Sometimes it happens that a baby is born before he or she is expected. Maybe so early that no name has been agreed upon. It may be the case that your partner can’t be there when you give birth and you have to make the choice by yourself, quickly. Will it be Jeffery, the name you like best, or Jack, after your father-in-law? It’s a tough decision to make alone. Luckily, there is quite a bit of time available before you have to finalize the baby’s name legally. You might change your mind while you are on the way to the hospital or in labor. One of you may start to doubt the choice you made when it comes time to register the child’s birth certificate. In that case, you need to consult before the registration can be finalized.
There is also the case (regardless the stage when baby decides to make an appearance) of a relative or friend who feels a sense of entitlement, for whatever reason, over a child’s name. It is important to keep in mind that you should choose a name that you love, and that is best for the child and not be pressured by other people’s desires and whims.
Our advice:
Don’t let others talk you into giving your baby a certain name. No matter how eager your
mother(in-law) is to have the child named after her, only do so when both of you are one
hundred percent sure of that choice. A name lasts a lifetime. The choice should not be
made in haste, and should be made by parents in the child’s best interests... not your
mother-in-law’s or any other’s.
Why Christy?
“We didn’t expect the baby to come that soon and had only decided on a boy’s name when I went into
labor. And it turned out to be a girl! Since my husband’s name is Chris, we decided to name her
Christy. The funny thing was that in the hospital where I gave birth to her, three more girls were
born that night; their names were Christa, Christina and Chrissy.”
