History Main / LastMinuteBabyNaming

* In ''Literature/TheSaddleClub'', Max and Deborah were certain their first child was going to be a boy and planned to name him Maximilian Regnery IV ([[AncestralName Max himself being Maximilian Regnery III]]), only to end up having a girl. In a nod to the tradition, they decide to name her Maxine.
* In ''Literature/ToSailBeyondTheSunset'', Maureen and Brian ''had'' chosen a name ahead of time for one of their children ... trouble was, they'd assumed Maureen was carrying a girl and the kid was male. Since the birth took place as Presidential election results were being announced, the baby was named Woodrow Wilson Smith. (Justified as there weren't any scientific prenatal tests for gender in 1912, though you'd think they would have picked a backup male name just in case.)

* ''Film/StarTrek2009'': This happens at the beginning, when Kirk's parents are naming him. He's named for his maternal grandfather (James), and his middle name is his paternal grandfather's (Tiberius).
** This also happens with Spock's parents in a DeletedScene.

** Princess Carolyn adopts a baby porcupine girl at the end of season 5, giving her the placeholder name "Untitled Princess Carolyn Project". In the season 6 episode "The New Client" it's revealed that Princess Carolyn has been so busy juggling her job and looking after her new baby that she still hasn't given the baby a proper name yet. At the very end of the episode, she finally decides to name the baby Ruthie.

* An understandable example in ''Fanfic/{{Handmaid}}'': by the time [[spoiler:Prince Edmund]] was born, UsefulNotes/HenryVIII had begun to regard his first choice-after himself-as cursed, since he lost three sons named Henry (his son by Katherine of Aragon, his bastard by Bessie Blount, and [[spoiler:the baby Anne Boleyn miscarried after being shoved down the stairs by Thomas Seymour]]). His second choice of Edward was irrevocably tainted by the actions of the Seymours, especially since Jane had named her bastard son Edward. Briefly he considered Jasper and Owen before deciding they were too Welsh and not royal enough for a king's name and decided on [[spoiler:Edmund after Henry's grandfather. He also notes he hadn't thought of a girl's name, but naming Edmund's twin sister was easy enough: [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethI her grandmothers were both named Elizabeth]]. He would later use Owen for his second son with Anne]].

* In Jewish custom, a baby isn't given its name until the 8th day of its life, when it's formally dedicated and boys are circumcised. (In Biblical times, this included going to the temple and offering a sacrifice, though it's naturally a bit different today.) This can actually lead to a subversion, however, since it means the parents have a week after the child's birth (during which time they know the gender and what the baby looks like, thereby taking some of the guesswork out of it) to pick a name in anticipation of the dedication. [[note]]In modern times, however, most Jewish babies (apart from those born to the very traditional Orthodox sects) are given their main/legal name at birth, and then have a separate ceremonial Hebrew name -- which may be similar to the legal name or entirely different from it -- to be announced at the dedication, with the latter generally being used only for religious rites.[[/note]]

* In Jewish custom, a baby isn't given its name until the 8th day of its life, when it's formally dedicated and boys are circumcised. (In Biblical times, this included going to the temple and offering a sacrifice, though it's naturally a bit different today.) This can actually lead to a subversion, however, since it means the parents have a week after the child's birth (during which time they know the gender and what the baby looks like, thereby taking some of the guesswork out of it) to pick a name in anticipation of the dedication. In modern times, however, many Jewish families (apart from the very traditional Orthodox sects) will give their child a legal name at birth, and then have a separate ceremonial Hebrew name to be announced at the dedication. (In most cases, the legal name is the name the child is generally known by, while the Hebrew name is reserved for use in religious ceremonies.)

