Same name? Not okay.
Think of it as baby name etiquette. When it comes to choosing a name for your child (or future child), what are the rules?
You like the name Josh, but that’s the name your greengrocer gave his third. You’ve always been partial to Sarah, but that’s the name of your best friend’s sister. And your neighbour’s dog.
Pippa’s always been top of your list, but last week at dinner, you overheard another friend saying she’s already had the letters P-I-P-P-A stitched into a quilt for safe keeping.
It’s awkward. It’s uncomfortable. And it’s the kind of first world problem that could make or break a friendship.
And so it should probably come as no surprise that expectant mums are “bags-ing” their chosen baby names in a defensive move to stop other mums from stealing ‘their’ name.
This week The Herald Sun reported:
IT was once top secret, but expectant mums are increasingly revealing the name they have chosen for their unborn child to deter friends from choosing the same one.
Social researcher Mark Mccrindle said women were becoming more protective when it came to baby names and taking measures such as including the preferred moniker on invitations and checking if there was a Twitter account in that name.
‘‘Parents are putting more effort into ensuring their baby’s uniqueness and that their baby is the only one within a circle of friends with that name,’’ the Sydney researcher said.
But it’s not just expectant parents who are claiming names faster than medicare rebates. There’s a whole team of one-day-when-I-have-a-baby name thieves out there, claiming the names they’ve picked out for the children they might have one day.
So is this okay? Can people call dibs on a name and expect no one to touch it? And close do you have to be to that person to have an obligation to respect that claim?
I’m not sure, but just for the record…. I’m calling dibs on Lola.
Do you think it’s okay for parents to reserve a baby name? And what’s the etiquette around naming your baby (or future baby) if someone you already know has the same name – or their kid does? Have you ‘reserved’ a name yet?
Comments
327 Comments so far
Can I just say I really dislike the use of the word bitch. I feel it is used to denigrate women and I hate it even more when it is said in jest. Just saying….
In my opinion you can not have dibs on a name!
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My sister just named her son William. It’s my favourite boys name. Who cares?! I’m not in a relationship and who knows whether I would ever have the chance to use the name anyway! Would be a bit silly to have an issue with it I think! He is beautiful, it is a beautiful name and I’m so happy for her and her husband. I think people need to just relax a little. Unless you are making up a name, someone else will be using it!
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Look at Demi Moore. There are plenty of copy cat Demi’s out there, but they mostly all got it wrong and pronounce it the wrong way. Her name is pronounced D’me. Every time I hear ‘Demi’ being called out to their child I think oh dear another Demi Moore fan who stuffed it up!
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Yes, but I think Demi Moore is actually the one mispronouncing the name Demi…
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… her name is really Demetria.. so I can see how she pronounces is D’me…
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And for whatever it’s worth, she gave that name to herself, she wasn’t born Demi.
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When I fell pregnant with our first we easily found a girls name we both adored. However it was much harder to agree on a boys name. Eventually we did and we loved it more than anything. I told my ‘friend’ (I use the term loosely these days but for un related reasons) both names and how hard it was picking a boys name. I ended up having a daughter. My ‘friend’ fell pregnant a year and a bit after. Her husband had suggested the name that we had picked out and she went on about how much she hated it. A week before she was due (she did not know what she was having) we were eating lunch at a cafe and she told me the names they had pick. The boys name was the only one my husband and I had agreed on. She asked me if I was upset … at the time I shrugged my shoulders more because I did not know how to answer. I was upset but I felt childish for feeling so, I was not pregnant and although other children were in plan they may not be boys. She ended up having a girl. I would be lying if I said I was not a relieved when I heard. I love the name she picked. I have my boy now and the name I love. Part of me can’t help but wonder how she would have felt though if the role was reversed (i.e she had a boy and I was going to use her name if my second was female). I had my son (10 months after her daughter was born) she went on to say she was soooo glad I had a boy and name him that because it meant her husband would not want to call any future children the same name. This made me so angry. I am not sure whether its silly or not, I suppose it depends on your relationship. I know for a fact if I had of had another girl and used her girls name she would not have been happy at all. In hindsight though I would keep my mouth shut. At least that way if a name you love/chosen is used by someone close to you there is no way you can feel it was ‘stolen’
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we have decided on our future girl’s name and im not going to tell anyone just incase they steal it! haha
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There are only so many names and each generation has its popular ones, of course other people are going to want the same names. At preschool at the moment there are so many kids sporting the same names but I remember when I was at school it was the same thing.
