I think it is a big decision and not one to be taken lightly. After all your new 'Princess Tiaamii' or 'Apple' is going to have to live with their new name for the rest of their lives.
We made the choice to find out the sex of our baby at the 20 week scan. We thought it would be easier then to decide on a name if we knew what 'flavour' we were having. Unfortunately not. We still couldn't agree on a suitable name for our new baby girl. Millie, Isabella, Charlotte and Madeleine were our top contenders, however in the end we had 99% settled on Madeleine before she was born.
When you are pregnant everyone wants to put their two pennies worth in about your own personal decisions. First everyone wants to know whether you will find out the sex and gives their opinions on what you should do. Next people want to know what names you have thought of. I have friends who have not mentioned any names until the baby has been born in order to keep it a surprise but we did tell a few people our shortlist. Most people told us their favourite off the list and that was it. However I did tell one guy I worked with that one of our favourite names was Madeleine. He turned to me and said 'Oh don't call her that, she will be forever associated with Madeleine McCann.'
He really upset me. If I had told him that after she had been born, I am sure he wouldn't have dreamt of saying that so why say it to me before? Why do people find it necessary to give their opinions to a very personal decision?
I have always loved the name Madeleine and one imbecile almost stopped us calling our daughter a name we both loved and agreed on. I know I shouldn't have cared what he thought but I started to question whether others would think this as well.
If no one ever called a baby a name of a celebrity/historical figure/person from their past then there wouldn't be many names left. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I know that not everyone will agree on names, but I think for our next baby we will keep quiet about what we are calling them until they are actually born.
According to Bounty the top girl's name for 2010 was Olivia and the top boy's name was Jack. Madeleine didn't make the top 100 but Katie was No 20. At least I can say to her that her Mummy is still trendy in some respects!
