Baby Name Regret Is More Common Than You Think

How often do parents regret their choice of name for their child? More often than you might think, as it turns out. BabyCenter surveyed 478 parents ages 18 to 44 who were either currently pregnant or had kids up to age 5, and found that nearly one in 10 of them wished they had chosen a different name for their child.

One mom, who named her baby Cleo, was among the 9% who regretted the choice. After settling on the name with her husband, she said she now experiences “major regret.”

“Every time someone calls her by her name I can’t help but cringe,” she said. “I just want to cry because I don’t know what to do.”

That mom is far from alone. 10% of the moms who took the survey said their child’s name just doesn’t suit their personality, including a mom who told BabyCenter, “When I was pregnant with my son, we called him MJ. I tried calling him MJ for several months after he was born. It just doesn’t fit him. I eventually started calling him Maverick Dean (Dean is his dad’s middle name) and to us, it fits him better. He is now 3 years old and we have yet to legally change it. But we have plans to.”

Legally changing a baby’s name is an avenue some parents take, though. The survey revealed that around 6% of parents take that step.

As for the names parents prefer for their babies (and the reasons they don’t love the names they picked), they vary.

15% said they prefer their child’s middle name to their first name, and 20% said they prefer their child’s nickname to their given name, whether it’s a shortened version or a different name altogether.

Sadly and surprisingly, 15% said they’ve had people negatively critique or mock their child’s name. One mom shared, “I named my son Kyan (rhymes with Ryan), but every time I introduce him, most people say, ‘Like cayenne pepper?’”

If you’re choosing a baby name—or already named your baby—how do you know if you’ll regret it? BabyCenter’s survey showed that any regrets are likely to surface within a year—for 15% of moms, the regret developed within a month of giving birth, and 21% of moms who regretted their child’s name felt that way by their first birthday. After that, regret rates declined by a lot—only 6% of moms who ended up regretting their name choice said they developed those feelings after a year.