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* In FanFic/UltimateReImaginings, Claire reveals to Blair that her mother only named her Blair because she was on painkillers at the time and thought it sounded 'cute.' [[spoiler:Madame Masque]] later confesses to Blair that she barely remembered the girl's ''birth'' when asked if she remembered her name.
* In the ''Manga/SoulEater''/''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' crossover [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9883704/1/He-ll-Never-Be-My-Son He'll Never Be My Son,]] Crona was named like this, since his parents, Medusa and Orochimaru, consider him a [[GuineaPigFamily test subject]] and didn't bother to come up with a name for the whole [[BizarreAlienBiology thirteen months of witch pregnancy.]] Medusa rejects Kabuto's suggestion immediately (he said she should name the baby [[SigilSpam Arrow after her]]), and decides to base the name Crona (from ''kuro na'', meaning "dark one") off Orochimaru's suggestion of Kurohebi ("black snake").
* In Creator/AAPessimal's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' fic [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11536013/1/Hyperemesis-gravidarum Hyperemesis Gravidarum,]] which deals with Assassins and motherhood, the daughter of Johanna Smith-Rhodes and Ponder Stibbons is done by an informal committee of family and friends gathered at the new mother's bedside. Only one of Johanna's suggested names makes the final cut, and then only as a middle name. The child is finally named after a student Assassin for whom Johanna has a mentor's regard, and only after her name is translated from "Cenotian"[[note]] The nearest thing on our world would be Hebrew[[/note]] then into Morporkian[[note]]English[[/note]] and then into Vondalaans.[[note]]Afrikaans[[/note]] It is observed that the daughter cannot fail to grow up multi-lingual.
** The child gets the middle name Irena, for the Witch who assisted at the birth. This also proves to be significant.

* An understandable example in ''Fanfic/{{Handmaid}}'': by the time [[spoiler: Prince Edmund]] was born, UsefulNotes/HenryVIII had begun to regard his first choice-after himself-as cursed, since he lost three sons named Henry (his son by Katherine of Aragon, his bastard by Bessie Blount, and [[spoiler:the baby Anne Boleyn miscarried after being shoved down the stairs by Thomas Seymour]]). His second choice of Edward was irrevocably tainted by the actions of the Seymours, especially since Jane had named her bastard son Edward. Briefly he considered Jasper and Owen before deciding they were too Welsh and not royal enough for a king's name and decided on [[spoiler:Edmund after Henry's grandfather. He also notes he hadn't thought of a girl's name, but naming Edmund's twin sister was easy enough: [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethI her grandmothers were both named Elizabeth.]] He would later use Owen for his second son with Anne.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheRugratsMovie,'' Stu and Didi apparently thought that Dil would be a girl, and had to revise their plan to name "her" after Stu's mother.
-->'''Didi:''' He doesn't look like a Trixie.

* Happens in ''Film/WarCraft2016'', where despite Draka having thought of the name a few days before birth, Durotan insists that he names the child and only comes around to do this a few days after the kid is born, just before he's [[spoiler:taken by Blackhand to be imprisoned.]]

* ''{{Literature/Discworld}}''

* ''Series/MyFamily'': A flashback shows the night Nick was born. Mere hours before his birth, Ben and Susan still haven't settled on a name, and Susan decides to name the baby after the next person who walks into the room (Ben agrees because she won't let him go get a snack until the name is decided). The next person to enter the room is called "Bumface", but says it's a "nick"name, causing Ben to leap on the syllable and declare it time for food.

* In ''VideoGame/TomodachiLife'' the trope is played oddly. When a baby is born, the parents tell you they have thought about giving the baby a random name. However, it's up to the player to either approve that name, ask them to think of another or make up a completely different name.

* Ariel from ''{{Webcomic/Drowtales}}'' [[http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?sid=4315 was a case of this]], which turns out to be reflective of [[ParentalNeglect Quain'tana's parenting style in general]]. Also justified to a point as Ariel [[spoiler:is not actually Quain's daughter but her granddaughter, and until the child was born healthy Quain wasn't sure if she was going to keep her for herself]]. Also implied to have been the case with Quain's grandson Pup, which Ariel lampshades as showing Quain [[GiverOfLameNames has no imagination]].

