18 Weeks + how we came up with the NAME!!

Our baby girl is due to arrive next month, and we still aren’t 100% sold on a name. It’s so hard to choose! My husband had some pretty strong opinions about some of my favorite names, which I was surprised about! We have a few top contenders, but are going to wait until we meet her to make a final decision. I haven’t shared our top picks with anyone, which a lot of people find very frustrating. My dad tries to sneak it out of me every now and then, but he hasn’t been successful yet ;)

So we both for sure thought boy because this pregnancy is different than with my daughter. Way more nausea, way more tired and completely different cravings and aversions. But, nope. I’m 23 weeks today with a little girl. Before we found out boy or girl we were brainstorming names. We have like 5 girl names and 1 boy name. My hubby actually picked both the first name and middle name for this baby. Last time we chose together. I thought that maybe our name would change before birth, but a week after “deciding” on the name we looked up the meaning. The name we chose means “daughter of Adam”. My husband’s name is Adam! How crazy is that?! There’s no changing it now…we feel like it’s meant to be. While my daughter (who is 4 1/2 now) thinks we should name her Cloud, we are going with Addison Jeanne.

We are on #4 and we NEVER find out gender. It’s one of my favorite parts, pushing out that baby and having my husband lean in real close and tell me that we have a “new son/daughter!”

We casually talk about names over the whole pregnancy but the only name we knew for sure was our boy name (family names). Our first was a girl and we talked it out with her in our arms since she wasn’t a boy; our second was a boy so we knew right away; and our third was a girl with no names really picked out! We figured it out with her in my arms, too. We always use at least one family name to honor a member of the family.

For this one, we actually have two names picked out, which is amazing to me. We tell NO ONE the names … People are just too opinionated and vocal in a negative way (in my opinion lol)! Once the cute baby is out its harder to give negative feedback!

With our daughter we didn’t know whether she was a boy or a girl, which was fun and exciting. We were not 100% sure which name would suit her best. But when my husband said: it’s a girl, I just said: oh Eva. So that was that. When we had our son we did know the sex, but we kept it a secret. And we also had a name for him, which my husband accidentally used in public at least twice. I found that knowing he was a boy and naming him already did help me while I was in labour. I visualized him in there and talked to him which made it a better experience than my first delivery. But if I had another baby (which is highly unlikely) I would go for not knowing, then none of us could slip up on the gender or the name.

I have 2 boys, Nolan and Jude. We didn’t share names of either until they were born but found out the sex of both. With Nolan we were between 2 names until I was in labor and the nurses helped us decide! Nolan Ryan is my husbands favorite baseball player so he obviously hasn’t high hopes for him :) When Nolan first started talking we had the Beatles playing a lot in the house and he would sing along to Hey Jude and I always thought it would be a great baby name. When I was pregnant again I was convinced it was a girl because my symptoms were sooooo different than the first time but it was another boy so we were able to let Nolan play a part in naming his little brother. Of course his first choice for a name was Tow Mater (from Cars) but he’s happy with Jude too :)

It’s such a relief when you choose the name! Good job! We had a similar experience with our first child’s name. Total disagreement until we found the one. We used our mom’s maiden names (Cole and Wright) for the middle names and chose pretty strong, easy to pronounce but somewhat unique names for their first names. We told no one the names until they were born. I didn’t want to see reactions or hear opinions. I think naming your child is a pretty personal thing for just mom and dad.

I LOVE the idea of waiting until the baby is born to reveal the name. We did that with both of our kids. With my first (a boy), it took a little while to come up with a name we liked so we did tell people the ideas we had, but we never said what his name would actually be. Then with my girl, we had named her shortly after we got married, so we knew what it was going to be. We didn’t tell anyone anything about her name. Not even my mom. I loved when she was born that I announced her name. It was so fun! And then no one told us their opinion, because it was her name! So good for you! It was hard to keep it a secret because everyone asks, but I am very happy we went that route!

Aw that’s so exciting you have the name picked out! My husband wanted to wait until we found out the sex before discussing names. We found out on Monday we’re having a boy and have a strong contender now. The middle name is family and the first is one my husband suggested that’s growing on me. We’re planning to keep it secret until he’s born but I’m not sure I can keep it quiet for 18 weeks!

