Baby names: Do you let friends, family sway you?

For some reason, my husband thinks it’s his “turn” to name the next baby.

First of all, I’m not pregnant—so, Mom, if you’re reading this, remain calm. Second of all, I can assure you, I never agreed to this arrangement and was unaware that we were alternating the naming of our children like some kind of household chore.

Let me explain.

Naming our first-born was easy. My husband’s a Junior who’d always dreamt of having a Third to gloat over. The “Thurston Howell” treatment wasn’t exactly my style, but I agreed to name this child Robert Mason Tuller, III, as long was we could call him Mason and not Bob or Rob or Robbie or Robert. Those guys are a dime a dozen around here.

Then along came our second, another boy, and we had to put some thought into the name. My husband’s not great when given too many choices. Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way when I brought home 50,001 Best Baby Names. I’m pretty sure he had a certified anxiety attack when he opened the book: “There are just too many names in here! I can’t even look at this!”

OK, so that wasn’t going to work. I knew I’d have to get a hold of this thing myself. Well, one night Robert was out of town and I was a having a blissful night of TV as queen of the remote. I stumbled upon Desperate Housewives for the first time and watched for five minutes before I heard the name. It was short, dignified, and worked very well with a traditional, polysyllabic middle name. In other words, it had plenty of weight to stand up to his older brother’s III. It was Rex Hamilton Tuller.

Never one to keep a secret, I began to share my new favorite name right away. Robert liked it, but wasn’t totally convinced—he needed some time. Others, however, felt very comfortable sharing their opinions and they were all negative. They’d wrinkle their nose, laugh out loud, and said, “You can’t name a baby Rex. It’s a dog’s name!”

Being the stubborn Aries that I am, it took only a few of these comments before I dug in my heels and declared Rex his official name, despite the naysayers. In fact, their feedback only solidified my resolve. Fortunately, Robert liked it so we were able to stay married.

I don’t know what to do about a potential third. Robert’s hell-bent on a name and I’m fresh out of ideas. Maybe Siegfried is actually starting to grow on me.

Now it’s your turn: Tell us, have you struggled with finding a name for your little one? Did others’ opinions sway your decision? Weigh in with your comment below!