Updated February 24, 2015.
Fetal nicknames are what you call your baby before he or she has a name. This could be before you find out if your baby is a boy or girl or it could be for the entire pregnancy and even into the early postpartum days, if you delay giving out baby names as long as we do in our house.
But a fetal nickname is a way to bond with your baby. A way to call your baby something other than it. So what names do people often use?

Here are the 10 most popular fetal nicknames:

1. Cletus the Fetus
2. Bean (and variations jelly bean and baby bean)
3. Spawn
4. Thumper
5. Peanut
6. Bump
7. Spud
8. Baby
9. Octopus
10. Junior

Some families use names that means something to them like a family name that they wouldn't actually name the baby, like Matilde or Herbert. Some families describe the baby: "Kickypants" was one shared with me on Twitter or you could go with original names like we did for our eighth baby: Ocho. It's something personal. You don't even have to share this name, but the vast majority of moms reported that having a fetal nickname felt good to have during pregnancy.