Changing My Baby's Name at 18 Months

Here is my opinion...you picked the name, you named him, that is his name....use Dimitri if you have another. Or keep his name and call him Dimitri as a nickname...I know that sounds weird but it is no weirder then renaming him at 18 months.

My sister wanted to name her son Justin Kyle and call him Kyle. He hubby wanted a junior so he is Richard Allen XXXXXX Jr. and we call him Kyle. It was the compromise that they reached.

I wanted to name my daughter Cheyenne Nicole but her dad wanted something different. Came up with every other name possible and the only one I liked was Madison but I loved Cheyenne Nicole. I made a compromise, he name is Madison Cheyenne but she is know as Cheyenne (her nickname is Shiny Girl thanks to a little girl at daycare that could say Cheyenne).

I am in process of adopting a 6 year old who we are renaming, so really I think it can be done at any age. It may take some getting used to for him, and you will have to expect that he may not respond to you right away for a while, but he will adjust.

What have you been calling him for 18 months?

I knew another mom that did this with her daughter, and they had no regrets. I also knew of two sisters that changed their names after high school, because neither of them liked their names. My husband and I both changed our last name, to his adoptive father's last name when we married.
It sounds like you and your husband already want to do this...so why not? We come up with new "nick-names" for our kids all the time and they know we are talking to them. I have a 18 month old, and I don't think it would phase her too much, she's learning so much right now! I personally think, the sooner the better...by age two, he might be telling people his name.

What is his middle name? Do you call him that? Many kids go by their middle name. Personally I wouldn't change it, especially since you say you love the name Oliver. But if you do, I would still keep Oliver as part of the name.

Go for it! My mom's hairdresser completely changed her name when she was 40. She never liked her first name (Karen) and had her bio-dad's last name (they never had a good relationship). So, she changed her 1st and last name! She is not married and doesn't think marriage is in her future.

Have you applied for his social security card yet? If not this could make it easier. I would call the Clerk of Courts or Register of Deeds office at your local county court house. They should be able to explain the procedure to you.
As his parent you should be able to change his name but all states differ. I'm not a lawyer just offering an opinion.

I personally feel it is too late to change his name if you have been calling him Oliver. My baby clearly knows her name, has for some time, and is 11 months old. I am sure she would be greatly confused if I just decided to start calling her a totally different name. That being said, she would probably get used to it. So all in all if you want to do it, go for it. He is your child.

You will probably have to do a legal name change through the Courts since he is over a year old. It is usually a simple form and around $50.

Go ahead and do it, as long as you get started on it soon!

In Arizona if the child is over 1 year it requires a court order to legally change a name. The fee to file for a name change in the Superior Court of Maricopa County is $301. There are 16 pages of steps to follow which can be found at: http://www.superiorcourt.maricopa.gov/sscDocs/packets/cvn...

I agree with the other posters that you can call him whatever you want, but I have a Victoria who we call Tori and currently at daycare everything has to be labeled as Victoria to not cause any confusion with licensing. So it may be the cleanest in the long run to legally change his name. I also have a friend who has a 1.5 year old that they generally call him by his middle name just because their 3 year old picked it and he uses it more. So it really is whatever makes you more comfortable in the long run.

I do birth certificates at the hospital I work at in California.
At least in this state, you can change a name. Since you and your husband are legally married, it will be easier.
Contact the office of vital statistics for your county.
You will have to file for an amended birth certificate and pay a fee.
In California, it takes up to a year for the change to become legally official with all the paper work in hand.
Also, you should know that any changes will come in the form of an "amended" birth certificate, meaning the original one never goes away or is dissolved. Your son will basically have two birth certificates.
It's not the end of the world. Just be sure you are prepared to explain to him when he's older why you changed his name.
Remember that you can call your child whatever you want regardless of what's on the actual birth certificate.
If you want to get into changing legal documents, it can be done, but it takes time and a fee.
And consideration for the person whose name you are changing.

I can't imagine it would traumatize an 18 month old to have his name changed, especially if Oliver is retained as his middle name. Kids are called by all kinds of names - first, middle - nicknames, etc. If you think Dimitri Oliver is a strong name that will serve your son well as an adult (I do!) then make the change. You're the Mama and Daddy. You don't need anyone's approval!

Oh I love names!! So I took the liberty of looking up the meaning of both names. I checked several sites and found that Oliver means olive tree, fruitfulness and fulness. Dimitri is a form of Demetrius which means lover of the earth and also means follower of this goddess of the harvest, can't remember her name right now! Of course I am sure you probably know this, but what I am saying is that honestly the names mean nearly the same thing to me. They are both earthy and relate to the earth giving up it's good fruit. I name my children based on meaning bc I view it as every time I say their name I am calling them the meaning of that name. Now if you just go by the feeling of the name, not the meaning, then of course they are different. I know that my son who is 13 months is very clear what his name is. When you say his name he makes a sound like "yes!", it is so cute. My first by 18 months was fully aware of his name and could say it in his own little way. So although I don't think you will scar him by changing, he won't even remember, it will be confusing in the short run. I wouldn't do it, but that is just me! Obviously this your child, so your decision. But I would say if you are gonna go for it, do it asap!

Although I don't know how to go about it, or how much it would cost, I totally understand about changing the name. My husband and I were set to name our little guy Jeremy, but as we were with him, we knew that this was Seth. There was no doubt. Seth is now a father of four. Good luck!

Check the rules in your state, but here in MN you can do a name change for under $100 (last time I checked). You fill out some paper work and a judge reviews it and you need to be there in court for about 10 minutes. Then he won't need to use the name Oliver from then on, he will legally have a new name.

My ex legally changed his first and middle name after his Dad died (he was named after him and didn't want to be). This was the very easy process he went through. In his case, because he was an adult who already had legal records (credit history, military history, etc.) he does keep a copy of the name change form stamped by the court along with his personal papers so that he can prove he is one and the same person under both names.

As far as him "already knowing his name" - I had friends who adopted a boy at age 2 and changed his first name and it didn't phase him one bit. If you thought it might "confuse him" you could call him "Dimitri Oliver" for a while so he would hear both names.

Is his name already Oliver Dimitri?
If it is, you don't have to do anything but call him Dimitri. As he gets older his paperwork will read O. Dimitri (last name).
At school, he'll say, "Call me Dimitri."
I substitute at a middle school. There are many kids who have totally different names on paper than what they are called...
All that to say do it!
LBC

If you are going to do it, do it now so he is not confused. Our 2nd Daughter is Ruby Grace. From the beginning, I wanted her name to be Ruby Rhea, but my husband was not sold. I love it and that's what I tend to call her when I use her middle name. One day my husband said we should just change it. He knows I prefer that name and use it, as did he and her older sister. When Ruby was 2 1/2 or so (and I still do this), I ask her what name does she like, Ruby Grace or Ruby Rhea and she ALWAYS says Grace even though it's the name she was least familiar with. I realized that was the name we gave her and it's the name she prefers even at 2 and 3. I took it as, it's the way it's meant to be and Ruby Grace she will forever be. And very rarely do I call her Ruby Rhea these days.

i dont know if i would or not. have you guys called him dimitri? is that what he is used to? if so then yeah i would and its not too late but it may cost a little bit because his birth records SSN all that will have to be changed and any job/school he applies for he will have to put the name you guys gave him at birth