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NEVER TELL ANYONE!! Not even your friends. I personal wouldn’t even tell my parents because people always have an opinion about names whether they like them or not. Even if they don’t tell you what they think you can usually see it on their faces, then you get a complex and stress about the name and end up hating it. It should be up to you and your partner. Plus I think it’s a nice surprise for everyone to hear the new baby name.
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Agree. We didnt tell anyone and even my mum has admitted that when we first announced our sons name she didnt really like it….but now she loves it and “he couldnt be anything else.”
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Same with me. Apparently my grandma made a bit of a dont-like-it-face when my parents introduced me at the hospital. But they had already named me and kept it a secret so she had no choice. Now they love my name
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We kept our children’s names secret until they were born, purely because I didn’t want people to screw up their noses at the names I’d chosen. Much harder to do when they’re looking at a bundle of gorgeousness.
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When I was little, I had an American Indian doll I named Cheyenne. I was devastated to see recently that that name was “trending” because I always planned to name my daughter that.
Oh well, that’s life. You can’t call dibs on a name, imo. And I have to say, I also really like Lola….sorry!
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My Mum was pregnant with me at the same time as her sister was pregnant. They had an issue (back in those days) also. If they had a girl, they had both chosen (unknowingly, I’m reliably told) the same name for me and my cousin – Cheryl. I understand there was a bit of a bun fight over it between the sisters, finally Mum caved in and dropped Cheryl in favour of Lesley, that’s me. Thanks Mum. I love my name, always have, always will. A nice name for a very nice person – that’s me!
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I think you dodged a bullet there, Lesley!!
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I have always loved the name Charlotte. However, there has been a spark of popularity in the name and it has been hovering in the Top 10 Baby Girls names for the past few years. For that reason, it deterred us from naming our two baby girls Charlotte. I still love the name but for personal reasons, we decided against it as we didn’t want a very common name. I know that as a child, I did not enjoy other children sharing the same name as me. Too much confusion and we all ended up with different shortened versions of our name.
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I have a daughter Caitlin and my brother has 2 daughters named Caitlin and Kaitlyn. Neither of the women who fell pregnant to him knew that I already had a daughter Caitlin. Nor did the second one know he already had a daughter Kaitlyn. Very odd situation and does make some things hard in a family situation. I dont have an issue with other people naming their children with the same name as my children though, but immediate family is a different matter.
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Ooooh, I really like the name Caitlin! Do you often get people spelling it wrong though and asking how it is spelt? There are so many variations……
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Yep always asked the spelling of it since there are so many alternatives to it.
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That is so bizarre!
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Yikes! That will be funny if the girl cousins go out anywhere together when they are grown up.
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I have a friend who has a half sister (who she’s never met) with exactly the same name as her. Definitely makes for a weird family situation, especially because she doesn’t have a great relationship with her dad. You can understand her feeling like he’s literally building himself a replacement family. You don’t have to give your kids a totally unusual name but if you don’t want to give them a complex I’d say at least try a name that’s different from their siblings!
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He had no control in the naming of them, the mothers named them as he didnt know they were born. Both women had told him they were aborting but then went on to have them and contacted him in the months after their births.
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That is even more coincidental and bizarre!
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Oh my goodness… that’s just… very bad luck: in contraception, in trustworthiness of baby-mama, and in name choice!
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Oh whoa!
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Your brother named his two daughters the same thing?
I mean…I just…what?