--> '''Skathi''': What should we call it?

* The goblins in ''{{Webcomic/Goblins}}'' have a culture that combines this with MeaningfulName. After goblins are born, the baby is subjected to a naming ceremony led by the clan's shaman. During this ceremony, the shaman will have a vision of the baby's future which inspires a prophetic or descriptive name, such as [[HairTriggerTemper Complains of Names]], [[TheLeader Chief]], and [[IdiotHero Fumbles]]. One shaman had a reputation for being terrible at performing the naming ceremony and wound up giving babies names such as "Go Away I Have A Headache" (shortened to 'Hava') and "Stop The Ceremony I Swallowed A Bug".

* {{Justified}} on ''Series/Charmed1998''--the Halliwell family has had nothing but girls for generations, and Piper had met her daughter, Melinda, when she traveled to an alternate future. She and Leo tried to get pregnant specifically to meet the timing of Melinda's birth...only to be surprised when they got a boy instead. An episode goes by while they decide what to name him, and end up with Wyatt Matthew Halliwell ("Wyatt" being his [[TheMaidenNameDebate father's surname]], "Matthews" that of his maternal aunt).

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': {{Justified}} in the case of Gilly's son, since she had every reason to believe he would be given to the White Walkers within days anyway.
** ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': Upon the birth of Rhaenyra's third child, Laenor Velaryon wastes no time calling him "Joffrey" ([[DeadGuyJunior in memory of his dead lover]] Joffrey Lonmouth) without bothering to ask Rhaenyra's opinion about it and without bothering to make it fit in the Valyrian naming conventions.
* Slight variant in ''Series/GilmoreGirls'': It's not that Sookie and Jackson didn't think of any names during her second pregnancy, it's that they thought of ''too many'' names and couldn't decide what to use. They decide at the last minute to use ''all of them,'' naming her Martha Janice-Lori-Ethan-Rupert-Glenda-Carson-Daisy-Danny Bellville.

* In ''Franchise/DragonBall'', Goku and Chi Chi had a hard time thinking of a name for their firstborn son after he was born (though Chi Chi initially wanted to name him Einstein and her father the Ox King had an extremely long list of names that were all just variations of his own name). They eventually noticed that the baby responded the best to Goku's grandpa Gohan's name and the rest was history.

* In ''Comicbook/TheSandman'', Lyta Hall doesn't name her baby boy for a while after he was born. When Dream visits the boy, whom he considers special [[spoiler:and a worthy heir to his title]] because he's a child that was born in the realm of dreams, he casually mentions before departing that his name is Daniel. Despite her own issues with Dream, Lyta agrees that "Daniel" is a good name for her son.

* Similarly, in ''Literature/TheSaddleClub'', Max and Deborah were certain their first child was going to be a boy and planned to name him Maximilian Regnery IV ([[AncestralName Max himself being Maximilian Regnery III]]), only to end up having a girl. In a nod to the tradition, they decide to name her Maxine.

* In Jewish custom, a baby isn't given its name until the 8th day of its life, when it's formally dedicated and boys are circumcised. (In Biblical times, this included going to the temple and offering a sacrifice, though it's naturally a bit different today.) This can actually lead to a subversion, however, since it means the parents have a week after the child's birth (during which time they know the gender and what the baby looks like, thereby taking some of the guesswork out of it) to pick a name in anticipation of the dedication.

* Danny and Lindsay on ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' don't agree on their baby's name even after she's born. Danny says 'Lucy' and Lindsay says 'Lydia'. (It's said in the next season to be Lucy.)

* ''WesternAnimation/LeroyAndStitch'' gives us an adult creature variation with 625, the only experiment Lilo has not named; she goes through various sandwich-related names until settling on "Reuben".

