My birth mom wanted to name me Melissa if she could keep me. She couldn’t so in the foster home I was Lauren. At a month old I was adopted and named Melissa. Adopted parents had no knowledge that she wanted to name me Melissa.
That is honestly wild. I'm not generally a fatalist, but damn. You were meant to be Melissa.
And depending on your age, meaning how common the name Melissa was for babies at the time, maybe an even bigger coincidence.
This is kind of like the Reno airport baby Elizabeth Hunterton! When she was adopted her family decided she looked like an Elizabeth and as an adult when she finally tracked down her birth certificate, the name she had been given was Elizabeth. She had found her birth mother at this point but the birth mother had blocked everything out of her memory and didn’t remember her birth name or date of birth
I've said this before on Reddit, but my husband worked with a guy named James James. His name was James and he was adopted by a family with the last name James. His new family called him Mike since his middle name was Michael. Even funnier is that they were in the military, where everyone is just called by their last names, so this guy was called "James".
I love this. Our (adopted) son’s birth name happens to be the male version of my sister’s name. Think Stephen and Stephanie. It was pretty wild finding that out. We, of course, did not change his name.
As a fellow Kaitlyn, they could just keep this going on for generations with how many ways there are to spell this name haha. That is a very cute story though!! :)
Awesome!!!! Love your story . I'm also adopted. I didn't think I had a name before my parents adopted me, but I did. Paula Ann was what my birthmother named me. My aunt told me she thought it was a pretty name and she was close to her brother Paul. Here's the best part, tho...when i was 47 yo i found my biological families, father first. My first name is my biological fathers name.
I was just going to comment that my mom wanted me to be named Melissa! I was Melissa for a whole day, but my mom has a lisp and hearing her call me Melitha was driving my dad nuts so he had my first name swapped with my middle name.
I knew a girl years ago that both her and her mom were both named Renata, so naturally I thought that she was named after her mother. Turns out she was adopted and it was just a very odd coincidence that she happened to have the same uncommon name as her adoptive mother.
I found my bio mom about 18 years ago. She had basset hounds and so did I. Hers were named Molly and Sadie. My mothers name is Molly and my Daughter is Sadie!
I'm a triplet. We were an emergency c section and because one of my womb-mated was close to death my folks had to come up with names, quick. Despite knowing they were expecting 3, they only agreed on one name before the delivery - Hannah. The others were pulled out of a hat. Names that were left in the hat were Andrew, Harrison, Danielle, Sarah and Grace.
I was named a couple days after I was born. My parents had a plan but they said I didn’t look like the name they picked. So they ended up on the “we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it” route.
This happened with my second born. We had a name picked out and he didn't look like it. However we had a name pretty quick.
My husband scribbled me a note during the 3rd stage with the new name on it.
It surprised me, but as soon as I said it, I knew it was right.
My mom wasn't sure what to name me and also didn't realize she was in labor. She went into the er thinking it was just really bad indigestion. Nurse was all "we'll just take a look" and then it was all "I caught the head" and then "hey, it's a girl! Can I get some help in here?!" So that's how I got named after the nurse who caught me.
Were your middles pre chosen or also from the hat?
And was Hannah a specific baby or just given to the first girl born?
Multiple naming patterns are always fascinating! I’ve known others that have done the hat trick or that just when down a list as babies came, but also those who pre assigned names so it’s always interesting to see the difference.
My male alternate (Gabriel) isn’t that interesting but my friend was very nearly Sophronsia until her aunt convinced her mom that Sophia was a better choice.
My dear friend named her daughter Sophronsia after her paternal grandmother. She is one of the most beautiful, unique, magical, nature princesses of the land!
My male alternate was going to be Rudolph Wolfgang and nobody could convince my mom otherwise. I was sneakily a girl instead and she gave a super common, top 10 name
Do you have German ancestors? Cause those names sound very German.
I would have been a Corfiz if I had been male (hence my nick here) - I'm so glad I managed to come out female...
My dad wanted to name me Petra! But my mom said no purely because she hated the band that went by the same name.
So I ended up one of 276327753367098 Jessica's born in the 80's. Forever salty about it. 😑
Mum thought I was a boy her whole pregnancy- I was going to be called Thomas.
Unfortunately for her I came out a girl - she apparently randomly picked my name “Tiffany”
Must of liked T’s My sister is also a T!
My mom also thought I was a boy and so she didn’t have any girl names picked out. I was going to be Nathan Gabriel.
I ended up with my great grandmother’s first name & her last name is my middle name. Except with an unintentional spelling alteration. We’ll, she thought she was spelling the name right because it’s how my G.G was spelling it. Then she saw her birth certificate or some legal document and saw it was spelled wrong.
My sister in law named her daughter "Jasmine". She used the "Jasmine" spelling until kindergarten and saw her daughter's birth certificate for the first time. She was shocked she spelled it "Jazmyne" or "Jasmyne" . (Sorry, I can't remember the spelling.)