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Both women told my brother they were aborting their babies, as the pregnancies resulted from one night stands (so his life was never discussed, all sexual pleasure) and he never heard from them again until after they gave birth. He was 16 with his first, 19 with his second. He had no control in the naming of them.
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Aaah I see. Wow, how bizarre. Luckily it’s a pretty name!
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This reminds me of Seven and Shayla!
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After I named my eldest daughter, friends of ours had a girl and called her the same name. I was a little annoyed as these are people we see quite often and they will always be around (due to family connections). But I wasn’t totally devastated as it’s a name that was quite popular.
Then we called our 2nd daughter a much more unusual name (traditional but not common nowadays). I was horrified to find out that when they became pregnant with their 2nd they would be calling their 2nd daughter the same name as our 2nd daughter because they loved our choice of names.
WHO WOULD DO THAT???
Once is a coincedence – twice is a stalker in my eyes. Especially because they told us they hadn’t even thought of the name before we used it.
Luckily their 2nd child was a boy….
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10% of my year level at school were called Kate. I don’t see the issue!
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10% of my year 12 class was vanessa….
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In a multi-generational team of four at work I was the only one not called Jenny. In another group of four in a uni tute three out of four (including me) had the same name. It’s funny how these things come in clusters.
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Exactly 10% of my year 12 class were called Sarah!
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I wanted my kids to have a bit of a sense of their own identity (with the last name smith)! So i picked names that I knew no one close to us had. I didn’t want anything silly or made up, but my husband was one of 3 Adam smiths in his year at school!
I made the decision to not discuss names with anyone, I figured then you couldnt have a fight about name stealing because any choice would be an innocent decision & I didn’t want to be influenced by anyone. I think bagsing names is silly, if everyone keeps it to themselves there can be no arguments and you get a surprise when the baby is born! How boring is it when someone is pregnant, they find out the sex and then tell you the name they have picked. It’s not super exciting when the baby is born because there’s not much else to find out… Only my opinion of course
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I so agree, I don’t want to know anyones chosen name or the sex of other people’s babies prior to them being born…that’s what most of the excitement is all about for those of us just watching the pregnancy.
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I have been TTC for 3 years and one of my very close friends was pregnant. They had picked out a boy and girl name, seemed very firm. I *thought* I was safe sharing my names.
They called their son my boy name. If / when I have a boy, I don’t care they have used it, it’s the name I want so I will use it!
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I’m 18 and two of my friends are fighting over the name ‘Nathaniel Thomas ….’ for their non-existent sons. Ridiculous.
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Oh im sorry but I had to laugh at your comment!
I remember my friends at 15 talking about the names of their future children, and all I could muster was ‘WHY?!’
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Normally I don’t think this is an issue, but a friend of mine had a miscarriage and was set on a certain name and had a ceremony where they said goodbye to their daughter, name given. Two months later, people who were supposedly their ‘best friends’ used the name for their new born daughter. For me, I think that was really awful. Because my friend is never going to forget her unborn daughter, and having these so called friends flaunting their very alive daughter in her face is distressing.
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That is at best insensitive and at worst simply cruel. I hope your friend who lost her baby had a lot of support from real friends.
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Yes she does – and none of us speak to that friend anymore – not because of the name thing (although that didn’t help) – but the selfishness of that decision was indicative of the rest of her personality that she had been keeping hidden – as soon as the baby was born it was like no other person in the world had ever had a baby and used to tell people off if they visited if they had the sniffles because “WHAT IF MY CHILD GETS SICK BECAUSE OF YOU?!?!” (I had allergies, doubt a baby is going to catch that!)
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Wow – that is about the only time I think that people just shouldn’t go there. Your poor friend.
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Reading that made me cry. That’s just horrible.
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“I’m calling dibs on Lola.”
And I now have that Barry Manilow song in my head.
I don’t have kids so this has never been an issue for me directly. One of my long-term close friends at school had the same name as me, which sometimes caused confusion, but our families hadn’t known each other during the pre-birth/birth stage.
