I'm probably missing something obvious, but I can't figure out how to rename my villagers? And I know it was possible in the first game, so I am hoping that is the case for this one too, can anyone help?

It's right there on the detail screen...click on the name above the villager, and a cursor should appear...backspace to delete the old name, and enter what you want! Hope that helps...

If you hit the enter key your cursor will dissappear, to make it reappear just click by the name!

im pretty sure that when i tried to change a moms name after her baby was born it didnt take... the first time i saw the little parents bodies above the babys head in the detail screen and saw the "son of (parents name)" i went back to the moms detail screen and changed it and then when i rechecked the babys it still said the original name ... has this happened with anyone else??

The parents in the details screen aren't updated when there are changes in either the parent's name or clothing.

well i guess now i know..