Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Husband's cousin has called their son the same name as our son.

368 replies

shoulde · 20/12/2024 19:38

Bit annoying considering they also share the same surname!

I know no one owns a name, but it's pretty annoying.

Aibu?

OP posts:
Newdaynewstarts · 21/12/2024 20:20

What a weird thing to get worked about ffs. Are you suggesting it’s your right to use a name and then no one else can… because ??? What difference does it make to you?

Oganesson118 · 21/12/2024 20:18

YABU. I always think the fuss about names being stolen is vaguely ridiculous.

My cousin and I had babies around the same time. Hers came first. She used the shortened form of a name we had shortlisted (we never discussed names, on purpose) If we had already decided on the long form, we'd have still used it. It's no big deal.

midlandsdogwalker · 21/12/2024 20:18

You could see it as a compliment but it is a bit weird to have exactly the same name as another family member.

ErinBell01 · 21/12/2024 20:14

yes

Margorett · 21/12/2024 20:10

pathetic

nam3c4ang3 · 21/12/2024 20:08

shoulde · 20/12/2024 20:29

Except they're both little Freddie in this instance

Show quote history

No - your son will be’ big Freddie’ - their son will be little Freddie as he’s younger etc.

Aggyagro · 21/12/2024 20:07

Hmmm, I agree it depends on the name and the distance of relatedness, but I can sympathise, as my sister did a very strange thing years ago that I haven’t really processed. She gave her daughter (my niece, obviously) my two first names but out by one letter - think Anne/Anna Louise/Louisa. I still find it weird tbh but never objected….

JollyHollyMe · 21/12/2024 20:07

I have 5 nephews and they have 2 names between them- 3 and 2

vibratosprigato · 21/12/2024 20:05

When you're choosing a name for your child it's pretty important IMO to choose the name that you love. If that happens to be the name that someone else loved, that shouldn't mean that no one else can use it. It's not first come first served 😂

Olympicscandal2024 · 21/12/2024 20:02

How often do you see them? I don't even know what my husband's cousin's kids are called!

Ladymeade · 21/12/2024 20:02

A work colleague of mine who was pregnant at the same time as me, came into my office and announced what she was going to call her son which happened to be the same name that I had been saying I was going to call my son. I was a tad pissed off tbf as I believed that she already knew this. As we were due at the same time and in the same maternity group, I decided to change names.

Not the same for you OP - but I do get it as I was annoyed. Still you were first and they say "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" (& they might get some stick for their lack of originality and the confusion they will cause)

hellywelly3 · 21/12/2024 20:01

Happens in most families, big jon, little jon etc.

CharlotteStreetW1 · 21/12/2024 20:00

My sister was midly miffed when our cousin gave her daughter the same name as one of her (my sister's) daughters. In over 40 years the two "children" have only been in the same room once.

Not an issue.

I'm more bemused by a family member giving their child the same unusual name as a very famous movie star. Which would be fine except they also share the same surname! Like Mr & Mrs Streep calling their daughter Meryl.

JudgeJ · 21/12/2024 19:52

LynetteScavo · 20/12/2024 21:10

Hmm..I would be annoyed if they were likely to be at the same school, but not bothered if they were at the other end of the country.

I was at Junior school with a girl having exactly the same name as me, totally unrelated, I was always Name Name 2!

JoBoJoBo · 21/12/2024 19:49

shoulde · 20/12/2024 19:38

Bit annoying considering they also share the same surname!

I know no one owns a name, but it's pretty annoying.

Aibu?

So what ? Life does not revolve around your child's name !

JudgeJ · 21/12/2024 19:45

RhaenysRocks · 20/12/2024 19:42

There are 4 Jacks in my relatively immediate family. It was the name of a favourite paternal grandfather and is a family name. Its not an issue.

If you look into the history of a family the same names, sometimes Christian name and surname, keep cropping up and it can be very annoying!

ArchieStar · 21/12/2024 19:42

OP I get it, and it’s weird and annoying.

Not using real names my situation is as follows…

DS1 is Archie James
DS2 is Robert Adam John

Their cousin is called James Robert Steven

ZestyJoey · 21/12/2024 19:41

Not just unreasonable but seems a bit entitled too. Personally, I would be flattered cuz it would basically suggest that "name" is a good name...

MerryChristmasToYou · 21/12/2024 19:40

@GravyBoatWars , not if they both have the same unusual surname. 2 John Smiths is unremarkable, but 2 Freddie Pargetters would be.

GravyBoatWars · 21/12/2024 19:34

Second cousins having the same name is utterly unremarkable, sorry. It’s far less of a faff than having classmates of the same name.

My DH shares a first name with his father, two nephews and 3 grand nephews. I helpfully married someone with the same name. It’s not an issue.

WhatDaHell · 21/12/2024 19:28

I have 3 cousins (close in age) with the name Sarah, all with the same surname. Fortunately, they have different middle names so we say "Sarah P" or "Sarah E". Never thought it was weird growing up.

Iwishiwasagiraffe · 21/12/2024 19:19

Husbands brother fair enough to be annoyed. Husbands cousin no big deal

LouDeLou · 21/12/2024 19:17

Never understood the bother on this one, pick the same name, buy the same dress, dye your hair the same colour- meh, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

YABU

Awaywiththefairies078 · 21/12/2024 19:13

I have the same name as my first cousin ( my mum and her brother both named their children Natasha ) I don’t find it weird at all, I like it. We’re only a year apart too.

NellieJean · 21/12/2024 18:50

DH is Irish. I think he has five cousins with the same name and three with the same first and second name which are usually used together. Is this crap all people have to worry about.

Swipe left for the next trending thread