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She was a showgirl…
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I have a Lola and she’s beautiful!
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We have selected names for our (currently imaginary but planned) children. Friends who we intend to raise our kids with (as we are all HOPING to have kids around the same time) have discussed with me their names, and no one likes the names we’ve picked so we’re sweet.
Frankly if the kid came out looking like the name we wanted, we’d call them that, even if someone else has used it. Whatever. It’s the name we like.
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PS: it’s not Lola, so you’re safe
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It is so ridiculous. The people that you are friends with when you are pregnant wont necessarily be in your children’s lives forever. Who cares if you use the same name? It’s not as if you can “own” a name.
Best tactic is to not talk baby names with anyone except your partner. It’s hard enough finding a name that you both agree on without the added complication of worrying about taking someone else’s name.
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Totally agree!
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Close to home this one. I have a boy his name is Alexander. Less than a year later my sis-in-law and bro-in-law had a boy and named him Alekzander. Did it irk me. Well, yes of course it did. But it annoyed my mother in law the most! Now the boys are toddlers and we have an Alex and a Zander. We only see them a handful if times a year as they live interstate. We have a girl as well, and planning #3, but due to fertility issues Zander will be their only child. I can’t begrudge them when they told me they always wanted a “Zander”. It’s just a name and the boys couldn’t be more different. People need to chill-I got over this!!
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I admit to being upset when brother in law and his wife named their second daughter a name I had wanted for a daughter. It was my dead grandmothers name and I had never met her since she died when my father was small. But we had never had a talk about it and I had no rights to be mad do in the end I got over myself and went through the family tree to look for other names I liked.
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If its a family name I would have felt free to use it. In my family we have lots of double up names from the family tree. It is very European to have cousins with the same name.
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Every male in my Husband’s family have the same middle name. It’s tradition. My dad & his dad have the same name.
I wouldn’t worry too much about double ups on family names.
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All the children from my husband’s side have the same middle name, irrespective of sex. I love it and it’s wonderful to see the middle name being passed on from generation to generation.
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My mother and I have the same middle name; it was the name of my grandmother’s best friend. Any daughters of mine will also have it as their middle name, just because I think it’s beautiful to honor that friendship and continue a family tradition (and fortunately it’s a lovely name!)
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My friend and her mother have the same middle name as well! I think she will pass it on. I like naming traditions.
I would consider my father’s name, as it was also his father’s, but he hated it so he changed it ages ago – so long ago I was 20 before I found out his real name!! Kind of loses it’s sheen then…
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I am fond of family names and wanted to call my son Michael, but my husband (who is a Michael) put his foot down as I also have a brother Michael, 2 uncle Michaels and a nephew Michael!!! I wasn’t happy but he was adamant. My son is Alexander, also a family name. It is my brother Michael’s middle name!! Haha sucked in Mikey!!!
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Can I just say that I know 6 Jake’s and 7 Joshua’s my son’s age. There was no reservation system in place. Clearly
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my son is Jake, have always loved this name.
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I am currently pregnant with my first child, my sol has two children and my sister has one – each has started the “what names have you thought of” conversation only to tell me that I can’t have this name or that name because they or their hubby like that name for their own potential may or may not occur future children of possibly or possibly not that particular sex. Right. So I can’t name my actual soon to be born child because they think they might like that name for a child that does not and may not ever actually exist? I have stopped having the name conversation with people all together and they have really taken the fun out of it for me – name claiming is ridiculous!
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It wouldnt bother me at all if a friend used the same name for their child as i did….if u have your heart set on a name, why should u have to give that up because somebody else had a baby before you? My mum and her best friend had their 3rd daughters 3 weeks apart, my mum had my sister first and named her, her best friend named her daughter the same name…because they both loved it. It never mattered at all, when we were all together we just called them by their first and middle names to differentiate who we were speaking to. And the girls always loved that they had the same name!!!
