Nearly a fifth of parents regret baby name - survey

Almost a fifth of parents in the UK regret the name they chose for their child, a survey has suggested.

An online poll of more than 1,000 parents carried out by Mumsnet found that 18% of parents regretted the name they chose for their offspring, but only 2% actually changed their child's name.

The main reason for any regret was how regularly the name was used by others (25%), the data suggested.

Other sources of regret included spelling or pronunciation issues (11%).

The Mumsnet survey has been released in anticipation of annual statistics from the Office of National Statistics on the most popular baby names of the year in England and Wales.

'Deed poll'

Justine Roberts, founder of the parents' forum Mumsnet, said: "Choosing your baby's name is one of the first things new parents do, so in some ways baby name regret is great practice for parenting - you do a lot of hard work and research, try to please several people at once, and end up getting it wrong.

"The consolation is that most children grow into their names, and those who don't can always fall back on middle names, nicknames or, in extremis, deed polls."

According to the survey one mother said the moment she began to regret naming her daughter Elsa was when the Disney film Frozen became popular.

Another mum said: "My child hates his name, and makes me feel bad for choosing it."

While another parent admitted her child's name "was taken by a terrorist group, soon after she was born".

Last year Oliver and Amelia were revealed as the most popular baby names in England and Wales, while in Scotland it was Emily and Jack.