Anyone Keeping/Kept Name a Secret?

[MommaCrystal]

I won't tell my family my baby's first name. Actually NO ONE knows except DH and I. I got flack over what we chose for DS2 so I told everyone they didn't get the privilege of knowing this time.

It is driving my mother INSANE! Which means I'm enjoying it all the more.

Anyone else ever do this? What happened when the baby was born? I figure I'm going to make DH tell everyone so i don't have to see the reaction.

Oh, and her name will be Joyanna Elizabeth.

[tippy]

we are, we are!! of course we didn't have a name until Mon! this is our 1st so i can't answer any of your questions. but it's driving our fam insane too (which is a perk for me - lol). up until this point we've been calling him "baby t" (1st initial of our last name).

beautiful name, btw!

[Tulafina]

DDCC- We do! Although it's not a total secret. My mom knows the names only because she's really cool about "different" names(some of the names she has come up with are pretty wild! ) and she really keeps it to herself if she knows that I love a certain name. Everyone else in the family has no clue...they have this weird idea in their heads that we actually did get an u/s and therefore know what we are having and just refuse to tell them....ummm NO. Anyway, I haven't even said what our names are on MDC! LOL

And I really like her name BTW

Take Care,
J

[IAMommy]

Our name is a secret, although if anyone was paying attention, they would know it was the name I wanted to use for DS, but DH overruled it and we went with my second choice. So far no one seems to have figured it out. My mom keeps bugging me about it, but I am NOT telling.

[Mosaic]

We kept it a secret both times... The first time, we didn't find out the gender until she was born; this time we didn't decide on a name until she was born! So it wasn't hard to explain to folks that we were waiting to meet the baby before we settled on a name, and everyone was pretty supportive. Both times they found our chosen name a bit surprising but mostly liked it; plus most folks are smart enough not to bash a name once it's official.

[dkenagy]

We kept all ours a secret, except my son, because everyone knew what the name would have been had any of the first three been boys... so, when we got a boy, it was no surprise what his name would be (my dad's first name, which he doesn't go by, and my husband's middle name)... this time, we know we are expecting another boy and recently settle on a name (we think; we always reserve the right to change a name if it just doesn't fit the baby--we changed DD1's middle name a couple times before we got it right!). Nobody knows the name, but several people think they do because I just raise my eyebrows whenever someone offers their suggestions... evidently, some people think this means they have guessed it/we are going with their suggestion!

[Tenk]

We did!! We picked a name and told EVERYONE and they all hated it, we changed it and told and I ended up hating it, so when we changed it once again, we kept it a secret from everyone (evne my BFF!) until i was already admitted to the hospi and she was on her way. I figured by then no one was visiting me (sitting in the hospital with 4 kids at home, DH didn't even come up much) so they couldnt' change my mind. Love the name BTW!!!

[tempestjewel]

We kept it secret with DD2 and am keeping it secret again. Partly because we still haven't 100% made up our minds , and partly because I really hate all the feedback.

[starkyld]

We've kept our names for this baby a complete secret, from family, friends, MDC, everyone. We also have two sets of names because we don't know Bagel's sex. We plan to continue to keep the name choice that we would have used for the other sex a secret, because we will presumably use it in the future if we do have a child of that sex. This has been one of the most determined secrets I've ever kept, but everyone has been really respectful of our wishes. It's actually a little exciting and overwhelming that other people will get to know Bagel's name soon, since we've kept it to ourselves for so long now.

We also think that everyone (or at least almost everyone) will like the name when we do announce it. And if they don't, oh well. We feel secure with them.

[Starfish11]

We kept our babies' names secret until a day or two after birth. Well, we didn't exactly name our kids until then so it makes sense that no one would know But we kept our list of names secret for sure.

My MIL HATES that we did this. Was extremely pissed about it to the point where she told Tim , "I am your MOTHER and I DESERVE to know." She was an insane pain in the butt about it. We actually had a fake name picked out to tell them but decided against doing that at the last minute.

[QuiteLikeRain]

Our name isn't a *secret* per se, but only close friends and family know. Like, I haven't revealed it on this or any other due date clubs I belong to, haven't made it public on FB yet, etc.

It's not that the name is OUT THERE, it's actually a very traditional boy's name - although not very popular -, but I always worry that suddenly everyone will want to use the name (I know, don't flatter myself, right?!?!) and I hate how once you reveal a name everyone tells you about how they know someone with that name and what an awful person they are or whatever

SO, eh. But for the record, neither of my parents like the name, my mother has already said that she'll likely call him by his middle name (my eldest son has said the same). UGH.

