A few of the most difficult conversations you will have with your significant other when you're expecting will be about baby names. Inevitably, your partner already has a set of names they've always loved and so do you. Despite all the things you might have had in common up to this point, what to name the baby can easily become an argument which makes you question everything about your relationship. In addition, the input of in-laws or having friends that "steal" your baby name as soon as you've gone public all make it totally understandable to finally cave-in and compromise on a name you might not feel so great about. However, a new report reminds us that maybe we shouldn't compromise because baby-name regret is on the rise.
What's in a name? Probably much more than you should even consider. Studies have found that baby names can influence how often you're disciplined at school and whether or not you'll get a call back for a job interview. In the past, a handful of names were used for close to the majority of children across the nation, but now it takes up to 546 names to cover half the population of the United States. In other words, names are becoming more unique and in effect, they are a bigger indicator of what kind of parents the child has. Your reaction to meeting a child named Bella 20 years ago might have been, "oh, what a beautiful name," whereas, now hearing that name you might immediately assume that the parents are fans of the Twilight series. Plus, it's hard to know which names will become the most popular for your child's generation. After all, it was only a few years ago that naming your daughter Madison or Addison or another English name that essentially means "son of" was believed to be the most unique thing you could possibly name your little girl.
Psychologists are finding that the more choices you have, the more likely you are to experience remorse. The recently published, "The Baby Name Countdown: 140,000 Popular and Unusual Baby Names" is the largest list of baby names to date, and you're probably tempted to buy it to make sure you've seen every-single-possible-baby-name-there-is-and-will-ever-be (beware that many baby naming books and websites are inflated with multiple spellings of the same name). Despite more choices being available, baby name expert, Laura Wattenberg, says the volume of mail she receives from parents experiencing baby name regret has recently risen considerably. Psychologists believe a phenomena called "the paradox of choice" could be at play. More choices can equate to more stress and despite the final choice we make, there is likely to be some regret because it was such a harrowing decision in the first place, making it hard not to look back with, "what if?"
Too many choices isn't the only problem. Some parents complain about people not pronouncing their child's name correctly, others find out after the child has been named that there is an unfavorable stigma surrounding the name. The number one reason Wattenberg hears, however, is that parents feel another name on their top ten list would've fit the child better. She offers a few tidbits of advice: if it's early on, you can change the name without a problem, but be aware that children will grow into their names even if it doesn't seem like such a great fit at six-weeks-old. Lastly, she tells expectant parents to keep their lists small and avoid reviewing every possible baby name out there.
How has the baby-naming process treated you and your partner?
Baby-Name Regret Is on the Rise, Expert Says [
LiveScience]
Photo Credit: Hasan Sami Bolak
