples...
Taylor
Blake
Peyton
Bryan(n)
Dylan
Grayson
Conner

Last names > boys names > girls names

I do like some of those names but I feel bad for the boys who had them first. For anyone faced with naming a boy these days....good luck. Maybe go with Roger, Albert or Henry .

[Kid Lester]

You're killing me ...... just tell us their names, PLEASE!!!!

I'd love to. But I do enjoy what little anonymity I have left on this site, and my children's names would be a dead give away to anybody who saw it. Nobody has 3 kids with my kids' names.

P.S. - Just go to my picture albums, dummy. All my kids' names are in the captions somewhere

[hockey]

I'd love to. But I do enjoy what little anonymity I have left on this site, and my children's names would be a dead give away to anybody who saw it. Nobody has 3 kids with my kids' names.

P.S. - Just go to my picture albums, dummy. All my kids' names are in the captions somewhere

LOL....fine be that way Mr. Lester.

Seriously though.... teachers have the best trending names stories.

There were identical twins named Stefan and Stefon in middle school. People here probably know that infamous family from Claymont where all the boys (5 or so) have the exact same name.

I wanted to name my daughter Badger but my husband flatly refused. He even filled out the birth record/vital stats out by the nurses station when I was being stitched up.

[Tracy]

everyone knows my kids names by now anyway...
I LOVE my son's name - Drake
sorry, I just do not like my daughter's name - Jessica
It was a HUGE battle between me and my ex - I wanted to name her something different (some of the names I liked were Siobhan, Sloan, Reese, Veronica, Vanessa, Lydia, Valerie...) - my ex liked one name - Mary (seriously, for a little girl??????) - We found one name we liked - Olivia, but then my mother said it sounded like Old Liver (seriously??????), so that was the end of Olivia....then the only other name would both could stomach was Jessica....and that is why she is named Jessica

[motherof3]

I think my kids names fit them. Thank God my oldest turned out to be a girl though. If she was a boy my ex had wanted to name her Bryar Dean (the middle name was a definite as it's after my dad and grandfather, it's now my son's middle name) Anyway, whenever we would tell people the name we'd get "like the ice cream" so yes I was so happy she was a girl! lol Her name is old Gaelic and means the same thing as my younger daughter's name, only hers is the Irish version. All my kids have middle names that pay tribute as it were to one of their grandparents too. My oldest has the middle name Ann, which is a tradition in my family for the oldest girl going back 6 generations. My middle daughter has the same middle name as her paternal grandmother. My son is named after his paternal grandfather (first name) and my dad and grandfather for his middle name. Over all I love all of their names

[tricksterde]

I always wanted a boy named Parker. My grandfather was William Wallace Parker III and they called him Parker. Always loved the name, never got to use it though. Not even when my grandson hatched. Perhaps if my son ever has a boy, just saying....

[longnecker]

If it's a boy make him a Jr. Can get a little confusing at times .

[motherof3]

If it's a boy make him a Jr. Can get a little confusing at times .

No way in hell I'd every do that. My brother is a Jr. I grew up seeing the confusion. For awhile it was big G and little G, then my brother got about a foot taller than my dad. Now we call my brother by his full first name and my dad by the shortened version, although with my brother and his family living back with my parents temporarily I can only imagine the confusion they must have again. After seeing that I'd never do that to any of my kids.

[Bellicose]

If it's a boy make him a Jr. Can get a little confusing at times .

I am the Fourth, so whatever anyone does, DO NOT name your child after you. I have had to deal with not only my Grandfathers stuff, but also my own dads stuff on my Credit. Both had Bankruptcy's.

If we had a son, it would hands down be Caleb, love it, only thing that was up in the air was the middle name. Thought Jordan, but didn't want him called CJ.

The girl has been all over the place, Mikayla, MacKenzie, Charisma.

But don't matter because it is all being sqa-dushed in less than a month (hopefully). Consultation is Monday, then I get to know the exact date, yippee!

[Josef]

I am the Fourth, so whatever anyone does, DO NOT name your child after you. I have had to deal with not only my Grandfathers stuff, but also my own dads stuff on my Credit. Both had Bankruptcy's.

This is sooooo true! In my job when we're investigating people you don't know how often a father and son's records get intermingled when they have the same name. Makes it even worse when you live at the same address for even a little while.

On a different subject, I've always wondered why girls with the same names as their mothers don't take on the Jr. moniker. Is it because they are likely to change their name when they get older and get married?

[Curly]

The name Chaz is the least of Cher's regrets.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwYVqMj5i6k


A classic.

[Jessica]

sorry, I just do not like my daughter's name - Jessica

[Tracy]

lol...sorry Jess, if it means anything (and I being completely honest here)...I DO like it for women your age....just not for girls my daughter's my age...any better?

[Bellicose]

This is sooooo true! In my job when we're investigating people you don't know how often a father and son's records get intermingled when they have the same name. Makes it even worse when you live at the same address for even a little while.

On a different subject, I've always wondered why girls with the same names as their mothers don't take on the Jr. moniker. Is it because they are likely to change their name when they get older and get married?

To think all three of us lived at one under one roof at one point in our life. I was way to young to know anything about credit cards and stuff of that sort, but we all did live together for quite some time.

I always wondered that as well Josef, why don't girls take on the Jr. suffix? For what you mentioned maybe that is right, but they could always drop it when they got married right?

[hockey]

Junior is not gender specific and is latin for "younger". Senior is latin for "older".

There are some female Jr's like Caroline Herrera, Jr. The thing with Jr's, Sr's and the roman numerals are simply tradition. Traditionally, women wouldn't keep their names for very long since it was expected for them to marry. Also, women weren't typically used for state issues like taxes, voting, jury duty, etc. so there would be no confusion in identity with her mother.

I think in these current times that if someone wants her child named after her, she should use the Jr for distinction as women marry later or keep their names and the obvious state issues.

[Bellicose]

Funny thing was, I can tell you my exact license number from Jersey, and I can also tell you my dads as well. Pretty sure I would of known my grandfathers too, since the only thing that changed between mine and my dads was the last 5.

Let me just say that Delaware has it easy when it comes to Driver License numbers. Nothing like trying to remember 15 alpha numerical code from your license, but I did, and still remember it.....lol