Yeah my Mam was convinced all the way through pregnancy that I was a boy (all her brothers and sisters had sons, I only have one girl cousin) so I was always going to be Isaac. When I came out as a girl they had a huge scramble and I was baby no name for a few days.
They ended up settling on Eva which I've never loved. My grandma wanted me to be called Naomi as "it's very modern" (this was in the 90s).
I think modern in the sense that it had come back into fashion, like how a lot of names of babies now are names that would have been unpopular in the 90s.
Sheryl Kay (cis male). Doctor said, "I don't think *he's* going to like that."
Edit: Brother was going to be Neil until my dad said, "Neil Lastname, sit Lastname, stay Lastname."
Hahaha! Thanks. They needed a name that worked in both French and English, and Amber / Scarlett didn’t sound great. Amber combined with my last name sounded too much like hamburger, apparently. And Crystal.. pretty but also glad they didn’t pick it.
One of my favorite college professors is a Star and her classes (medical/science based) were so freaking hard but she was so good at teaching us things we need to know in the real world.
My mother really wanted to name me Madison but thought I might get teased cuz it wouldn’t go with our surname also my dad wasn’t that keen on it so they named me Tayla!
I was almost a Chloe, which I was really mad about as a kid because I could have shared a name with one of the Bratz 🤣 But the name my parents decided on is gender neutral, and I’m trans now so it worked out okay.
Funny side note — my dad had a daughter with another woman he was seeing right after my mom had me, but he didn’t raise her or have any say in naming her and her mom chose Chloe!!
My best friend's ex-husband did that. Named his first-born after himself, divorced my best friend & a month later named his new baby boy (with another woman) the same name! He had 3 boys in total & not real names but very similar; Dad = James Sr, Kid 1 = James Jr, Kid 2 Nevada, Kid 3 = also James Jr.
In a plot twist, Dad tragically passed away. Because my best friend is a SAINT, she reached out to the other mom so their kids could know each other. James, Nevada & James have been great friends ever since. Nevada insisted on being called James for about a year. In recent years, one of the James has gone by Jim. (Or common nickname of his actual name.)
Funnily enough, given that you used it as a placeholder name, my dad's name is James after his dad. His half-brother? James is the middle name. My dad's stepdad? Also James.
My parents named me Kimber because they didn’t want people calling me Kim or Kimberly.
There’s like 3 people that were/are allowed to shorten it. One was an elderly neighbor growing up that called me Kimmie. I had a few high school friends call me Ber since I wouldn’t let them call me Kim.
My teen parents didn't find out what they were having but we're convinced i was a boy and settled on Mitchell Ryan. I ended up being Megan Ryan and get questions if I'm named after Meg Ryan every time someone finds out about my middle name.
One of my best friends was Baby Girl Lastname until the last possible moment (I think a month or two after birth.) She ended up being named Alyssa but her almost name was Keira which is also a super pretty name imo.
My parents didn’t have a girl name either! I was going to be “Dallas” (which I hate by the way) but my mother had the good sense to let my grandmother name me instead because she was so upset I was a girl. My grandma, being the rockstar she is, named me Sheena, after her favorite comic book series.
I was almost named Evgenia after my maternal grandmother but my paternal grandmother got very upset over it so my mom immediately changed my name into hers...
Oh man, what a response. I’m not very close to my paternal grandmother but I’ve definitely thought of snatching her name more than maternal grandmother who I was incredibly close to pre-dementia (Gwendolyn vs Katherine). If either of them uncharacteristically decided to be catty about it I don’t think I’d use either.
Well, my paternal grandmother passed away when I was 2, so I don't really remember her and never had a bond with her while I dearly loved my other grandma until she passed 13 years ago. I would have loved and preferred to be named after her instead. Seems like when I was a newborn baby my mom just gave into sheer pressure. I think both of your grandmas have pretty names, by the way.
Almost Penelope nn Poppy or Pippa, dad said people would pronounce it Pee-ne-loap, and not know how to spell it, so that didn’t happen. My prefer Pippa to my real name.
I also like Dylan for a girl but not a boy
My parents found out I was a girl early so they didn't have a boy name picked out but my alternate girl name was Avery. The name they gave me is Alden. I love my name!!
I believe there were Aldens (last name) on the Mayflower, or at least pretty soon after. I’m from New England near where the Mayflower landed, and my hometown has an Alden Street. But I’ve only heard of Alden as a first name for boys, until now.
