SIL baby name

I remember going to primary school with 2 Ashleigh’s - although spelt differently- and they were well aware of the legacy of their once close mums falling out over both picking the same name.

her mum copied my name, no your mum copied my name 😂😂

as Ashleigh was in the 90s Bella and any version of it is astoundingly popular, this won’t be the last irritance over a similar named child, better just to crack on with it and call the next one petunia or something to avoid duplication

She's probably over it now in fairness. As it happened five years ago.

Also going back to OP....her girls name is Belle...so she doesn't know the sex yet? You could be getting wound up about nothing! Also there is plenty of time for her to change her mind on her girl name anyway. Don't let it bother you

You don't currently call her Belle, and TBH I wouldn't shorten from Bella to Belle anyway. What's the point in calling her Annabella if you only intent to call her Belle? Yes a lot of names have a shortened version, but I wouldn't say Belle springs to mind as the most common choice for a shortened version of Annabella. It is annoying when you think you've got a good name and then there are loads of kids with the same or similar name, but that's just the way it is. I doubt your SIL is meaning to cause upset as she likely doesn't know you intend to call her Belle if you are currently calling her Bella. I'd take it as a compliment that your name choice has inspired her to chose a similar name.

I loved the name Jackson for if we had a second boy (wasn't pregnant or even trying yet).
BIL had a little boy in the meantime and named him Jack.
No Jackson for me.
We did have another little boy a year later and called him something different, DH said to just keep Jackson, but it didnt feel right, like i couldn't be bothered to come up with his own special name and was just choosing a similar one from the family (even though I'd chosen it first 🙄).
Oh well. I love his new name, so I do think it's weird and people might comment on it.
I dont think I'd be happy about it, but not really alot you can do about it.

Your SIL is being a dick. I think those saying to OP "oh so you own Annie, Anna, Bella, Belle and Annabella" are being a bit mean and missing the point. No one owns a name but your SIL is being very unoriginal and a bit rude. I'd speak to my DB about it and see where he stands. He might not like the idea and will veto the name anyway.

Rude is calling a stranger a dick for wanting to use a similar, yet different name, not knowing the reasons for it.

Annabella and Belle are two different names. OP has several uses of nicknames with the choice she made. For all we know, her SIL could decide to nickname her daughter (if she has one) Elle. Besides, SIL may change her mind without OP’s input, which tbh she shouldn’t be sticking her nose in in the first place unless SIL and BIL ask her opinion.

To use Belle you should have called dd Annabelle not Annabella.

Stick with Anna or Bella, you could use
Ella as a nn and they wouldn’t be so similar.

Uniqueness was probably the wrong word but Im sure people know what I mean.

I find the intense drive for "uniqueness" in naming children quite sad. It's as if connections and commonality are not valued.

I'm not saying parents shouldn't choose the name they want, or should restrict themselves to a prescribed list of some sort. It's the extreme reactions to situations like this that make me feel sad.

How does a child lose out by having a name that's similar to their cousin's?

There are literally thousands of possible names out there. YANBU to be irritated by this. Your SIL is being a dick. I think those saying to OP "oh so you own Annie, Anna, Bella, Belle and Annabella" are being a bit mean and missing the point. No one owns a name but your SIL is being very unoriginal and a bit rude. I'd speak to my DB about it and see where he stands. He might not like the idea and will veto the name anyway.

To me it’s a bit close especially given your cousin’s son calls your DD Belle and living so close to each other. On the other hand, it’s a real compliment to your choice of name that they’re considering a name so similar for their, as yet unborn DD.

Some families do use the same name across generations. My DH has an uncle Steve named after his father (DH grandfather) he also has a brother and cousin called Steven/Steve, a nephew, a brother in law and the cousin also has a son called Steven. Apart from the uncle and the late grandfather they are all known as Ste and it’s just accepted that that is a thing for his family - but we deliberately chose boys names that aren’t used in either family when our twins were born in the summer (though their middle names come from my family history)

I'd shorten Annabella to Anna. I find Bella is usually reserved for Isabella. Therefore I wouldn't be upset with them calling their child Belle.

How do you know it is a first world problem? Poor people still have boundaries, etiquette, traditions, consideration, communication, feelings

First world problem. I really wouldn’t give this a second thought.

Annabella sorry my phone auto corrected teach me not to look before posting.

I would maybe talk to them.about it perhaps say it's quite close to your daughters nickname. But you called your daughter Annabelle not bella or belle. So I think you may have to start using her full name or Anna if it bothers you. This is why I picked a short name. Maybe she thought about how she loved your daughters name but tried to pick something slightly different. I can understand why your a little miffed but youd have more right to be angry if your daughters full name was bella not Annabelle good luck

My question is, if you call your child Bella, why didn’t you name her Bella not Annabella. ? It’s so weird how people do this. Why have a name that you never use!

YABU. You don't own the name Bella. Your SIL can call her daughter whatever she wants.

If you wanted to call her Belle then that's what you should have called her....I can see why you would as Annabella is a bit of a mouth full and a bit "made up" for many tastes.....is this a case of name regret which is why you call her the shortened form???

No Annabellas who shortened their name to Bella then shortened it to Belle.

If you are so bothered start calling her Anna.

I wouldn’t get upset about this, no. Odds on the girls will like it.

This wouldn't be something I would bother getting het up about.

My mother and her cousin had daughters of the same name (but different spellings) within 10 days of each other back in 1969. Not an issue at all then and never has been since either.

A little annoying, but perhaps she had her heart set on 'Belle' long before you had your little girl? She could have loved the name for years and stuck with it

I think it still isn’t ok. I had my heart set on my niece’s name, but my brother had a daughter first. So I chose one of the many other 1000s of names available instead.

I always loved the name Johanna (pronounced Yohana) and a year before my daughter was born, my bil had a boy they called Johann. You'd think we live in Germany, but this was in Mexico, so the name Johanna went out the window.

Yes, it's nuts. Of course it is.

But the only person who will look ridiculous is your SIL, so 🤷🏻‍♀️