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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

bothered that another parent copied my childs name

571 replies

catphone · 22/11/2023 17:03

This happened a few years ago when we lived in a remote area.
My child name was very uncommon and unique. I deliberately picked the name because it wasn't common and I didn't want her to share her name with a number of people. I don't want to say what it is because there are very few people in the world with it. As she got older, in assembly, she found out that someone in primary 1 had the same name as her and the parent had obviously heard of and copied her name. Subsequently, there were a number of others with the same name.
AIBU to be annoyed?

OP posts:
ChannelNo19EDT · 22/11/2023 20:23

I'm a bit of a name nerd, I checked not just the popularity of the name in the UK but also in America and in Ireland. I also considered how FAST it was rising
Grin

thebestinterest · 22/11/2023 20:23

Oganesson118 · 22/11/2023 20:22

Was it Mitchum?

Mitchum is a brand of deodorant …

thebestinterest · 22/11/2023 20:22

catphone · 22/11/2023 17:03

This happened a few years ago when we lived in a remote area.
My child name was very uncommon and unique. I deliberately picked the name because it wasn't common and I didn't want her to share her name with a number of people. I don't want to say what it is because there are very few people in the world with it. As she got older, in assembly, she found out that someone in primary 1 had the same name as her and the parent had obviously heard of and copied her name. Subsequently, there were a number of others with the same name.
AIBU to be annoyed?

OP this is a bit delusional 😬

Oganesson118 · 22/11/2023 20:22

JudgeJ · 22/11/2023 18:20

Every name that you have ever heard has been 'copied' from someone else.

Or maybe not! A very young new mother was asked what her daughter's name would be and she said something no-one had heard of, when asked where it was from she said she'd heard an advert for a deodorant and liked it the name.

Was it Mitchum?

localnotail · 22/11/2023 20:19

I cant understand this absolutely ridiculous (to me) desire to give your child a UNIQUE name no one else has. Always makes me think of Kath an d Kim - "Enema for a girl, Lupis for a boy"

PeggyPoggleshaw · 22/11/2023 20:18

Toottooot · 22/11/2023 17:04

Wooptie fucking ping. 🤷🏻‍♀️

😂😂😂

tachetastic · 22/11/2023 20:17

Whiteday · 22/11/2023 20:07

@tachetastic don't be ridiculous, that's a silly name for a dog! Who would do that?

Good point.

I guess I'll have to go back to my original choice of Flurberhergen.

But then I have the problem that OP is going to accuse me of stealing her DD's name.

If only I could be more original! 😜

NewAgain123 · 22/11/2023 20:16

Omg, I'd phone the police and report her, demand armed police attend her home, scare the shit out of her and get your name back...

Big bloody name stealer...

Mumtobabyhavoc · 22/11/2023 20:14

This post has to be fake... no one could be so narcissistic and possessive about a name. 🤔🤷‍♀️

Deathbyfluffy · 22/11/2023 20:13

Unless there's no other kid in the world with that name, it's not unique.
You don't own a name, so you're being a bit precious to get bent out of shape about it - yes.

WhatWhereWho · 22/11/2023 20:12

Great -another parent who wants a special and unique name. Do they ever think about the kid going through life with their choice?

MrsPetty · 22/11/2023 20:11

I named my DD after one of my favourite artists. I thought it was pretty unusual. Turns out it was the tenth most popular girls name in the UK the year she was born … and she was one of four girls sharing the name in her first year at high school. We don’t own a name … and you have no evidence to suggest they copied you.

Angrycat2768 · 22/11/2023 20:08

To all the people out there who want a unique name for their kids, my name actually is made up (rare and then mispelt name from a different continent) you aren't doing your child a massive favour. I never got one of those name cups when I was little, no one spells my name correctly in Starbucks, I have lost count of the times people have just made up a spelling on cards/ name badges etc and Iv'e just gone 'Yeah thats good enough' because I'm so bored of having to spell it out.

ManchesterLu · 22/11/2023 20:08

My god, nobody owns a NAME for goodness sake.

Catsmere · 22/11/2023 20:08

Uncommon or unique? Unique is an absolute, it means one of a kind, not "rare". Which your child's name obviously isn't, now.

I never think it's doing a child any favours to give them a name that's wildly different from the names among their peers, especially if it's some made-up name. Gives bullies a target and voila, child hates their name.

Whiteday · 22/11/2023 20:07

Ottersmith · 22/11/2023 20:06

If it was really unique and she had copied I would be annoyed, but the fact that a few children have the name shows it's not as unique as you thought. That didn't all emanate from you. I think you've picked something hat was original at first but has now made its way to the top 100.

It's Jack

Whiteday · 22/11/2023 20:07

@tachetastic don't be ridiculous, that's a silly name for a dog! Who would do that?

Ottersmith · 22/11/2023 20:06

If it was really unique and she had copied I would be annoyed, but the fact that a few children have the name shows it's not as unique as you thought. That didn't all emanate from you. I think you've picked something hat was original at first but has now made its way to the top 100.

CitizenofGotham · 22/11/2023 20:06

I think the fact that you said subsequently there have been a few others with the same name means it's not as unusual as you're making out. I doubt a previously unheard of name would be used by multiple people in the same school. YABVU.

If there was a name I loved so much that I wanted to name my child it, then I wouldn't avoid it incase someone who I never/hardly interacted with got annoyed because they used it first.

tachetastic · 22/11/2023 20:06

Whiteday · 22/11/2023 20:04

@tachetastic I'm copywriting it, so don't you even think about copying my uncommon and unique name!

Would it be better or worse if I told you I just used it for my dog???

infor · 22/11/2023 20:05

Whiteday · 22/11/2023 19:43

I quite like the name audacity ..... is it unique?

No, it's Audacity Trump - hence THE Audacity

JANEY205 · 22/11/2023 20:05

If you won’t share the name then you are just attention seeking. Maybe other people think you copied their name choice. After all you didn’t make up the name so other humans in existence have had the name.

Ifeellikeateenageragain · 22/11/2023 20:05

catphone · 22/11/2023 17:19

It was a small place where everyone knew everyone, the parent knew of my DDs name and when she eventually had her own child she took it

She (or they, are you assuming she had sole naming?) didn't 'take it'. It was never 'yours'. Unless it was a name that was completely made up like Trixie-Twinkle-Toes Wallpaper the Fourth... In which case, your small village has bigger problems...

Whiteday · 22/11/2023 20:04

@tachetastic I'm copywriting it, so don't you even think about copying my uncommon and unique name!

SusanKennedyshouldLTB · 22/11/2023 20:03

you simply don't think as uniquely as you think you do
i think it is this too. We are influenced by our upbringing. You were probably exposed to the name in the same way / around the same time other people your age were.

my dd’s name was unheard of when i was young. I heard it in my early twenties when in greece. A group of young adults on holiday and one called out the name to another and i though ooooooo i like that. When i was pregnant i was in a Queue behind a woman with the name, and she must have been around 80. There has never been another child in preschool, primary or high school with the same name as my dd but i know it is really popular now.

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