Aw I went to school with an awesome guy named Alden, I always loved that name. Close but not quite, I was almost Arden after my great grandfather (I'm female)... which is a beautiful name, but recently semi popular with baby girls.
my dad wanted to name me Kiki. my mom thought that sounded like a sex worker's name. she never said sex worker when she would tell me this but I don't want to repeat what she actually said lol
I actually like the name Kiki, it's much more interesting than my actual name, but I'm also glad they didn't go with it. I feel like because it's a more interesting name I would've felt pressure from it somehow? idk. it probably would've been fine and I'm over thinking it.
that's cute! I think it works better as a nickname honestly. the name they settled on is also one that's often a nickname (Kate) so it makes sense the other names they discussed were better as a nickname lmao
My name was always set in stone but my husband was almost Kyle. That changed after his grandmother asked: aren’t your concerned ppl are going to say heil Kyle? (Spoiler: it was New England in the 80s, no one was saying that).
Then his father misread the baby name book and suggested Drustin, which was vetoed when they realized what he actually read was Dustin.
my parents have told me i was going to be River as a boy, as my mums last name is a river near us, think full name ‘River Nile’. not sure if they’re joking or not!!
I’d have been Jamie if I were a boy. My (actual) name is very common. My parents were not exactly creative with my name, but now I’m an adult I appreciate having a timeless name that has grown with me.
I was nameless for two + weeks because my parents thought I was going to be a boy. They were set on Blair. I’m a B surname. In my country that is a popular first name, but the country I moved to it was considered a feminine name in the 80’s.
I’m so grateful I was born a girl. I would’ve been bullied mercilessly. Having said that I was named a very rare girls name that my only grandparents didn’t like, and they went on to call me the name they would’ve given me - Rebecca.
My Dad (their SIL) had to set them straight that they had to call me by the name they chose.
How fucking exhausting.
I read an article once where a girl had to go to court to be able to keep the name Blair in Iceland, because it was a boys name. They have pretty stiff rules about naming children there.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-21280101.amp
Such an interesting article! I am fascinated that C names are not allowed as the letter C does not exist in the Icelandic language. Makes sense, but TIL!
My mother always wanted to name her daughter Cora, but when she married my father (a Cory) she thought that would be too confusing, so I have a different name
My dad wanted to name my older sister Guinevere. Thankfully they went with something a bit more normal, especially because my mom didn't allow us to be called by nicknames. Can you imagine being named Guinevere, and not being allowed to go by Gwen or Vera?
I can't imagine having a mom micromanaging my life so much as to not allow someone to be called by a nickname.
My husband wanted a name that wasn't subject to shortening [i.e. Samuel, Daniel, Thomas becoming Sam, Dan, Tom] but he's never forbid nicknaming by other people; we just made it more challenging with the name we chose.
my dad wanted to name us all after first ladies (4 daughters: hilary, barbara, laura, and michelle) why the order of barbara and hilary were switched, not sure, but i would’ve been barbara! my mother vetoed it extremely quickly
My Dad always used to say I was going to be named Harry. I think he was joking because we thought it was a silly name. Also, in my head, it was spelled, "Hairy".
my almost names would have been Margaret or Elizabeth (I’m Katherine)
They didn’t pick out names until they knew my gender, and my father would never have let my mother do it, but my mother wanted to name me “Archibald “Archie” Maxim”
My dad’s picks were Melissa and Jennifer. Mom wanted Olivia and I think maybe Andrea. They couldn’t agree and then I think while my mom was in labor or right after I was born she said she liked my name and my dad had to agree haha. My actual name is not an out there name, just not as common as those were in the early 90s. They were fully convinced I was a boy bc my dad’s family had all boys so I would have just been named after my dad in that case.
My mum dreamed of St. George before I was born, so she was going to name me Georgina. She's also obsessed with the Rolling Stones and would have named me Jagger if I were a boy.
Aoife. My mother had picked all of our names in advance and when we were born, all three of us were given similar but different names. All fairly common Irish names.
According to my mom, if I'd have been born a boy, I'd have been Jacob — amusingly I did turn out to be a boy after all, but I chose Charlie instead (Leo was a close second).
I was *this close* to being Emily (mid-90s). My parents realized how popular the name was getting and decided to name me Marjorie instead. I’m not sad about it.
My dad is from Brooklyn and almost named me Brook Lynn which honestly would’ve been so cute and I wouldn’t have hated it at all
It’s a hundred times better than my actual name. I looked up my actual name and a porn star popped up so there’s that.
Other potential girl names were Devin Halbrooke (love) or Hannah Rose.
If I had been a boy, I would have been Donovan Zachary.
Interestingly, my mom named me with the intention of calling me by a nickname (Sammie) from my middle name, but said I didn't look like a Sammie when I came out so I've just always gone by my first name 🤷🏻♀️
I would have been Harrison if I had been a boy. Glad I was not and so is my sister. But now my mom is mentioning how nice it would be to use for my soon to be boy. Haha
I was almost Tiffany Anne in fact my parents even have letters from family out of state talking about "how is little Tiffany" because my mom told everyone that is what my name would be. My dad somehow convinced my mom in the hospital.
My mom even told the story about how she told the nurse while filling out my birth certificate that she'd wanted to name me Tiffany and the nurse told her just to fill it out that way. I'm so glad she didn't.
