baby

"She stole my baby name." 16 women on the drama that came with choosing their name.

Last month, news broke that Maroon 5's lead singer Adam Levine was at the centre of a cheating scandal.

Not only did he admit "using poor judgement" by speaking to other women, but Sumner Stroh – the woman who Levine allegedly cheated with – also shared that the singer had asked if he could steal her name. 

His plans? To use the name for his child... which he was having with his wife... who he was still with. 

Watch: Reddit reveal the worst baby names they've ever heard. Post continues after video.


Video via Mamamia.

Considering Adam Levine's discrepancies have been all over the internet, it got us thinking about baby name drama on a wider scale. 

We wanted to know if parents have ever had their baby's name "stolen", gotten into arguments over their baby's name, or even... gone behind someone's back and used an ex-partner's name.

So, we asked 16 women share their very own baby name drama.

Rose

"My sister-in-law was pregnant with her third baby and was considering names around the table one night with the women in the family. I said, 'Please don’t take Lily, I love that name!' Multiple people around the table giggled in good fun and in agreement that this was definitely 'my' baby name as I had banged on about it for years. She replied, 'Definitely not. It’s not unique enough for us.'

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"When the baby was born, my husband and I got a text message to say the baby had been named 'Lily'. I was shocked and thought it was a joke. For a long time, I was angry and hurt. But my husband and I didn’t end up having children, so I am okay about it now – and I absolutely love my niece 'Lily'! She is divine."

Isabella

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"My dad’s mum was adamant that I be named 'Claire' because apparently, it was a bit sentimental for dad’s side of the family. But my mum was super against it. Not because of the name itself, it’s a lovely name, but when you put 'Claire' and my last name together and say it quickly, she was worried people would hear 'clitoris' when saying my name. Needless to say, that didn’t help their mother-in-law or daughter-in-law bond."

Amanda

"A male acquaintance named his eldest daughter the same name as one of his old girlfriends. His wife didn’t know until the daughter was nearly an adult. It's despicable."

Talissa

"My cousin has TWO middle names because my uncle wanted his great grandfather's name (Malcolm) but my aunty wanted her grandfather's name (William), After compromising, he got both.

"But years later, my uncle was talking to my cousin about his two middle names and accidentally let it slip that his grandfather's name was never actually 'Malcolm', but 'William'! He had made up the great-grandfather's name because he just wanted 'Malcolm'."

Shannen 

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"My parents were settled on my name, but they had argued about whether they should spell it 'Shannon' or 'Shannen'. They argued for weeks until my mother just sent the documents off with the spelling she preferred. My dad came around eventually (he had no choice, really) but he still thinks the spelling of my name is utterly stupid. To this day, I have never met another 'Shannen' with an 'E'!"

Erin

"This isn't my baby name drama but a friend of mine was set on having a very botanical type of baby name for her child. It was kind of a mix between 'Fern' and 'Rowan'. Not bad or terrible. On the other hand, her mother-in-law wanted to name the baby 'Lilibet' after Queen Elizabeth... which is not at all what my friend wanted. Apparently, it caused a major rift in the family for the entirety of the pregnancy (and even before she fell pregnant). They settled on... 'Lily'."

Lara 

"My husband wanted to name his daughter after an ex-girlfriend. I won't share it because it was and still is a unique name – but I absolutely did not allow it. I think it's super creepy and weird to do that!"

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Chelsea

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"My sister and I both wanted the name 'Aspen' for a baby girl, except I wanted to spell it 'Espn'... yes like the sports channel! We argued about it for years. I'm convinced she stole the name from me while she believes she's always loved that name because she is 'a big fan of the snow'. Yeah, right. It eventually all worked itself out because when I had my daughter, I liked the name 'Ry' better. My sister doesn't want kids, but if she does, I'm sure this drama will all be dredged up again – only it will be for comedic sake this time."

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Megan

"We thought our first was going to be a boy and we had chosen the name 'Alfie'... A few months before the baby was born our friends called their dog 'Alfie'... I was pretty pissed but luckily we had a girl who we ended up calling 'Millie'. It's also a very popular dog name, coincidentally enough!"

Nafisa

"My mum had a list of names that she and my dad shortlisted when my sister was born. She had crossed out one of them since it was the name of a girl she really disliked in school. My dad took the list to the birth registry's office and thought that was the name she wanted. That's still my sister's name."

Michelle

"I have a funny story. My husband and I couldn't agree on a name and ended up settling on one – 'Charlie' – my husband's middle name and a name that had familial significance for both of us. Only problem was that it was also my MIL and FIL's dog's name.

"We didn't mind but thought they might so we mentioned it to them a few weeks before the baby was born. They laughed it off and said no worries. 

"Anyway, poor old 'Charlie' dog died and not long after my parents-in-law got a new pup who they named 'Alfie'. Name problems solved right? Not quite. 

"My BIL and SIL had a baby boy last year and we thought they were joking and poking fun at us when they announced his name. It was... you guessed it – 'Alfie'!"

Trish

"I asked my grandmother to name my firstborn daughter as soon as I fell pregnant. It took her MONTHS to choose before she eventually looked around her living room, saw a sign that had 'Harmony' on it, and decided right then and there that would be her name. I hoped for something more traditional to our culture, but you can't get everything you want... I was against it at first but eventually relented because I trust my grandma. We all love our baby girl's name now and it feels so special that her great-grandmother named her."

Brooke 

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"My sister and I are identical twins. When we were born, we had no defining birthmarks, freckles, or distinctive traits that set us apart from one another except for the fact my nose is slightly more pointy while hers is a little more rounded. Because of this, my parents struggled to tell us apart and had to keep our birth tags on us for weeks. They were waiting for a mole to pop up or something, I think. 

"Turns out, my grandmother took the tags off while giving us a bath and forgot which tag belonged to each baby. 

"My mum and dad had to hold us up to the light to figure out which one was which. Eventually, they just let my older sister pick which name belonged to who. She was literally four years old and has the vivid memory of playing 'eeny, meeny, miny, moe' to pick! So basically there is a 50/50 chance my name is not in fact my name."

Amber 

"This isn't a huge drama but my mum was tossing up as to whether I should be 'Amber Bianca' or 'Bianca Amber'. She decided 'Bianca Amber; was much better but my dad was so overwhelmed with – I dunno, being a dad of three now – that he accidentally put it down on the birth certificate as 'Amber Bianca'... and Mum was just like... 'Well, guess we have to run with that now'. Happy accident I say."

Charlotte

"My parents desperately wanted to call me 'Charlie'. Just 'Charlie'. Both of my grandmothers said it wasn't proper for a girl. SO, I'm Charlotte and except for using it professionally for my writing and when seeing doctors etc, everyone calls me 'Charlie'!"

Mikayla

"My dad wanted my name to be 'Mikaya' – without the 'L'. Thank goodness my mum pushed back, because... what the f**k?"

Feature Image: Getty.