Son hates baby name

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One possible conversation to have with the 12 year old is that big responsibilities come with the opportunity of naming a child. That could end up creating one of the strongest bonds between the two brothers, where the elder will forever look after the younger one. Just remember that you are the parent and you give rights to your children, just make sure that they understand that you are the one granting those rights. Also remember that your son is not trying to change a name, you are trying to change it after having announced it, he is simply trying to preserve something that he though as unchangeable.
 
Just use all the names. Mine have 7 first names. More name saints, the better.

Also, you and your husband should have the final say. My older sons were quite insistant that their little brother be named after a famous soccer star and I just laughed and said that when they grew up and married they could name their son after said soccer star, but we were naming him something else. The begetting gives you the right to name the child.
 
Cathmomof6 said:
We are expecting our 7th baby on March 25. He will be our 4th little boy. We had a major scare mid pregnancy when we were told my quad screen came back positive for trisomy 18. Fortunately, it seems to have been a false positive as a level 2 ultrasound and free cell fetal DNA test all came back with good results. Anyways, at that time we started calling him Abram Joseph (Abe) since we thought we might lose him and wanted to give him a name.

Fast forward 10 weeks and I am feeling a strong change of heart to name him Gabriel Joseph (Gabe). Gabriel because his due date is the feast of the Annunciation and Joseph because he will likely be born closer to March 19 - St. Joseph’s feast day. I felt Gabe was close enough to Abe that kids would like it too. However, my oldest 12 year old son hates it and keeps begging me to keep it Abram. I have been referring to him as “baby” now because every time I call him Gabe, my son starts an argument. My husband doesn’t care at all!!

I know it is our decision to name him, but my 12 year old is making me feel bad for changing it. I still like Abe so I sometimes think I should just name him that to keep the peace. What do you all think? It sure adds a whole new dimension to baby naming when you have older kids who STRONGLY voice their opinions!!
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Both names are beautiful so either way your son will have a good name. If you prefer the name Gabriel then that is what I would name him. Tell your 12 year old that Gabriel is one of God’s arch angels, he is one of three mentioned in the bible. Gabriel means “man of God” and is a strong and honorable name. Gabriel is the angel to told Mary that she would give birth to Jesus and he also spoke to Joseph about the birth of our Saviour. You should tell your 12 year old that you appreciate his (name removed by moderator)ut and passion for his baby brother and will seriously consider his opinion. In return whatever your decision you hope that he will respect your decision once your baby is born. Once you look upon that angelic face of your newborn you will know for sure what his name will be.
 
While the responsibility of naming baby is that of parents, I would chat to the 12 year old to find out why he is so much against the name Gabriel. You may well go ahead and use it anyway, but, at 12 he is old enough to be expected to give his reasons for his stance on various issues. But listen carefully to what he says and take note of underlying emotions. His feelings about the name may reflect some other distress. Perhaps something relating to your earlier health scare with this baby.

BTW, grateful that my elder granddaughter had no say in the naming of her younger sister, her choice was Floweria 🤷
 
As this is entirely your decision, I think I’d go with the mother’s old stand-by when pestered with a request to change her mind. You declare the discussion closed and reserve the right to withhold any decrees on the subject until a time that suits you. Arguments are no longer being entertained, and the verdict is pending. Your 12 year old may think the suspense will kill him, but it won’t. Try to keep a sense of humor about that. (Who knows, in the end this may be the story that proves his devotion to intercessory prayer. ;))

“Enough about that now. Let’s wait until the time comes, and then we’ll see.”

And so you will…
 
I guess normally I would definitely go with what we prefer. However, I like both names. Gabe and Abe are obviously very similar. I just kind of thought Gabriel Joseph would be kind of neat since his birthday will very likely be between March 19(Feast of St. Joseph) and March 25(Annunciation). I think my son feels Gabriel is too feminine, which I kind of agree as it sounds a lot like Gabrielle, but he will be going by Gabe(unless of course he is in trouble:D). Abram sounds more masculine, but it doesn’t really have any meaning behind it besides its biblical origin. I am still very undecided:shrug:. I told my kids we would decide when we see him, but I don’t know if that will help either. We were undecided with my last son too, and his name did not pop in my head when I met him for the first time. In fact, we named him Sebastian and then thought about changing it 2 days later before we had filled out the paperwork!! We ended up staying with Sebastian - we call him Seb - and I don’t regret it one bit, but seeing him didn’t help me much!!
 
Perhaps explain that sometimes circumstances have caused people to change the names of a child. There was Benoni - who became Benjamin.
 
I have been asked over the years how it came to be my first name is Diane and then told it is not an accepted Catholic name. Yet, that is the name on my baptismal certificate, my birth certificate, passport and all other records. Am I confused…you bet I am. 🤷
 
Guess I am partial to Gabriel as that is my new great grandsons 😃 name.
 
DianePa said:
I have been asked over the years how it came to be my first name is Diane and then told it is not an accepted Catholic name. Yet, that is the name on my baptismal certificate, my birth certificate, passport and all other records. Am I confused…you bet I am. 🤷
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I see websites listing Diana and Diane (the Latin and French forms respectively) as acceptable. It means “divine.”
 
Yes, I would accept that but friends tell me I should have been named after a saint. 😦
 
I wonder if your son’s objection to the name is because he didn’t realize the name choice was still up in the air. If you told your family the baby’s name was Abram, of course your 12-year old would get attached to it; it’s the name you chose for his sibling! It’s a testament to how well he understands that it’s actually a baby in there that he is objecting to your name change; for him, it’s not a theoretical, future baby that will be named Abram or Gabriel. It’s a person who already had a perfectly-good name.

Suppose your baby was born and you named him Gabriel. Suppose a month later you tell your family you’re thinking of changing it to Peter. I wouldn’t think it obnoxious or rebellious for your other kids to object.

So it seems I’m in the minority here. Of course I agree that you and your spouse alone have the right to name the baby. I would argue, however that by telling your kids to call their unborn brother Abram Joseph that you already have named him. It’s not like your 12-year old came home and started arguing that you should choose that name when you had already had your heart set on something else. And you didn’t pick some cutesy nickname (Cheese, Pumpkin, Beany) to refer to the baby that would obviously be replaced at birth by something more substantial - you picked an actual name that you love. So if it were me, I would add Gabriel as a second middle name and stick with the name you originally gave this new baby.

Of course, if it’s difficult to convey this without letting your 12-year old think that he changed your mind by arguing with you, you may have to go with Gabe to make a point.

Either way, congratulations on the new baby! I’m so happy the trisomy 18 scare appears to have been a false positive. God bless you during the rest of your pregnancy.
 
May you give me more info on ‘saint’ Diana?
Seems there was a Jewish lady I was named after.
I grew up in a neighborhood that had many different cultures most of whom were Catholic
but a lot of Jewish, Greek, Irish, Italians, etc. I attended Catholic School and my closest friend, who also went to the same school, whose father was Protestant-]/-] wanted his daughter to at least attend the Methodist Summer School. She refused unless I could go with her. My parents were hesitant but in the end we both went and really enjoyed ourselves. :rolleyes:
 
I suppose it is because many of us growing up were told all Catholic children were to be baptized with a saints name. My baptismal certificate says clearly, ‘Diane’.🤷
My confirmation name is Margaret so I guess that evens up the score. 👍
 
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