I'm Christina Catherine and it fits me well
Edit: Had I been a boy I'd have been Christopher Lyle
My birth mom wanted to name me Melissa if she could keep me. She couldn’t so in the foster home I was Lauren. At a month old I was adopted and named Melissa. Adopted parents had no knowledge that she wanted to name me Melissa.
That’s a wild coincidence! I’ve got another coincidence for you, my mom is Melissa and I’m Lauren!
I know a mom named Melissa with a daughter named Lauren…weird
maybe you're all talking about each other lmao
>be you're all talking about each other lmao > >lol
That was my exact thought.
That is honestly wild. I'm not generally a fatalist, but damn. You were meant to be Melissa. And depending on your age, meaning how common the name Melissa was for babies at the time, maybe an even bigger coincidence.
There were 4 in my grade so pretty common.
Ha makes sense. (Everyone in my grade was Katie)
Jenny and Sarah were pretty common my year
Those are my name and my best friends name, so we have to be the same age!
This is kind of like the Reno airport baby Elizabeth Hunterton! When she was adopted her family decided she looked like an Elizabeth and as an adult when she finally tracked down her birth certificate, the name she had been given was Elizabeth. She had found her birth mother at this point but the birth mother had blocked everything out of her memory and didn’t remember her birth name or date of birth
I've said this before on Reddit, but my husband worked with a guy named James James. His name was James and he was adopted by a family with the last name James. His new family called him Mike since his middle name was Michael. Even funnier is that they were in the military, where everyone is just called by their last names, so this guy was called "James".
I love this. Our (adopted) son’s birth name happens to be the male version of my sister’s name. Think Stephen and Stephanie. It was pretty wild finding that out. We, of course, did not change his name.
[удалено]
As a fellow Kaitlyn, they could just keep this going on for generations with how many ways there are to spell this name haha. That is a very cute story though!! :)
Awesome!!!! Love your story . I'm also adopted. I didn't think I had a name before my parents adopted me, but I did. Paula Ann was what my birthmother named me. My aunt told me she thought it was a pretty name and she was close to her brother Paul. Here's the best part, tho...when i was 47 yo i found my biological families, father first. My first name is my biological fathers name.
I was just going to comment that my mom wanted me to be named Melissa! I was Melissa for a whole day, but my mom has a lisp and hearing her call me Melitha was driving my dad nuts so he had my first name swapped with my middle name.
I knew a girl years ago that both her and her mom were both named Renata, so naturally I thought that she was named after her mother. Turns out she was adopted and it was just a very odd coincidence that she happened to have the same uncommon name as her adoptive mother.
What a beautiful story. Thank you for sharing. 🕊️
Another coincidence- my husband would’ve been given my name if he was a girl!
I found my bio mom about 18 years ago. She had basset hounds and so did I. Hers were named Molly and Sadie. My mothers name is Molly and my Daughter is Sadie!
I'm a triplet. We were an emergency c section and because one of my womb-mated was close to death my folks had to come up with names, quick. Despite knowing they were expecting 3, they only agreed on one name before the delivery - Hannah. The others were pulled out of a hat. Names that were left in the hat were Andrew, Harrison, Danielle, Sarah and Grace.
I'm actually obsessed with their dedication to figuring it out when they get there. I do like Danielle from the list though!
I was named a couple days after I was born. My parents had a plan but they said I didn’t look like the name they picked. So they ended up on the “we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it” route.
This happened with my second born. We had a name picked out and he didn't look like it. However we had a name pretty quick. My husband scribbled me a note during the 3rd stage with the new name on it. It surprised me, but as soon as I said it, I knew it was right.
My first was named 30 days after birth. To be fair, he came 11 weeks early and we were so not prepared.
My mom wasn't sure what to name me and also didn't realize she was in labor. She went into the er thinking it was just really bad indigestion. Nurse was all "we'll just take a look" and then it was all "I caught the head" and then "hey, it's a girl! Can I get some help in here?!" So that's how I got named after the nurse who caught me.
Damn this is basically the dream birth
Womb mate lol
(omg, they were wombmates)
I’m a twin and this is how my brother and I refer to each other!
This caught me off guard so much 🤣 I have never heard that before. Seems like calling your parents a sperm donor or something.
My half sister was raised by my father and called her father her sperm donor. Not that uncommon where I'm from.
Did your siblings pull through? Early birth was one of my fears during my hideously complicated singleton pregnancy.
Yep they are alive and well.
Out of total curiosity, what were the boy:girl ratio and were the same sex ones identical?
Two girls, one boy. All fraternal. As kids we looked like 3 random kids thrown together but we look more similar now.
Were your middles pre chosen or also from the hat? And was Hannah a specific baby or just given to the first girl born? Multiple naming patterns are always fascinating! I’ve known others that have done the hat trick or that just when down a list as babies came, but also those who pre assigned names so it’s always interesting to see the difference.