[Tizzy]

We haven't pin pointed down any one particular name, mostly because we don't know the sex. DS2 wasn't named for almost 2 days after he was born and I don't recall telling anyone DS1's name ahead of time either. I like to leave it open so we can still be flexible.
And it's fun to hear everyone else's input on the matter

[newmexmama]

Originally Posted by Starfish11

We actually had a fake name picked out to tell them but decided against doing that at the last minute.

Hilarious! I have thought about doing this too! I am so sick of my parents asking me what her name is. Or even worse, offering lame suggestions as if I haven't already scoured the globe for every baby girl's name in existence.

My response is always the same: I don't know her name because I haven't seen her face.

Plus, no names feel just right yet. When I see her, and the name clicks, then I will scream it from the mountaintops whether or not my family hates it/can't pronounce it properly!

(Which they might, because my husband is from Mexico, and we are going with a Spanish name!)

[gillibean]

We haven't kept it a secret per se. I've told a couple friends the names that we like but haven't made a commitment. I feel really awkward settling on a name for sure until the baby is in my arms. With DD2 we changed our minds about her name with just a couple weeks to go.

The thing that really bugs me is that with DD2, if she had been a boy we would have named her R---. After she was born I had told a 'friend' the name that we would have used. So a couple weeks ago this 'friend' writes on my facebook wall, "Are you still planning on using R--- for the name if it's a boy?" I was so angry. We keep names private for a reason and I certainly don't want it announced to all of FB. She's posted other things on my wall too that are none of anybody else's business. I've learned to just not tell her anything private now. Luckily, we're not going with that name if this one is a boy, R--- was my pick but we had already decided to go with DH's pick.

[maydaymom10]

We've kept ours a secret as well -- partly b/c we haven't decided on one. But we also haven't shared our list. It's not a big deal with our families. My sister and brother kept all of their kids' names secrets until they born. The students that I teach are really mad at me though. They don't get it.

[Shannie77]

We kept DD1's name a secret, and we have kept this babies name a secret. Until I went on the internet I didn't even know that people named their babies before they were born. I mean I knew people picked out names, but I guess I just assumed you didn't name a baby until it was born - that is what my mom did with my 2 sisters.

We chose not to officially name our kids until they were born because it felt right and because we didn't want any opinions or people trying to change our minds, or people copying the names (DHs fear ). We figure since the gender isn't a surprise it is nice the name is.

[pleasantlyfurious]

We have decoy names. We say we haven't settled on one name just yet, but that we like soft-sounding names. Then, if pressed, I list names that we like, but didn't make the final cut - like Noah, Sebastian, etc.

We did have some ouchie comments before that was our strategy - in fact I've taken my favorite girl name off the table because some comments hurt my feelings so much.

[Chamsia]

We don't tell. I hate hearing other peoples' opinions, and who they knew with that name and blahblahblah. Their input will not change my mind, so I'll wait until all they can say is something nice or nothing, as it's a done deal!

Also, I feel kinda superstisious (however that's spelled)(and it's not something that I am, in general) about it. We have a nickname (Boop) until the babe is born. Then we announce it's name.

Don't let anyone harrass you. It's perfectly valid for many different reasons to keep the name to yourself. Tell them you want the baby to be the first to know!

[jecombs]

Originally Posted by MommaCrystal

I won't tell my family my baby's first name. Actually NO ONE knows except DH and I. I got flack over what we chose for DS2 so I told everyone they didn't get the privilege of knowing this time.

It is driving my mother INSANE! Which means I'm enjoying it all the more.
Anyone else ever do this? What happened when the baby was born? I figure I'm going to make DH tell everyone so i don't have to see the reaction.

Oh, and her name will be Joyanna Elizabeth.

Me too (to the bolded)

We have told our family LO's name, but I refuse to tell them my "due date". It's making my Mom and sister crazy! Instead, I give a "due month", which of course is May. My EDD is May 10 and last time I was pg, my family made me crazy-ier every day that went by after my EDD (and DD was born at exactly 41 weeks).

BTW, I love the name!

[To-Fu]

With both pregnancies we said we weren't sure and needed to wait until the baby was born to meet him and see what feels right. With my first son, it took us a little over a week to decide. I'm sure the same will happen again. Even if we have a few favorites, we like to sort of try them out on the new addition before seeing what feels true.

I think in general it is the best thing to keep names mostly to yourself. Up until the baby is actually named, people seem to feel free to offer all kinds of negative feedback about every possible name, but after the baby is out, they pleasantly accept whatever you name him/her. So I say wait.