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My children are both in their early 30′s and this was a ‘problem’ for some mothers back then! It’s ridiculous when you stop to think about it – ‘those’ families live nowhere near my children or I now and rarely, if ever, see each other. Bit of perspective and forward thinking is what’s needed! We paid more attention to what the initials spelt back then! (by the way: my children’s names are Andrew & Rebecca – they are now known to everyone as Harry & Bec! Seems silly to be so precious about it with hind-sight, doesn’t it!)
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Two of our kids names have been used by friends. One twice. But I figure its a compliment to our fabulous taste
and we dont own the names. We also dont see them all the time and when we do its mostly at dinners without our kids. And we used them first so we dont look like the copy cats.
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A good pregnant friend of mine lost a non-pregnant friend of 13 years over this.
It was a name that was one of 3 she liked, they she MAY have used, for a middle name.
Her “friend” lost it at her, as she wanted it for her future child as a first name.
Might I add she never really specified EVER that this was THE name she had to have.
My friend was quite happy to not use it if it meant that much to her, her “friend” never discussed it with her and just screamed and yelled and walked out.
My friend wont use it now, because it will remind her of someone who she was close with that went crazy.
I dont get it.
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Now that is crazy!
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So don’t understand the fuss. When we had our son, Oliver a good friend said that was one of their potential names too as she was pregnant with a boy. They went with another name but I wouldn’t have minded a bit if she used it too, as far as I’m aware we don’t own the name
Choosing a name for your child is so personal & special, don’t let anyone spoil it for you. You won’t give it a 2nd thought years down the track…
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Babies will still be unique if there are others out there with the same name. It’s not the end of the world. Is there a bigger compliment than having a child named after you or your child?
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My sister always intended to call her son Luke, once he was born she called him Alexander. Why? “because he didn’t look like a Luke”.
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I know, it’s weird – I would never name a dog before I met them, but for some reason it feels okay to have a favourite child’s name for a little person you haven’t met. The more I think about it, the more I’ll be waiting until I meet him/her to give them their name.
But I also get the ‘stolen’ name thing. It’s completely stupid, but I get it. My favourite girls name is Isabella – but now I would be loathed to name my daughter a name that Twilight fans everywhere are co-opting. I don’t understand why it is such a big deal – but I know that it is.
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We choose several names and don’t settle on one until we meet them. In every circumstance our babies have looked like our first choice.
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Yep we always had 2 or 3 names ready because you just don’t know what they’re going to look like. Our boys are complete opposites too, one was small and dainty with jet black hair and the other came out looking like a line backer with reddish hair!
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I did the same thing, my second son was supposed to be a William but he didn’t look like one, he looked like a Henry, a name not on the list and a name I hadn’t even liked before. My partner was very pleased as he had liked the name. So Henry he is!
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My mum was going to call my brother Dylan, then he was born and she named him Nathan for exactly the same reason as your sister.
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We had a similar situation amongst my hubby’s circle of mates. One of the wives was 8 months pregnant and she and her husband couldn’t agree on a name. That sparked a conversation about names and one of the guys announced that he had a name picked for when/if he ever had a son. Based on his grandfather’s name. The pregnant couple looked at eachother and both said they liked the name “It’s the first one we both like!”
None of us thought they’d use it given that it combined with their surname was the name of a famous American actor. But, one month later they did!
I’m pretty sure it upset the guy, especially when he had a son of his own about 14 months later!
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I’m dying to know – did the guy still use that name for his son too??!
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And what was the name?
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Nup, they picked a different name. They’re due to have number 2 anyday now, and I daresay if it’s a boy they might use it anyway.
And the celeb? (Seriously hoping none of the parties involved read this..) Let’s just say he was once a Prince of the Fresh variety….
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Ha! Loved the clue.
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I think thats really rude!
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I think its just another controlling aspect that is creeping into our society, no wonder stress related illnesses are on the rise we obsess over EVERYTHING with our children and some of them arnt even born yet, hell some arnt even in the 5 year plan! Reserving names is plain weird! If you think your sister in law will take it cant you just keep it to your self.