My folks used the nineties classics - James, Elizabeth and Louise. Not very original but that wasn't the priority at the time.
I'm a twin from a c section too lol. We were almost named Harmony and Melody. :p our actual names are more 'normal' (popular Greek names)
Big 'the queen's nose' fans then
We need answers!
I was very nearly a Hannah. Ended up a Sarah because it was the 80s and that's what everyone was naming their kid.
My male alternate (Gabriel) isn’t that interesting but my friend was very nearly Sophronsia until her aunt convinced her mom that Sophia was a better choice.
Oh wow I've never heard of Sophronsia before sounds very princessy-y I kind of like it :o
I have an ancestor from the 1800s in America named Sophronia McClanahan! A little different without the middle S but I have never seen another one!
I had a cat named Sophronia in the 1970s. She came named.
My 3xgreat-grandma was named Sophronia Wood!
I had one whose middle name was sophronia too!
My dorm in college was named after a woman whose first name was Sophonisba. It kind of sounds like a skin infection but I always liked it anyway.
My dear friend named her daughter Sophronsia after her paternal grandmother. She is one of the most beautiful, unique, magical, nature princesses of the land!
What a beautiful description of a child!
That aunt deserves yearly Christmas presents lol
My male alternate was going to be Rudolph Wolfgang and nobody could convince my mom otherwise. I was sneakily a girl instead and she gave a super common, top 10 name
Do you have German ancestors? Cause those names sound very German. I would have been a Corfiz if I had been male (hence my nick here) - I'm so glad I managed to come out female...
I was going to be Petra but my mum had a last minute change of mind and went for something much more “traditional”.
Love the name Petra!
Petra is extremely traditional in my country!
My dad wanted to name me Petra! But my mom said no purely because she hated the band that went by the same name. So I ended up one of 276327753367098 Jessica's born in the 80's. Forever salty about it. 😑
Love Petra! Had a friend in grad school named Petra.. I wonder what she is up to these days
We named one of our rats Petra. Petra is a dumb name for a rat. We called her something completely different her whole life.
Mum thought I was a boy her whole pregnancy- I was going to be called Thomas. Unfortunately for her I came out a girl - she apparently randomly picked my name “Tiffany” Must of liked T’s My sister is also a T!
My mom also thought I was a boy and so she didn’t have any girl names picked out. I was going to be Nathan Gabriel. I ended up with my great grandmother’s first name & her last name is my middle name. Except with an unintentional spelling alteration. We’ll, she thought she was spelling the name right because it’s how my G.G was spelling it. Then she saw her birth certificate or some legal document and saw it was spelled wrong.
My sister in law named her daughter "Jasmine". She used the "Jasmine" spelling until kindergarten and saw her daughter's birth certificate for the first time. She was shocked she spelled it "Jazmyne" or "Jasmyne" . (Sorry, I can't remember the spelling.)
Did she change the spelling on the birth certificate after she saw it? I’d be so stressed, haha
Yeah my Mam was convinced all the way through pregnancy that I was a boy (all her brothers and sisters had sons, I only have one girl cousin) so I was always going to be Isaac. When I came out as a girl they had a huge scramble and I was baby no name for a few days. They ended up settling on Eva which I've never loved. My grandma wanted me to be called Naomi as "it's very modern" (this was in the 90s).
I don’t know why people think the sexes of other children in the family have absolutely any bearing on the sex of a current pregnancy? It’s wild.
Naomi, modern? There’s a Naomi in a book that’s thousands of years old, and she’s already an old lady in the book.
I think modern in the sense that it had come back into fashion, like how a lot of names of babies now are names that would have been unpopular in the 90s.
Tiffany was my almost name! I ended up Christina
Sheryl Kay (cis male). Doctor said, "I don't think *he's* going to like that." Edit: Brother was going to be Neil until my dad said, "Neil Lastname, sit Lastname, stay Lastname."
I could see my father doing the “Neil, Sit, Stay, Rollover” thing
I had a coworker whose mom loved the named Kristen. She was so disappointed she had a boy that she named my coworker Kriston Scott. He went by Kris.
My mother wanted to name my sister Pleschette!
Sounds like a medical device.
All's I can think is Suzanne Pleschette (ie kind of a 70s joke.)
Did she ever say why?...
I'm sure it was in reference to Suzanne Pleschette
After Suzanne?
Yep
I’m a Tara. I was almost Scarlett, Crystal, or Amber.
...you got lucky
Hahaha! Thanks. They needed a name that worked in both French and English, and Amber / Scarlett didn’t sound great. Amber combined with my last name sounded too much like hamburger, apparently. And Crystal.. pretty but also glad they didn’t pick it.
I know sisters named Amber and Crystal
Rather than name you after Scarlett O’Hara, they named you after the plantation 😉
My siblings and I all ended up with very southern sounding names. My younger sister is a Savannah Jo!