When I got pregnant with my first we knew we wanted to use the name Elliot for a boy as it’s a family name of my husband’s great grandpa. She was a girl but we still wanted a family connection so we decided on Isabel Edith, after my husband’s grandma (who incidentally I had lived with for 2 months before my mission and was equally special to me). Then when my 2nd was a boy, the chance to use Elliot came up and we added Arthur as his middle name as it’s my dad’s, brother’s, nephew’s, grandpa’s, great grandpa’s and great-great grabdpa’s name. ? With our 3rd we joked we liked vowel names, but when someone at church gave the baby blessing and said the baby’s middle name was Oliver…well, I loved it and held onto it for a year until my 3rd child was a son. His middle name is my maiden name. Then lastly when Oliver was 2 weeks old and I had given away all my girl gear, I had a super special experience where I was clearly told I was supposed to have another child, she was going to be close in age to Oliver, and she was a girl. 20 months later we had Avery Beth, Avery because of a dream my mother in law had while I was pregnant with Oliver and she saw us in a dream with this 2 year old girl with blond curly hair and her name was Ava. We laughed it off because we weren’t planning on more kids after our 3rd. But when I got pregnant again after that strong revelation…well, We didn’t particularly want Ava but we went with Avery instead and Beth after my grandma. And guess what, she is our only child who got my husband’s super curly hair…and it’s super blond!!!! Anyway, that’s my novel about children’s names. ?

We did wait to find out the sex of the baby. We wanted the good ol fashion way of finding out, and I was using bold primary colors for everything, so it didn’t matter for preplanning. We chose a girls name right away, as of the time she was born, thankfully she was a girl, because after 9 months, we STILL couldn’t agree on a boys name and had nothing. I was so scared it was going to be a boy and we didn’t have a name and they’d force me to choose before leaving the hospital and I’d pick something in a rush I wasn’t happy with. It was a huge fear and stress for me. Whew…it was a girl though. I actually found her name in a Readers Digest while flying even before I was pregnant. It was about a little girl named Ashlyn and she couldn’t feel pain, like when she got hurt, she couldn’t feel it. The more I read the name, the more I liked it. We had 2 others we liked, but this was different and not too common, but not crazy out there either.

We did NOT find out the sex. It was hard, but my husband LOVED the moment he got to go to the waiting room and announce, “It’s a girl!” Names were hard because we are both teachers. :) We found the name we used for our daughter in a baby name book. We both (separately) put the name on a list: Delaney. Her middle name is my grandmother’s name: Vivian.

We pretty much told everyone our names as soon as we had decided. However, with Braden he didn’t have a name until after he was born. The hubs and I each counted to 3 and said our names and they were different. We’ll just say that the husband won and I’m okay with that. With Luke, I had a dream around 25 weeks that his name was Luke and that was it :) I also had a very strong feeling about the sex of each baby and I was right with the first 2 and totally off with my last one.

We named our son after his grandfathers. We figured we could get the family obligatory naming out of the way. It wasn’t until he was born that we finally decided on the name. My OB/GYN helped us name him. In a funny story, when my cousin was little and her mom was pregnant, she wanted to name the baby Valvoline (like the motor oil). Rainbow Sparkles doesn’t seem that bad in comparison.

We named our daughter after one of my best friends and my aunt (who didn’t have kids of her own). That one was super easy for us, but we hadn’t really told everyone/officially made up our minds and one of our friends got us an engraved music globe with that name…so we were stuck. ;-) It took us three days in the hospital to name our son, and it came down to two choices. My husband wanted Matthew, but I’ve dated too many Matt’s in the past, so we ended up with a totally random name with no meaning: Nathan. Unless you count my favorite character on One Tree Hill back in the day. But I love it! :)

We chose our son’s first name because it was technically a family name, but a super distant relative (so really, I just liked the name). The middle name is Beau, for my MIL – she still uses her maiden name, Beauregard, and apparently in college her nickname was Beau. We didn’t tell anyone the name until he was born. My due date was two days after Thanksgiving, so we called him Butterball while I was pregnant. :)

We chose to not find out the sex of the baby beforehand. In life most surprises, sadly, seem to be of the negative variety and this is one of the few ones that we genuinely bring us joy so why not hold off in finding out. That said, we were CONVINCED (as was everyone) she was a boy-her name was going to be Lucas Clayton. We never even really talked about girls names because we just assumed I would deliver a boy. Imagine our surprise when our sweet girl came out instead and her name, without giving it any real forethought, just kind of rolled off my tongue: Ava Grace. Over 9 years later and I still smile thinking about it. One of the best days of my life.

When I was pregnant with my son my husband and I had very different ideas about names so it took us a while to pick one we both liked. The only requirement was that the first name had to be short. Our last name is long and a bit of a tongue twister. So we went with Dean, something not too weird but not too common. For our daughter, we googled one syllable female names and found it from a list. We chose Winn. Then her middle name is my husband’s grandfather’s middle name, Valentine. He hated it until we used it for her middle name.

I think it’s great to wait and tell the name after the baby…………it’s an element of surprise, but also, when you meet her, what if suddenly you do change your mind? Better to wait and announce when you meet her. Exciting! And I am not even sure if I want kids, but I do have favorite names already-ha!

I don’t think I could keep a secret that long from my mom. :) Can’t wait to hear what name you guys picked!!

I think that’s great you’re waiting til she’s born to share her name…makes it more exciting for everyone else and more special for you! Hope you’re having a wonderful day!!

