NAMER’S REMORSE

According to a British parenting website called Mumsnet, one in five mothers feels “namer’s remorse” and would pick another name for their child if they had the choice. Of the 245 mothers who regretted the names they gave their children:
– 12% “always knew it was the wrong choice”
– 3% knew from the moment the child was born
– 8% knew within a couple of days
– 32% knew within the first six weeks
– 23% began to regret their choice when their children first started nursery or school.
– Names most frequently regretted were Charlotte, Amelia, Anne, Daniel, Jacob, James and Thomas.
– The main reason for regretting the name was that it was too commonly used (25%).
– Just over one in five mothers who regretted their choice said it “just doesn’t feel right”.
– One in five said they had never liked the name but had been pressured into using it.
– Just over 10% of mothers said the name did not suit their child.
– 11% said it was not distinctive enough.
– 11% said it caused their child problems with spelling or pronunciation.
– 6% regretted their choice because they disliked the shortened version of the name their child ended up being called.
– 3% pinned their regret on the fact there had been a change in public perception of the name since their child was born.
– 1% regretted their choice because a celebrity had used the name for their child.
– One mother explained that her child’s name “was taken by a terrorist group, soon after she was born”.
– Another pinpointed the moment she began to regret naming her daughter Elsa as “when Frozen became massively popular”.
– Another said: “My child hates his name, and makes me feel bad for choosing it.”
* I’ll have to ask my daughter North how she feels about this.
* I’m sorry, did you say they surveyed mothers, or Hollywood celebrities?
* If only there was a way to legally change a kid’s dumb name.
* Someone else who regrets their choice of a name? The owner of “Mumsnet.”
* It does give you some inkling into how much guilt a parent-child relationship can cause.
* Relax, the name’s the least of your worries.
* Some are obvious mistakes like naming a kid Adolph.
* I also think it’s way too soon to name a child Saddam.
* PHONE TOPIC: Do you regret your kid’s name? Do you fall into any of these categories?