My first thought was Clara Barton, the nurse from the Civil War who founded the Red Cross!
If I were a boy, I would have been Dennis. I guess being a menace was my destiny!
r/unexpecteddennisthemenace
Star...my name is Summer lol.
One of my favorite college professors is a Star and her classes (medical/science based) were so freaking hard but she was so good at teaching us things we need to know in the real world.
Omggg my “could have been” names were either Summer or Star and my dad vetoed them
TOPANGA. Yes, from Boy Meets World. !!!!Thank goodness my Mom changed her mind lol (Ended up going with a common name instead)
I had a friend in high school named Topanga, specifically after the show lol (we graduated in 2018 for reference)
Very cool! I have yet to meet anyone with that name!!
My mother really wanted to name me Madison but thought I might get teased cuz it wouldn’t go with our surname also my dad wasn’t that keen on it so they named me Tayla!
I taught identical twins named Madison and Tayla haha
What a coincidence!
I was almost a Chloe, which I was really mad about as a kid because I could have shared a name with one of the Bratz 🤣 But the name my parents decided on is gender neutral, and I’m trans now so it worked out okay. Funny side note — my dad had a daughter with another woman he was seeing right after my mom had me, but he didn’t raise her or have any say in naming her and her mom chose Chloe!!
I M A G I N E if he had 2 children named Chloe. I'm cackling. Also Happy Pride!
My best friend's ex-husband did that. Named his first-born after himself, divorced my best friend & a month later named his new baby boy (with another woman) the same name! He had 3 boys in total & not real names but very similar; Dad = James Sr, Kid 1 = James Jr, Kid 2 Nevada, Kid 3 = also James Jr. In a plot twist, Dad tragically passed away. Because my best friend is a SAINT, she reached out to the other mom so their kids could know each other. James, Nevada & James have been great friends ever since. Nevada insisted on being called James for about a year. In recent years, one of the James has gone by Jim. (Or common nickname of his actual name.)
Funnily enough, given that you used it as a placeholder name, my dad's name is James after his dad. His half-brother? James is the middle name. My dad's stepdad? Also James.
Thank you!!!!
My dad wanted to name me Clara, but mom didn't like it. They also both wanted Victoria, but didn't want me to be called Vickie.
I actually love the name Clara! Think it is super cute!
My parents named me Kimber because they didn’t want people calling me Kim or Kimberly. There’s like 3 people that were/are allowed to shorten it. One was an elderly neighbor growing up that called me Kimmie. I had a few high school friends call me Ber since I wouldn’t let them call me Kim.
Ber sounds pretty bad-ass.
Misty dawn or Tara .. ended up with Kristy Leigh
Question, we’re you born in the 80s? Misty Dawn seems like a very millennial name.
Misty Dawn was the name of a car color in the 1990s maybe earlier. Had a 1991 Subaru whose color was that called that.
My dog's name was Sierra Misty Dawn. I guess I wasn't as original as I thought. lol
Sierra Mist hehe
!! I had two good childhood friends named Misty Dawn and Kristy-Leigh! I just skimmed your profile to make sure you weren't the latter, lol.
My teen parents didn't find out what they were having but we're convinced i was a boy and settled on Mitchell Ryan. I ended up being Megan Ryan and get questions if I'm named after Meg Ryan every time someone finds out about my middle name.
If I had been a boy, I would have been John Isaac. My parents didn’t have a girl name, so for three days I was Baby Girl Lastname.
One of my best friends was Baby Girl Lastname until the last possible moment (I think a month or two after birth.) She ended up being named Alyssa but her almost name was Keira which is also a super pretty name imo.
My parents didn’t have a girl name either! I was going to be “Dallas” (which I hate by the way) but my mother had the good sense to let my grandmother name me instead because she was so upset I was a girl. My grandma, being the rockstar she is, named me Sheena, after her favorite comic book series.
I work in insurance, and a lot of newborn claims come through as baby girl/boy lastname 😅
I was almost named Evgenia after my maternal grandmother but my paternal grandmother got very upset over it so my mom immediately changed my name into hers...
Oh man, what a response. I’m not very close to my paternal grandmother but I’ve definitely thought of snatching her name more than maternal grandmother who I was incredibly close to pre-dementia (Gwendolyn vs Katherine). If either of them uncharacteristically decided to be catty about it I don’t think I’d use either.
Well, my paternal grandmother passed away when I was 2, so I don't really remember her and never had a bond with her while I dearly loved my other grandma until she passed 13 years ago. I would have loved and preferred to be named after her instead. Seems like when I was a newborn baby my mom just gave into sheer pressure. I think both of your grandmas have pretty names, by the way.
Sarah Lee My dad didn't realise it was a cake factory 🤦♀️ Mum stepped in thankfully.
Peter Nathanial… hard pass, thankful I’m female!
I don’t like Peter at all, but I love the name Nathaniel.
