“My friend BLOCKED me on social media over my baby’s name”
Oh dear
Choosing the perfect name for your baby is no easy task, but what happens when the name you love is already ‘taken’ by a close friend or family member? Is it ok to 'steal' it?
One woman was faced with this dilemma and decided to ask her friend directly if she would mind. The friend replied saying it was fine – but then blocked the mum-to-be on social media and confided in friends that she was upset over it.
“I’ve recently had a baby boy and my DH had chosen a name that we both liked however it’s the same name as my friend’s 6yr old son so I wasn’t sure,” the new mum explained on Mumsnet.
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“I decided to ask my friend whether it was ok to use it … for context my friend has never met my partner or been to my house, I see her about 3-4 times a year,” she added.
“I messaged her and she said she didn’t mind and understood that finding names is hard. So we named our son this and we are very happy with the name and it suits him well!
“But since then my friend has deleted me from social media and I found out from a mutual friend she was hurt that we had called our son the same name as her son.”
The new mum was understandably upset, saying she thought she had done the right thing by asking first, and also felt offended at being deleted.
“I feel like I did the right thing in asking but wondered what others opinions are on this. Would you react this way?” she asked.
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One reader said she thought it would depend how rare or unusual the name was.
“If it’s Ignatius or Fox or something similarly unusual I could kind of see why she was a bit put out. Still an overreaction though. If it’s a top 50 name like George or Noah etc then she is being extremely unreasonable.”
“I was flattered when a friend of my DH's wife confessed that she wanted the same name as my DDs,” said another. “I didn't mind. Your mate's nuts.”
Some, however, said it wasn’t on to ‘steal’ the baby name of a friend.
“I would be annoyed too. I know general consensus is that nobody owns a name but it can take months to lovingly choose a name for your DC so it’s irritating when a friend decides to copy,” said one user.
What do you think?
Nicola Conville has worked as a journalist and editor for more than 20 years across a wide range of print and online publications. Her areas of expertise are parenting, health and travel. She has two children; Lucy, age eight, and Nathan, age five.