->'''King Verence:''' So I've got to take Esmerelda out to her people and tell them one of her middle names is 'Note Spelling'?’\\
'''Nanny Ogg:''' Well, we did once have a king called My God He’s Heavy the First.

But not in media or TV shows... In most media, parents go the ''entire'' nine months without even thinking or talking about this important issue. When it ''finally'' comes to the birth, one of the parents says "What should we call him/her?" and then they patch together a name right on the spot while holding their child -- with minimal, if any, need for discussion on the matter between the two parents. A LineOfSightName, DeadGuyJunior, and NearAndDearBabyNaming names are very common. Naming it after the mother or father's deceased parent is a particularly common option. If it's a kid's show or book, then an older sibling may even be allowed to choose the name. On the other hand, the GiverOfLameNames is also liable to show up.

* A chapter in ''Manga/OiShinbo'' revolves around the OfficialCouple deciding on names for their twins after the birth. The male lead has to be extra convincing to explain the MeaningfulName he's giving his daughter.

* Similarly, in ''Literature/TheSaddleClub'', Max and Deborah were certain their first child was going to be a boy and planned to name him Maximilian Regnery IV (Max himself being Maximilian Regnery III), only to end up having a girl. In a nod to the tradition, they decide to name her Maxine.
* In ''I Should Have Seen It Coming When the Rabbit Died'' by Teresa Bloomingdale, Teresa gives birth to her 3rd child. Her husband comes into her hospital room saying "That baby isn't Jimmy!". Her initial response is "Well, it certainly isn't Mary!" (They'd picked the name James for a boy, Mary for a girl. They did use those names for later arrivals.) They finally decide the baby is Michael.
* A tragic case in ''Literature/OutOfTheDust'' occurs when the reverend presiding over the funerals of the protagonist's mother and infant brother (a case of DeathByChildbirth) asks her father to posthumously name the child, who had died without a name. He's so in shock over the losses that he can't do it, so the protagonist takes it upon herself and gives the baby the name Franklin.

* Justified in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. With the GrimUpNorth conditions beyond the wall, the mortality of children is so high that naming one that hasn't yet grown enough to walk is considered TemptingFate.

* In Creator/RosemaryWells's picture book, ''Use Your Words, Sophie!'', the baby is variously called Amber, Ashleigh and Amber Ashleigh because her parents can't agree on what to name her. Furthermore, it seems like nothing can stop her crying. At the end of the book, she is soothed when her big sister, Sophie, names her Jane because, as Sophie explains, "She wants to be called Jane."
* In ''Literature/AYellowRaftInBlueWater'', Christine originally thought her child was going to be a boy, and so planned on calling him Ray. When it turned out to be a girl, and her husband Elgin planned on calling her Diane, Christine defended her decision to still call her Ray and wound up picking Rayona [[LineOfSightName after glancing at the tag on her hospital gown and seeing the word Rayon]].

* In the ''Series/SesameStreet'' picture book ''Me Cookie!'', a baby blue monster is known only as Baby Monster, even after he starts walking and talking until finally he names ''himself'', insisting to his babysitter "Me not Baby Monster, me Cookie Monster!"
* ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'': Beetle's mother was overcome by grief at his father's death right before he was born, and at the naming ceremony could only sob "Oh, Beetle! Beetle!", which promptly became his name. He usually goes by just "Beetle".
* In ''Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever'', there is a page featuring a cat family that has given birth a new kitten. It says that the Cat family doesn't know what to name the new kitten and asks what the reader would name it, with a space provided to write in a name of up to six letters.
* The ''{{Literature/Redwall}}'' series book ''Mattimeo'' features a character named Jubilation, the youngest of a family of many sisters, whose parents named him the first thing his father shouted on realising the new child was a boy.

* Wakka and Lulu's son in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2 Final Fantasy X-2]]'' doesn't get named unless you complete a sidequest, and if you fail or skip the quest, then Rikku jokes that the kid might go nameless until he hits puberty.