No One Wants To Steal Your Dumb Baby Name So Stop Being So Secretive About It

nameIt seems like almost every week there’s a new pregnancy announcement on my Facebook newsfeed. There must be something in the water, or maybe it’s just the fact that people in my age bracket (around 30) are starting to go hard when it comes to reproduction.

Since I’ve had two kids and am totally and completely done, I’m way more interested in who, what, when, and where my friends are having their babies. (Pre-baby, I didn’t give a shit!) In my humble opinion, one of the highlights of pregnancy””and I really don’t think there are many””is choosing the baby’s name.

Full disclosure, I was the type of freakazoid that had all of my baby names picked out in eighth grade. Of course, my tastes changed drastically over the years, and my original baby name list was burned in a super-secret midnight ceremony so that no one could mock my strange choices. But I really, really enjoy the art of baby naming, and I’m always chomping at the bit to hear what all of these new bebes will be named.

For my own two kids, my husband and I picked out a boy and a girl name, almost from conception. I’m crazy like that, and I like making lists. So when we went in for the gender ultrasound at 20 weeks, we were at the ready to text all of our family members the gender announcement plus the decided baby name. (We had two boys and went with Elliott Liam and Jonah Reed, if you were wondering.)

Maybe I’m missing something, but many parents in my social circle (i.e., Facebook) don’t seem to share my baby naming enthusiasm. Or maybe they’re just keeping their cards close to their chests. Whatever the case may be, many expecting parents choose not to announce their baby’s name until they post a birth announcement on Facebook. I’ve also known a few parents that have waited several days or weeks after the baby was born to decide on a name.

So what is really going on here? I’m wondering if these parents are either indecisive or afraid that their super-awesome baby name will be stolen. My second son was born in 2013, and I’ve already seen two other Jonahs among my Facebook friends following his birth. I’m not bothered in the least because I love the name and still think it’s unique enough that there probably won’t be eight Jonahs in his class.

Maybe I’m a baby naming fanatic, but I just couldn’t keep my baby name roster to myself. Indecisiveness kinda makes sense for many parents since this is a name your baby will be stuck with for the rest of their life. (No pressure!) But if anyone purposely stole my unborn’s name, I wouldn’t cry about it.

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