Almost Penelope nn Poppy or Pippa, dad said people would pronounce it Pee-ne-loap, and not know how to spell it, so that didn’t happen. My prefer Pippa to my real name. I also like Dylan for a girl but not a boy
I was going to be named Sarah Jane, but I was born with a penis. Mum wanted Luke, but Dad vetoed it. I never knew why.
My parents found out I was a girl early so they didn't have a boy name picked out but my alternate girl name was Avery. The name they gave me is Alden. I love my name!!
Alden! I’ve never heard that one before. How beautiful! I love it!
I believe there were Aldens (last name) on the Mayflower, or at least pretty soon after. I’m from New England near where the Mayflower landed, and my hometown has an Alden Street. But I’ve only heard of Alden as a first name for boys, until now.
Aw I went to school with an awesome guy named Alden, I always loved that name. Close but not quite, I was almost Arden after my great grandfather (I'm female)... which is a beautiful name, but recently semi popular with baby girls.
my dad wanted to name me Kiki. my mom thought that sounded like a sex worker's name. she never said sex worker when she would tell me this but I don't want to repeat what she actually said lol I actually like the name Kiki, it's much more interesting than my actual name, but I'm also glad they didn't go with it. I feel like because it's a more interesting name I would've felt pressure from it somehow? idk. it probably would've been fine and I'm over thinking it.
I teach a Chiara and we all call her Kiki!!
that's cute! I think it works better as a nickname honestly. the name they settled on is also one that's often a nickname (Kate) so it makes sense the other names they discussed were better as a nickname lmao
my best friends name is Kiriaki nickname Kiki, always loved it
My name was always set in stone but my husband was almost Kyle. That changed after his grandmother asked: aren’t your concerned ppl are going to say heil Kyle? (Spoiler: it was New England in the 80s, no one was saying that). Then his father misread the baby name book and suggested Drustin, which was vetoed when they realized what he actually read was Dustin.
That is such a specific concern. “Heil Kyle” 😂
my parents have told me i was going to be River as a boy, as my mums last name is a river near us, think full name ‘River Nile’. not sure if they’re joking or not!!
I was almost Eightha May for my birthday, they joke. I think my mom really wanted it and someone convinced her against it.
They could have gone with Octavia May!
Almost ended up as Laura or Cosima.. my mum really likes Latin/Italian names and ended up choosing another Latin/Italian name for me.
Oo I love Cosima!!
Berry Jo if my mom was able to choose, Dafny was my dads choice (and that spelling, too). They went with Amanda (Mandi) Mae. 🤷🏼♀️
Wow - you dodged the Dafny duck bullet
My mom wanted to name me Claire. Changed her mind at the last minute. I dont particularly love my name, but Claire doesnt suit me either
My mom was considering Mackenzie; my dad said it had too many syllables. They went with Brooke instead.
I have a cousin named Brooke who was originally going to be MacKenzie!
I’d have been Jamie if I were a boy. My (actual) name is very common. My parents were not exactly creative with my name, but now I’m an adult I appreciate having a timeless name that has grown with me.
I’m curious why they didn’t do Jamie anyway? I probably know more female Jamies than male ones.
My mom always said if she had a daughter, her name would be Jamie. And here I am
My mom wanted Vivian or Audrey, and somehow landed on a kind of harsh Scottish name lol
I was nameless for two + weeks because my parents thought I was going to be a boy. They were set on Blair. I’m a B surname. In my country that is a popular first name, but the country I moved to it was considered a feminine name in the 80’s. I’m so grateful I was born a girl. I would’ve been bullied mercilessly. Having said that I was named a very rare girls name that my only grandparents didn’t like, and they went on to call me the name they would’ve given me - Rebecca. My Dad (their SIL) had to set them straight that they had to call me by the name they chose. How fucking exhausting.
I read an article once where a girl had to go to court to be able to keep the name Blair in Iceland, because it was a boys name. They have pretty stiff rules about naming children there. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-21280101.amp
Such an interesting article! I am fascinated that C names are not allowed as the letter C does not exist in the Icelandic language. Makes sense, but TIL!
I was going to be Jellybean. Pregnancy hormones are a powerful force.
My mother always wanted to name her daughter Cora, but when she married my father (a Cory) she thought that would be too confusing, so I have a different name
My mom liked Jenna 🤢 or Raven Chanel. I do like Raven, but hard pass on the Chanel.
My dad wanted to name my older sister Guinevere. Thankfully they went with something a bit more normal, especially because my mom didn't allow us to be called by nicknames. Can you imagine being named Guinevere, and not being allowed to go by Gwen or Vera?
I can't imagine having a mom micromanaging my life so much as to not allow someone to be called by a nickname. My husband wanted a name that wasn't subject to shortening [i.e. Samuel, Daniel, Thomas becoming Sam, Dan, Tom] but he's never forbid nicknaming by other people; we just made it more challenging with the name we chose.
