All parents and parents-to-be recognise the dilemma of choosing a baby’s name, there's a lot of pressure to get it right.
While some parents may like unique baby names or maybe names beginning with A or even the more classic names, that are likely to feature in the top baby names from the last 100 years, baby name inspiration can be tricky. And you’re not alone in feeling that. Influencer and new mum, Chelsea Stonier shares what she went through to finally land on her first born baby's name.
Chelsea is a much-loved and achingly cool interiors influencer who has built up an audience while renovating homes and sharing her style and life with husband Ash. Her Instagram handle is ‘thehousethatblackbuilt’ and she has an impressive 137k followers.
Like many influencers, Chelsea would do AMA (ask me anything) posts, and so many times she would face questions like, ‘are you having babies?’, and ‘will that room be the nursery?’, in her replies she never ruled it out. In fact her followers found out, after the birth, that she and Ash had been on their own IVF journey, behind the scenes. But all her audience saw was her super cool and adult-led life so, they maybe ruled her out of the baby-having gang.
So there was a lot of surprise - and excitement for her - when she announced she was pregnant in April 2023. Her usual interiors-only account was starting to show baby bump images and her followers were there for it, and couldn’t wait to see what cool name they would share…. And they didn’t let anyone down.
Five weeks ago Chelsea announced the arrival of her baby boy with a classic black and white shot and the caption; “nothing else matters’ with a black heart (very on brand). The post soon garnered 19.7k likes and over 1k comments all wishing her congratulations and checking in on the new mum. And then on the 14th October, the post everyone was waiting for… his name.
Posted with a caption that read ‘October Arthur Stonier. Mummy and Daddy love you endlessly.’ It racked up 11.6k likes and over 569 comments. One follower wrote; “I knew it would be a great name.” While another said; “Oh hi tiny man! what an amazing name!!”
This follower couldn’t help but share her thoughts on nicknames already; “Beautiful baby, gorgeous name, love Otto as a nickname. Congratulations!” Another wrote ; ”October. Stop it what an unreal name for a beautiful wee boy. Love this so so much.” So how did Chelsea and her husband Ash decide on the name? We have a quick chat with the new mum to find out all and she shares her top tips on choosing a name.
How did you choose October as a name?
“It was actually a suggestion from my mum! I was certain I was having a girl (no idea why) and had a few girls names that were along the same lines as October - in terms of a little more unusual - but no boy names at all. After finding out he was a boy my mum would text me most days with names and this was one we really liked and added to ‘the list’.”
What made you decide to go with it?
"When he was born we still hadn’t chosen, it was between October and another name we had had from very early on. I was hoping to see him and know which name suited best but had quite a difficult labour and didn’t prioritise naming him straight away. When I felt better I said to Ash that I preferred October over the other name but thought he preferred the other and he said no, he loved October. And that was that. He’s definitely an October now."
Did you and Ash agree straight away?
"We both really liked October straight away. We tend to like and dislike the same things fortunately. A few names we didn’t agree on and we just disregarded them straight away."
Which names didn’t quite make the cut?
"We had a list of about 17 that I kept reviewing. I won’t share my favourites just in case we have another but a few we liked - West (but didn’t work with our surname), Atticus and Miles."
Did you keep it to yourself until he was born?
"We told the immediate family some of our options as we were thinking of them."
Would it have been the same if it were a girl?
"It could have been as October is a gender neutral name. We did have other girl options but we found out at 16 weeks that he was a boy and didn’t have the name October until much later. I think October for a girl is fab."
How have family/friends reacted to it?
"Obviously my mum loved it! Haha. Mixed reviews from everyone else. I appreciate it is quite unusual but fortunately, if we like something, both Ash and I don’t allow other people's opinions to sway us."
Top tips for parents on how to choose names?
- Stay until the end for movie credits
- Read gravestones
- Follow baby name Instagram accounts
- Run every name thought past partner
"We used to watch the credits from tv shows and movies to read the names. And gravestones - especially if you are looking for something a little more traditional. There are some great Instagram accounts that are dedicated to baby names too, I loved scrolling through those. Also, run every name past your partner, you never know what they will/won’t like. Of course test it out with your surname and make sure the initials aren’t the same as any unfortunate acronyms."
Now you have a bit more inspiration for baby names, it might be time to tick off more items on your pregnancy to-do list, from finding the perfect nursing pillow to selecting your baby's first cot bed. Plus, discover natural techniques and pain medications for giving birth.