We have six kids and knew all of them would have Hawaiian names (because they’re Hawaiian) but with 37 cousins coming up with a name of their own (that had a strong meaning and also wasn’t a commen name, Kai, Kapono, Leilani) was hard. So with our first we decided to use character traits that we believed represented the fruits of the Spirit. Some of them weren’t given a name until right before we left the hospital! Akahai (gentleness), ‘Oliko (joy), Hako (goodness), La‘ahia (faithfulness), No‘iau (temperance) and Ma‘alahi (patience)…..I guess we need to have 3 more!? All of them have Hebrew middle names and the girls also have a family name from my dad and my mom.

I had 3 boys and back then (1965-1969) one had to wait to know the sex. So I prepared for both kinds! All my names were biblical, so Philip, Paul, and John. Their middle names had links with family. I liked biblical names because, well, they are biblical! And because, by virtue of that, they are timeless. Sadly, we lost Philip, my first, when he was 14 to anaphylactic ahock when we were on vacation in England visiting family. Over there Pippa is short for Philippa, so when son John had his second, a girl, he called her Pippa to honor his brother ?. I loved this–names so mean a lot!!

My daughter often dreams of our close family/friends when they are going to have a baby(before they tell) and/or the gender of the baby. It’s SO strange. Her dreams of baby gender have been right every time!!?
She has moved away but last week dreamed a couple in our community had a baby boy so she called me. She didn’t even know they were pregnant but baby had actually been born the same night she had the dream. Crazy!

I didn’t find out my daughter’s sex until she was born. We had a home birth and the midwives/doctor didn’t do routine ultrasounds and I never even had one!

We had a name for a boy and a girl. We named her Tenai for where we live. We live in the Kootenai Mountains and we shortened it. Her middle name is Willow because I love willow trees.

We didn’t discuss names with anyone else either because it was exciting to surprise everyone and I didn’t really need anyone else’s opinions :)

I’m so excited for you and your family Janae!

I didn’t know what I was having but I had a girl’s name picked out after going through the social security registry from 1920-1940 (I wanted something old fashioned). The boy’s name I didn’t know (I felt like it was so much harder)k and husband and I tried to pick out in between contractions at the hospital in case it came out a boy!? Luckily it was a girl and little Eleanor May just turned 6 months old!

I love that you are waiting to share the name! Love surprises :) For now, we plan on keeping the gender a surprise (for us and everyone) until he is born–I’m convinced we are having a boy, but I am always wrong with my friends–but I might give in and find out at an ultrasound.

We already settled on a girl’s name and a boy’s name…and thankfully we both agree on the names and love them both! First name will be in honor of my Dad…middle names in honor of other family members.

Happy to hear that you and baby are doing well! And that Brooke and Knox seem excited!

Your little baby bump is adorable!!! If your readers can vote on the name….I will vote for Brooke’s choice – Rainbow Sprinkles!!!

I am a twin. When my mom was pregnant with us, they couldn’t tell there were two of us since our heartbeats coincided. Also…the technology (waaaaaaay waaaaaaaay waaaaaaaay back then) wasn’t as great as it is now. She had a feeling she was having twins though. She said she kept getting double-yolk eggs and other signs like dreams, etc.
She will tell you the best moment of her life was when she was on the table (she had a c-section) and the doctor said ‘There’s another one in there!!!!’

For our first we didn’t have a name picked until after he was born – Bryce. We just couldnt agree but i finally gave to Bryce because its scottish and his middle name is my maiden name, Murray, which is also scottish. For our second, I’m currently 38 weeks with a girl and we have kept her name a secret except I accidently said it in front of my sister! I didn’t even notice and my sister gasped when I said it, lol. Oh well. Regardless, the rest of our family is chopping at the bit to know! Hopefully only two more weeks!

We waited until birth to find out the sex. We had a handful of names boy/girl but nothing fully set. We wanted to met him/her before deciding a name. Once he was born we narrowed the list to 2 first name contenders and 2 middle name contenders. It took us 3 days to name him! LOL! We were in the hospital for 4 days due to c-section. Can’t wait to hear her name! So exciting!

We are waiting to find out the sex, but it’s a tough wait! My friends and family (along with my husband and I) are divided 50/50 team girl/boy. We do have a name picked out for each, but are waiting to tell… we figure we’ll tell the baby first ;) You look fantastic, Janae, and it’s so fun sharing this journey with you!

When I was pregnant with my daughter I had a dream about a little girl I met in a store filled with dolls. She had long curly dark hair. I had long curly drk brown hair so naturally I thought this was her coming to me in my dream. I asked her, “Are you Marina?” (the name we had chosen) She was shy and nodded, “No.” I thought OK. What’s YOUR name?” She replied, “Lizette.” Fast forward 5 yrs. My daughter, Marina enters kindergarten and comes home to tell me she made a new friend, her name is Lizette” WEIRD! They stayed friends for many years until they started going to different middle schools.