A mum revealed how she and her husband instantly regretted the name they’ve picked for their baby as soon as they got home from hospital. Now she wants to change it to avoid ‘hating’ herself
Choosing a name for your newborn is one of the biggest decisions you’ll have to make. There are so many things to take into consideration, from the name’s meaning to any potential embarrassing nicknames that could come from it.
Ultimately, the decisions of what to name your baby is down to you, but most people want to choose a name they think their child will like as they grow up. But just two weeks after the birth of her daughter, one mum is already regretting the moniker she has chosen for her.
And despite officially registering her name, she’s considering changing it, or she’d risk “hating” herself forever. Social media content creator Kate, who often shares DIY videos online via her @madam.sandler_ TikTok account, recently asked her 44.4k followers if it was “controversial” to change your newborn’s name after leaving hospital.
“I don’t know, but we’re going to do it or I’m going to hate myself for the rest of her life,” she concluded. Kate explained that they will be legally changing their two-week old newborn’s name because as soon as they came home from the hospital they had “instant name regret”.
The mum explained that they had struggled to come up with a name for their baby the entire pregnancy, so when the “birth certificate lady called” saying she’d be coming in 30 minutes to pick up her information, they went for something they thought was “safe”. Kate said they picked a family name, Margaret, which was her husband’s grandmother’s name.
They initially thought they could find a nickname that fit her because she “just doesn’t look like a Margaret”. But despite trying things like Midge, Margot, or even Molly, they just couldn’t find anything. “Every time I look at her I just want to burst into tears because her name is Margaret, and she doesn’t look like a Margaret, and I don’t like the name. I don’t dislike the name, I just don’t like it for her. It’s not her name,” she added.
Kate admitted that when she looks at her daughter she sees “a Madeline”, which is a name they liked early on, but they kept changing their minds about it. There was lots of support for the mum in the comment section, with one person saying: “Change it now. Don’t wait. I don’t blame you, those hormones are awful and the stress. If the name doesn’t feel right it’s not right. We have names picked out for our second but not committing until the birth. But if it didn’t feel right I’d change it too.”
“Do it!! Better to do it now than later,” said another. And someone else wrote: “Yes Change her name. You know in your heart what her name should be. It’s lots of pressure within a very short time in the hospital.”
However, there was also lots of love for the name Margaret. One person wrote: “I’m a Margaret and go by Maggie! I love my name so much and get compliments on it all the time.” And another said: “I actually prefer Margaret over Madeline. BUT she’s only 2 weeks, absolutely change it if you feel the need, she won’t remember it. She’ll just have a fun story to tell.”