I don’t think it matters, if its a damn fine name expect there to be others!
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Here’s a tip, unless you’re acually pregnant, don’t think about baby names, then you wont be disappointed by anyones choice of name.
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Go the Tip Master! Love your common sense, practical approach to such issues like these.
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My brother in law passed away prior to his siblings having children. My nephew has the uncles name as his middle name. My sil said “i don’t have dibs, you can use it too” we ended up not using it. But feel my bil is still honoured.
As for boys names. My husband didn’t want to have a name that was already in use on his football team. But as there wad about 70 kids…. no names were dibs and our youngest two have v common names and I love them.
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There were 3 of us due on the same day last year, I knew I was having a girl, the other 2 didn’t find out. I had suggested telling each other our names just in case.
I had my beautiful baby girl 3 weeks early and used a family name combined with a name we loved…..no chance anyone would have used that.
The other 2 had their baby boys a day apart. The first one announced the name as soon as he was born, the second also…..same first name!!!!!
It has caused some huge problems as the families have been friends for nearly 30 years and this has caused tension. The parents of the first baby boy had and alternate name picked out and were prepared to use it if need be….the worst part is the second couple don’t think they have done the wrong thing…….
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How have they done the wrong thing?…a name is a name is a name. I’m friends with 2 other people with the same first name as me (and one of them also has the same birthday.) No biggie.
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They haven’t done the wrong thing. Names are not copyrighted. If everyone stops worrying about it, the problem will be gone! My generation is full of Rebeccas and Belindas and Melissas. Who cares? I named a couple of my kids very common names because my husband couldn’t agree to any other names.
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This reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George thought seven was a great name and then friends of theirs used that name. His reaction was hilarious because it’s so ridiculous. I picked my sons name when I was 17, but didn’t go round blabbing about it. I also felt strongly enough about it that if someone close to me had used it, I wouldn’t have been put off, because, yes, names aren’t copyrighted.
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I’ve decided on a girl’s name and a boy’s name, but I haven’t ‘reserved’ them as such. None of my friends have started having kids yet so I think I’m safe for a few more years!!
I like Charlotte Frances (Frances is Mum’s, Dad’s and my middle name) and Patrick Christopher (after both my grandfathers). So mine are kinda sentimental, I won’t be changing them for anyone
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it’s great that you’ve got ideas, but you might want to keep an open mind, and try to include your (future?) partner and the baby’s father in the process
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Of course! Even on a shallow level – what if I ended up with someone whose surname was Web? I couldn’t name my child Charlotte Web, seems a little cruel even though it was a great story lol.
It’s nice to dream though!
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My husband and I are in a dilemma. We love the name Stella, but it’s also the name of our neighbour’s daughter. We’re friendly, but not close friends… do we need to ask permission to use the name?
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No way! You can TOTALLY use it. It is not a super unusual name and you are not close friends so I would just do it. maybe tell them in advance if you don’t want any weirdness?
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No. At some point, you or they will move. Do you really want to explain “I was going to call you Stella but there’s another Stella two suburbs away who is a few years older so we couldn’t.” Worse comes to worst, there’ll be Stella 1 and Stella 2 in class – and that could happen anyway…
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My mum did years ago when she named me the same name as their neighbours 2 year old! They were fine with it! (actually were flattered!)
The fact is they wouldn’t know each other if they fell over each other in the street now!
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I love the name Stella too and I work with a lady who has a young daughter called Stella. When I was pregnant last year I asked If she would mind if I used that name if I had a baby girl. She was flattered and said of course she doesn’t mind! It was lovely of her to do but we ended up having a boy!
Does it matter if your kids share the same name? The chances of your child going to school and having the same name there is high anyway so use what you want and let others get over it themselves!
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I was at a baby shower when we each had to write down two name suggestions for the baby. I initially wrote down my two favourite names, then scribbled them out and chose two others so my favourites wouldn’t be taken.
