Post-natal remorse: 54 per cent of parents go off their child's name
Picking a baby name is a difficult task for many parents.
And new research suggests that more than half (54 per cent) go on to regret their original choice.
Around 49 per cent of those surveyed said the name they originally chose for their newborn failed to reflect its personality later in life.
More than half of parents later regretted their choice of baby name
While 1 in 25 admitted that they wish they'd gone with a different name from the start.
And more than a quarter (26 per cent) said they grew to dislike the name because it became too popular.
Nifa McLaughlin, editor of parenting website gurgle.com
which commissioned the survey of 1,000 parents, said: 'Choosing the right name for your children can be a tough
job.
'However, there is never any way of guaranteeing your little one will like what you choose… hopefully it starts to suit them more and more as their personality develops.'
A fifth of parents (22 per cent) had their preferred names vetoed by their partner.
Some of the most popular names shunned by
partners were revealed as Scheherazade, Esme, Gateley,
Renesse, and Majalla.
David Figlio of Northwestern University in Illinois investigated the long-lasting impact names have on individuals.
He said: 'There is a reason why baby name books are extremely popular.
'We're always trying to think about the first bit of a child's identity and so if we as a society pay a lot of attention to names it makes a lot of sense that people's names might influence how they think about themselves.'
A fifth (21 per cent) of parents admitted that they would also like to change their own name.
Last year, according to the UK Deed Poll Service, an estimated 58,000 people changed their name – an increase of 4,000 on the previous year.
A decade ago, only 5,000 people changed their names.