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Parenting Club Forums > Baby Names > Changing Names


Posted by: Maddie&EthansMom May 25 2010, 06:20 PM
DH and I were going through our adoption paperwork last night and it asks what we want to change the child's name to.

We don't want to keep it David--and we don't like the middle name. The birthmom asked that we please change his name, since he is ours now.

Do we start calling him by his new name now? He knows his name and even responds to it and tries to say it? Do we tell people (on FB, etc) that his name has changed?

Seems awkward, but I'm sure people do it all the time. I don't really care what others think, I'm just trying to wrap my head around this.

Our reasoning is that we chose our other kids' names and we want his name to be a part of us and I think there is so much in a name.

Anyway...just not sure if we should wait til the adoption is final, or just start calling him by his new name. wacko.gif

Posted by: luvbug00 May 25 2010, 06:24 PM
personally i dont like the idea. especially if he already knows his name.
my parents kept my name except the last. They changed that. I dunno my name is kinda one of the things that is MINE and I like it and would have been pretty upset if it had been changed. Dunno. Just wanted to throw in the "adoptee" point of view.

Posted by: coasterqueen May 25 2010, 06:40 PM
I only have experience with this with one cat that we have now. So I'm not sure how much help my experience would really be. happy.gif blush.gif All other pets we've had we always kept their given names when we adopted them, even if I didn't like them. One of the cats we adopted last year, he was called Minnie Hyatt and Ryan said there was no way he could ever call him that, so he changed it. It was so awkward and weird for me and made me feel a little sad for him because that was his name since birth and he knew it well. Regardless of how I felt about it, the rest of the family was going to call him something else so I just did it and started calling him by his new name. Even when I call the APL to talk to them about him I have to tell them his old name because that's how they remember him. happy.gif blush.gif

Anyways, just start calling him by his new name, IMO. If you have made the decision and you are comfortable with it, the more you call him his new name, he will understand eventually, right? It's like a nickname, ya know. We call Megan "Little Bit" and we use that name a LOT more than her real name. My bosses son's name is Michael (I actually had to think about what his real name was laugh.gif ) but when he was little he did something that got him the name "Sharky" and that's all they call him now, seriously. I am not for sure if he even knows his real name. At school the teachers call him Sharky, everyone calls him sharky. He was in a newspaper article about golf and he was even referred to as Sharky, not his real name. So think of it in the beginning as a nickname, and eventually it will just be his name, kwim?

I'm not even sure if I've answered your question or offered anything but babble happy.gif but I'm sure you'll figure out whaqt exactly is the best way - the best way for yiour family and what is best in your heart.

hug.gif

Posted by: Nina J May 25 2010, 07:23 PM
I don't think it would be strange to change his name, people will get used to it. And he is young enough to make the transition easily. When he is older he won't even remember the name David.

What name do you guys have in mind for him?

Posted by: Maddie&EthansMom May 26 2010, 06:06 AM
Karen that's funny because we call our kids their nicknames moreso than their real names, too. happy.gif The kids have already started calling him by his "new" name--and this is the name Scotty has used for him since we brought him home. I'M the one that keeps calling him David. laugh.gif Go figure!!

Nadia--my mother was adopted and she feels the exact opposite as you. happy.gif She feels her given name was a connection to her birth parents and she wanted to feel a part of her new family in every way. wink.gif

Nina--Thanks! smile.gif I will reveal it when we've come to a concrete decision and the papers are signed and sent off to the attorney. tongue.gif

Posted by: coasterqueen May 26 2010, 06:17 AM
QUOTE (Maddie&EthansMom @ May 26 2010, 09:06 AM)
Karen that's funny because we call our kids their nicknames moreso than their real names, too. happy.gif The kids have already started calling him by his "new" name--and this is the name Scotty has used for him since we brought him home. I'M the one that keeps calling him David. laugh.gif Go figure!!


happy.gif Well see, now you just need to start calling him his new name and before long he won't know the difference. The sooner you start doing it the sooner the whole family can adjust. It won't take long and it will be natural for all of you.

hug.gif hug.gif

Posted by: DVFlyer May 26 2010, 07:02 AM
An old girlfriend's sister divorced her husband and changed her (their) son's name because she didn't want any connection to the name "he" gave their son.

I think the boy was 4 or 5 years old.

We all thought it was odd, but honestly, kids could care less.

Posted by: A&A'smommy May 26 2010, 07:03 AM
I would start calling him by his new name now so he can get use to it. Congratulations btw he is a beautiful little boy!! how old is he?

Posted by: Maddie&EthansMom May 26 2010, 07:12 AM
Jessica--he is 11 months old. smile.gif

Mike--It's true. Our neighbor changed her name from Jolene to Valerie when she was in grade school. No one thought anything of it--except I still call her Jolene and she's now in her 20's. laugh.gif

Posted by: moped May 26 2010, 07:33 AM
I say that you should start calling him his new name!

When will you share his name with us? tongue.gif

Posted by: CantWait May 26 2010, 08:12 AM
He doesn't know anything about the paperwork, I'd start calling him his new name now so he gets use to it, and before it gets to confusing.

Posted by: jcc64 May 26 2010, 11:38 AM
I was called by my formal given name until a first grade teacher started calling me Jeanne. It stuck, and even my own parents started referring to me that way. Kids adapt.

Posted by: Kirstenmumof3 May 27 2010, 07:13 AM
wub.gif Congratulations! I admit I haven't been on in a while, so I may have missed your post! I know for me, when my parents divorced and my step-father starting raising us, it was confusing for me because my lastname changed. But I think that was only because of school and doctors know my birth lastname. I think if the other kids are already calling him by his new name than I would start to call him by his new name!

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