Namings: Baby Namings and New Names on the Mornington Peninsula

Ask most Australian parents what they'd like to do to mark their new baby's arrival, and you'll get a slightly awkward pause.

They might not be religious, so a christening feels dishonest. A party feels a bit thin for something this significant. And "we'll just post the photos" doesn't quite do justice to the fact that a whole new person has joined the family.

There's a third option, and a surprising number of people have never heard of it. A naming ceremony on the Mornington Peninsula gives you everything a christening offers, minus the parts that don't fit: the formal welcome, the promises, the gathering of everyone who'll help raise this child, and the moment where a name is said out loud in front of people who love them.



No church required. No faith required. Just the ceremony.

What a naming ceremony actually is

Amanda Morgan is an authorised civil celebrant, and the naming ceremonies she conducts are symbolic rather than legal or religious.

That word "symbolic" sometimes throws people, so it's worth being clear about what it means. It means the ceremony doesn't change anything on a government form. Your child's name is registered through Births, Deaths and Marriages regardless. A naming ceremony doesn't replace that, and it doesn't need to.

What it does is mark the moment. It gives the name a public occasion. It puts everyone in one place at one time, listening, while something meaningful is said about a person who has just arrived, or about a person who has just chosen who they are.



Being outside the legal and religious systems is a feature rather than a limitation. Nothing is fixed. There's no required text, no set structure you have to follow, no words you're obliged to repeat if you don't mean them. The ceremony is genuinely yours to shape.

Welcoming a baby, on your own terms

Baby namings are the most common reason people book a naming ceremony on the Mornington Peninsula, and they take an enormous range of forms.

Some are eight people in a lounge room on a Sunday afternoon. Some are seventy people in a backyard with a marquee and a caterer. Both work. Both are done properly.

The elements couples most often want included:

A formal welcome. The child is introduced by name to everyone present, which sounds simple until you're standing there watching it happen.

Promises from the parents. Not vague good intentions, but the specific things you actually want to commit to. Amanda helps you find the words for these if they're not coming easily.

Guide parents, mentors, or godparents by another name. Plenty of families want to formally recognise the people who'll be in this child's corner for the next few decades, without the religious framing that the word "godparent" carries. A naming ceremony lets you name those people and let them make their own promises out loud.

Readings and contributions. A grandparent, a sibling, an old friend. Anyone can be given a part.



A symbolic ritual. Candle lighting, planting a tree, a wishing jar or time capsule that gets opened on an eighteenth birthday, a family blessing that's been passed down. If it means something to your family, it can be built in.

Older siblings. One of the more underrated moves in a naming ceremony is giving an older brother or sister an actual job. It changes how they experience the whole day.

Change of name ceremonies

The other half of Amanda's naming work involves adults, and it's some of the most meaningful ceremony work there is.

People take on new names for all sorts of reasons. Someone reclaiming a family name from a previous generation. Someone stepping away from a name that carries a difficult history. Someone who has become an Australian citizen and wants to mark the shift. Someone adopted as a child who's chosen their own name as an adult. Someone whose name finally matches who they've always been.

In almost every one of those cases, the paperwork happens quietly. A form gets lodged. A document arrives in the mail. Something enormous gets processed like a change of address.

A change of name ceremony gives that moment the weight it deserves. It's a chance to stand in front of the people who matter and have the new name spoken, acknowledged, and celebrated rather than simply filed. For a lot of people, that's the difference between a name they've changed and a name that feels real.

Amanda approaches these ceremonies with the same care and the same original writing she brings to every occasion, whatever your reason for being there.

Formal, casual, or somewhere in between

There's no house style to fit into.

If you want something structured, with a clear order of events and a bit of gravity to it, that's what you'll get. If you want it relaxed enough that guests are holding drinks and someone's dog wanders through the middle of it, that's completely fine too. Amanda has done both and doesn't have a preference about which one is correct.

The same goes for scale and setting. Naming ceremonies happen in backyards, at beaches, in community halls, in vineyards, in lounge rooms, and in family homes across the Peninsula. Small and private, or large and loud. The ceremony is written to suit the room it's happening in.



What stays consistent is the writing. Every ceremony is personalised to the family or individual it's for, which means the words spoken on the day are about your people specifically, not about babies in general or identity in the abstract.

What's included, and what it costs

Amanda's standard fee for naming ceremonies is AU$300 + GST.

That covers:

An initial meeting. Usually around an hour, with the parents or guardians, or with the individual in the case of a change of name ceremony. This is where the ceremony gets planned and where Amanda gets to know enough about you to write something that fits.

Ongoing contact in whatever form suits you. Phone, email, or video call for follow-up questions, logistics, and anything that comes up between the first meeting and the day itself. New parents in particular tend to appreciate not having to organise another face-to-face meeting.

Attendance and delivery on the day. Amanda conducts the ceremony, delivers the naming ritual, and takes part in whatever else you've asked her to include.

That's the standard package, and it's deliberately kept at an accessible price. Amanda's view is that a ceremony marking something this important shouldn't be a luxury item.

It's also a starting point rather than a fixed menu. If you want something structured differently, or you have a specific ritual, cultural element, or format in mind, that conversation is welcome. Custom requests are discussed and agreed upfront.

Thinking about timing

There's no deadline on a naming ceremony, which is both the good news and the reason so many people never quite get around to it.

Baby namings are often held somewhere between three months and a year after birth, which gives new parents time to surface and gives extended family a chance to travel. But there's no rule. Ceremonies for two-year-olds and four-year-olds happen regularly, and older children can genuinely participate, which is its own kind of lovely.

Change of name ceremonies are usually timed around whatever the person feels ready for, sometimes shortly after the paperwork goes through and sometimes months later. There's no correct answer.



The practical advice is straightforward: once you have a rough date and a rough guest list, get in touch. Weekends fill up, particularly through spring and summer on the Peninsula.

Worth doing properly

Names carry an unreasonable amount of weight for something so short. They're the first thing anyone learns about us and the thing that gets said at every important moment of our lives.

A naming ceremony takes maybe half an hour. What it leaves behind is a memory of the day a name was spoken out loud, on purpose, in front of everyone who mattered, with people who chose to be there.

If you're considering a baby naming or a change of name ceremony on the Mornington Peninsula, the first step is just a conversation about what you have in mind.

Get in touch with Amanda Morgan Celebrant. Email hello@amandacelebrant.com.au or send an enquiry, and Amanda will be in touch to talk it through.