Thank you for this post (and the follow - up), as well as all those who have commented. I have had serious namers remorse for the past six months. Yes, six months. My daughter was born 6 weeks early and we hadn't yet found THE NAME. We had a list of possibilities (frankly the list was too long), but we thought we still had time to narrow it down and hopefully find a name that seemed to fit. My husband and I have very different naming styles, so naming is a challenge. We ended up choosing a name that had been on our 'we can agree on these' list the longest. It seeemed matchy to me with my older dd's name, but I felt it went best with the middle name (mil name and my husband felt strongly we should use her name for a middle). There was another top contender name in the hospital, that my husband liked better, but I felt paralized over choosing that name because it had been added to our list just a few days prior to birth and I just wasn't sure if I liked it as much. Well, I am guilty of doing way too much thinking/name researching AFTER naming. I love the second choice name now and have unfortunately discovered that when you add spellings/popular short forms of the name we chose, it is VERY popular...pretty darn near the top of the chart. While not considered trendy, it is referred to as 'boring and overused' on countless naming message boards. I've thought about changing her name. I've prayed about changing her name. My husband and I have prayed together about changing her name. But, we won't be changing it. My husband feels that while it was never either of our favorite names, it is now her, it is who she is. I don't feel quite the same way, and probably because I've unwisely spent so much time thinking 'what if' about the other name. He has said I could change it if I simply 'cannot live my life' with her name, but I don't feel like it's the right thing to do if he doesn't feel the pull to change it as well. I've been pretty pathetic these past months...I even think my obsession has caused a bit of depression. I've felt guilt over not choosing the name my husband liked best. I really appreciate the comment above from zoerhenne: "-The road not taken will always plague humans. That's what makes us human. The ability to choose and reason is amazing. Know that you did the best that you could have done IN THAT MOMENT when you made that choice." If you read this, thank you for saying what you did. It made me realize I really did do the best I could at that time. Sure, I should have researched far more before then, but in that moment when my dh said, 'you choose, I like this one better, but they are both good', the name I chose was the only one I could choose at that time. I couldn't choose one I wasn't comfortable with at the time, no matter how much it has grown on me now. I'd had 15 hours of sleep over the course of 5 days and dealt with the stress of having my baby in the NICU. I did the best I could. Maybe she'll be the type of kid who loves having a little club of friends with the same name! I know I'll probably still have moments when I regret the choice, but I hope to someday soon not be able to picture her with any other name...no matter how popular it is and how much I love the other name!