Alas, the baby was born, and she chose, unknowingly, one of my favourite names. And I’m cool with that. Her daughter certainly suits her name, and she will always be in my life, so why not!
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That is a mine-field of a baby-shower game!!
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I’m generally of the opinion if you like a name, use it. For me the exceptions are if the children are going to be cousins, or if it’s an extremely unusual name, so it’s pretty obvious you’re just copying.
I had a number of friends pregnant at the same time as me. I had a girl’s name picked for the last 8 years and I still would have used it if someone else had. I wasn’t so set on the boy’s name though, so if someone else had used the one we’d chosen I probably would have settled for something else.
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I have a number of cousins with the same names – admittedly I have 40+ first cousins so maybe it was just bound to happen!
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I have 60+ first cousins on my dads side, and none of us share a name!
30+second cousins, still no double naming!
Amazing huh!
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My sister in law told me her 2 favourite girls names when I was pregnant with my second. She wasn’t pregnant at the time. Her “second favourite” girls name was one I loved and was seriously considering if this bub was a girl. I ended up having a girl and chose not to use her name because the drama it would have caused wasn’t worth it. She went on to have a baby boy and I told her that if she doesn’t end up having girls and using the name I will be pissed!
If a friend of mine had a baby and used the name I loved, I would still use it if I loved it enough, but I wouldn’t have taken her name as it would have caused major problems so I chose something else.
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When we chose our daughters name my husbands cousin said they had it picked out, but they weren’t expecting at the time and were fine with us using it. When I fell pregnant again I had a girls name picked that we didn’t end up using, when my sister in law fell pregnant with a girl after four boys she called and asked if she could use the first name we had picked, I ended up having a boy, and I didn’t have an issue as we have chosen different names for each time around. We never like the same name twice. But it was nice she asked.
I have a friend who had a name picked For years, one of our other friends had a baby first and chose a name containing the name the first friend had picked and uses it as a nickname for her daughter. Nobody seems to mind though. Such is life.
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I have a friend, let’s call her ‘Alice’ -mainly because that’s her name, her sister had a baby and named said baby Alice.
It’s not confusing, it’s pretty clear who you’re talking about when you say things like ‘Alice is walking now’ or ‘Alice is engaged now’
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That is funny, My name is Alice and my best friend is also Alice. It is not to confusing as EVERYONE calls her the other Alice… Even her mother. She loves it! Makes us laugh.
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Alice…who the f*** is Alice (remember that song?). Probably not one to teach the one who just learned to walk though.
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Ooooh how i hated that song. So many drunk people used to sing it at me… Yeah yeah they were all so very funny.
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My sister wanted the name Campbell for her son, but had a daughter first. When my brother had twins, he named the boy Campbell…sister was not shitty as she figured she now had a Campbell by default, and ended up choosing Hamish when her little blue bundle arrived. Thought it was a bit cheeky though ;p I had settled on the name of our first born but when my man’s brother got married, new wife said I had no chance as she was having one first. Karma will come her way, I’m sure, she can have the damn name lol.
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Im not going to lie – I have reserved some names amongst close friends.
In my group of immediate friends, we all anticipate our kids will be growing up as almost like family, so it makes sense that we all tell each other prospective names (and/or nicknames) so that we dont end up with 4 Michaels etc (for the record, no one has ‘reserved’ Michael’).
So yes, we have each reserved 4 names (2 boys, 2 girls) and it will ideally avoid any naming issues amongst friends.
Its not a big deal, and would hardly be something to lose a friend over, but it might just avoid awkward naming situations.
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When my SIL was pregnant with her first child, a boy, we talked names. I must have forgotten the convo because after I named my firstborn daughter she was rather irate saying that I’d “stolen” her chosen girls name. As it turned out she had three boys and I had three girls, so it never became an issue in reality, but I was pretty amazed at her anger. The name I had chosen had been in my family for generations, yet she says she’d called dibs. I don’t recall her doing so, as I said, but she didn’t have the history with it that my family had, so I was not perturbed.
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