In “Romeo and Juliet,” William Shakespeare once posed the question: What’s in a name? Well, Bill, the answer is a lot more complicated than you would think.
Now that we know the gender of our baby (it’s a girl!), the next logical step is to choose a name, right?
Well, choose a name we did! Want to know what it is? Sorry, you’ll have to wait.
Yes, my husband and I have chosen to keep our daughter’s name a secret until she arrives. And by secret, I mean our families don’t even know. My husband and I hardly even say or write her name ourselves because we’re afraid we’ll get into the habit of using it and blurt it out accidentally. Only I, my husband and a stranger on Etsy who monogrammed her “going home” outfit knows her name.
While we realize this isn’t the norm, we have a few reasons why we’ve chosen this for our family.
Everyone seems to have an opinion about baby names.
One of the biggest attractions for keeping her name a secret is that it would eliminate the possibility of us being “talked out” of a name we loved. Of course we want others to love our daughter’s name, and we think they will, but you open yourself up to that risk by sharing the name — even with family. We have a lot of opinionated people in our family!
People can be unkind about your choice of baby names ...
I think people’s first thought when I tell them we have a name picked out but that we’re keeping it a surprise is, “Oh man, what weirdo name are you going to call your kid?” Which I definitely don’t blame them for — I would probably think the same thing! Knowing this, I try to calm their fears by saying, “I promise it’s not a weird name!” and they usually go into a story about how they knew someone who named their kid Popcorn or something equally as strange and it redirects the conversation.
… But more understanding than you’d think.
I was honestly pleasantly surprised at our family’s reaction when we told them we wouldn’t be revealing the name until our daughter was born. My mom — who I thought might be the hardest to convince — was actually really excited about waiting for the big reveal. My sister-in-law and mother-in-law have been trying to guess the name for months and honestly, no one has guessed it yet!
Friends, colleagues and strangers are also really respectful of our decision and if they’ve had kids or are thinking about kids, they tend to understand why we’ve chosen to keep it to ourselves.
We’re incredibly excited to reveal the name to everyone — especially our families —because we do think they will love it just like we do. The anticipation is real!
I have had this visual of my husband walking into the labor and delivery family waiting area at Medical City Dallas after she’s born and announcing to our family that she’s arrived and what her name is. It honestly brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it!
While this isn’t for everyone and I sure understand why someone would want to share the name ASAP, that’s the beauty of pregnancy and parenting. It looks different for everyone and every family. Whatever path you choose for yours is what’s best!
About Susan
Susan is a first-time mom-to-be, communicator and frequent Google-er. She resides in Plano with her husband and fur-baby, Lucy. Follow her as she navigates the uncharted waters of pregnancy, motherhood and all that comes with it.
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