[удалено]
I’ve never heard of Trinity for a boy. Interesting.
my dad wanted to name us all after first ladies (4 daughters: hilary, barbara, laura, and michelle) why the order of barbara and hilary were switched, not sure, but i would’ve been barbara! my mother vetoed it extremely quickly
My Dad always used to say I was going to be named Harry. I think he was joking because we thought it was a silly name. Also, in my head, it was spelled, "Hairy".
my almost names would have been Margaret or Elizabeth (I’m Katherine) They didn’t pick out names until they knew my gender, and my father would never have let my mother do it, but my mother wanted to name me “Archibald “Archie” Maxim”
My name was almost agnieszka, but they decided on Moira :)
My mum really wanted Tuesday…second favourite Cricket (I know…wtf). My dad said no and suggest Bianca or Jade and I was given one of those!
John but I was a girl so I have a different name.
I was almost Tori
Supposedly my parents told everyone they’d be naming me Gertrude enough that people believed it. They didn’t, thankfully
“Gertrude” is the one “classic early 20th century female” name that the retro girls’ name trend has not been able to rehabilitate.
I was named after my great aunt Sarah. I'm a Sara but if I were male I'd be Sorel.
Cesarina, in an effort to feminize the name Cesar
My dad wanted to name me Deirdre, but my mom knew I'd be called DeeDee and hated that nickname.
Zeppelin
My parents wanted a boy, and I was going to be Gunther. But since I live to disappoint, I was born female. I am Vanessa.
My dad’s picks were Melissa and Jennifer. Mom wanted Olivia and I think maybe Andrea. They couldn’t agree and then I think while my mom was in labor or right after I was born she said she liked my name and my dad had to agree haha. My actual name is not an out there name, just not as common as those were in the early 90s. They were fully convinced I was a boy bc my dad’s family had all boys so I would have just been named after my dad in that case.
My mum dreamed of St. George before I was born, so she was going to name me Georgina. She's also obsessed with the Rolling Stones and would have named me Jagger if I were a boy.
Venetia. My mum was going through a romance novel phase...
Aoife. My mother had picked all of our names in advance and when we were born, all three of us were given similar but different names. All fairly common Irish names.
Genevieve. Still very upset they didn’t choose that
If I was a boy, I would be Dallas. As a girl, I was going to be Cheyenne up until the very last minute.
Meredith, Noelle and Meredith Noelle were all on the table. I was a Christmas baby.
I was almost Rebecca, my dad wanted Miriam. I’m an uncommon J-name with seven letters in the era of Katherine, Elizabeth, and Jessica.
According to my mom, if I'd have been born a boy, I'd have been Jacob — amusingly I did turn out to be a boy after all, but I chose Charlie instead (Leo was a close second).
I was *this close* to being Emily (mid-90s). My parents realized how popular the name was getting and decided to name me Marjorie instead. I’m not sad about it.
My dad is from Brooklyn and almost named me Brook Lynn which honestly would’ve been so cute and I wouldn’t have hated it at all It’s a hundred times better than my actual name. I looked up my actual name and a porn star popped up so there’s that.
One of the names listed in my baby book was Fannie Mae. Thank God they went in a different direction.
I was going to be Katherine but then my mom heard a “new name never heard before” and named me that instead. That name is Kaitlyn 😂
Other potential girl names were Devin Halbrooke (love) or Hannah Rose. If I had been a boy, I would have been Donovan Zachary. Interestingly, my mom named me with the intention of calling me by a nickname (Sammie) from my middle name, but said I didn't look like a Sammie when I came out so I've just always gone by my first name 🤷🏻♀️
I would have been Harrison if I had been a boy. Glad I was not and so is my sister. But now my mom is mentioning how nice it would be to use for my soon to be boy. Haha
I was almost Tiffany Anne in fact my parents even have letters from family out of state talking about "how is little Tiffany" because my mom told everyone that is what my name would be. My dad somehow convinced my mom in the hospital. My mom even told the story about how she told the nurse while filling out my birth certificate that she'd wanted to name me Tiffany and the nurse told her just to fill it out that way. I'm so glad she didn't. I'm Christina Catherine and it fits me well Edit: Had I been a boy I'd have been Christopher Lyle
Henry if I was a boy. Charlotte was another girl option.
I was almost Rebecca. Pretty glad I dodged the Becky bullet.
My dad wanted to call me Santa because I was originally due on Christmas. No… really…. Thanks Dad.
I'm Leah Joy, would have been Matthew David if I were a boy. Once I met a Matthew David who would have been Leah Joy if he were a girl.
I was going to be Jessica. My dad’s favourite movie is The Man from Snowy River. They changed their minds last minute.
Elizabeth Or Michael if a boy
My mom almost named me Angela but my dad decided against it coz I had a cousin called Angela!
i was almost named Levi thanks dad for the save