Not on your Nellie: perils of the baby-naming game

If my husband and I disagree about something, we can usually compromise easily. But we've reached an impasse over baby names. Our second child is due this summer. It took no time at all to name our first, Tom; we agreed as soon as the scan revealed that he was a boy. This time we agreed on a boy's name before we even had a scan. But it turned out that we are expecting a girl, and now we cannot agree.

Every time I suggest a name, he returns to the same one name that he likes. "It's OK, but it's not as nice as 'X'," he says to me, slapping down each new option.

I use "X" because I realise it's a terrible mistake to reveal a child's name to anyone before the baby's actually been born.

It's like revealing that you have dodgy bowels - it invites all sorts of unwelcome looks and comments. "Oh, no! I don't like that at all," and "You can't possibly call her that - it's so old fashioned!" are two actual reactions that I've had when mentioning the choices.

Of course, once the baby's named, no one's going to say: "What a dreadful name you've burdened that poor creature with".

So, what's in a name? After all, that which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet. Actually, the name Rose might have been on our list, had not every other girl born in the past three years been named that.