Can I call my baby Jessica?

I think it's fine neither is an unusual name, and most people won't make the connection unless it is pointed out. It's not like you're calling them Fred and Rose.

I thought of those poor girls too so I can see why you're unsure. If you really love the name I think you should still use it. Your dcs classmates won't make the link I wouldnt have thought.

I have a friend whose DDs have those names. She is younger than me and I think it didn't even occur to her. I was a young Mum when the Soham murders happened so I think it had a bigger impact on me than my friend. Certainly I have never heard anyone mention anything about it.

I think especially since they’ll be half sisters so less of a “set” it’s okay

There have been a few comments like the one above. You know that the OPs dp is both girls' dad?? They won't be less of anything...

I made the connection between the names straight away but it would in no way influence my choice of names unless i either lived in soham or knew the families involved.

It's just a name. If you love it, use it. There's a big enough age gap between them to not make it an issue, I think.

There is a connection for people of a certain age, but neither is an unusual name and there must be hundreds, if not thousands, of Holly / Jessica sister combos across Britain. The odd person might say something but the vast majority won’t even think it. If Holly and Jessica were more unusual names, I would agree it might be more of an issue, but both must have spent several years in the top 10 over the last two decades.

Maybe you need to have a second (third for your partner) baby soon after this baby, and then you'll be mostly listing the 3 children's names anyway!

I didn't make the link at all and i think you should go for it! How disappointed would you be if you didn't get to use 'Jessica '? And if you do go ahead and use that name, then how anxious or self conscious will you be about referring to the girls together? Maybe your answers will help you figure it out.

Or what about....
Jesse
Jessa
Jessamyn
Jasmine
Janessa
Tessa
Vanessa
Marissa
Jocelyn

And also, as another PP said- no one seems to mind using murderer's names. As a teacher I cannot tell you how many Freds I've taught in the last 10 years. No one's saying to their mums, 'I can't believe you named your delightful little boy after one of the UK's most horrific serial killers' are they?

I'm from nearby and remember (I thought) lots of details. I didn't make the link with the names until I read the thread. How awful that people are allowing what was a dreadful crime have further repercussions than it should. We must all be respectful that the families' grief will never end, but as for allowing a murderer to then influence how we name our children? No! No no no. Do not give these awful events more influence than they deserve.

Both names are beautiful, both stand alone as great names and as PPs have said, the most that would happen is that someone may think 'oh those beautiful girls' and then move on. Unless you live in Soham where it could potentially upset people rather than just be 'of note', do not change your name choice.

Name her Jessica, you've always wanted it. I didn't use my first pick name for my first child and will long regret it. It was for news-related reasons which are now long forgotten.

Even if people do make the connection it will merely be a momentary “oh that’s right, that was sad” kind of moment. And then your girls will just be known for who they are. I really wouldn’t worry too much about it. Both names are beautiful. And as many pp have said - it would only be older people that might make the connection anyway so highly unlikely that they would experience anything negative from it.

It’s been your favourite name forever ... it would be a shame kit to use it

I didn't get the connection until I read it further down thread. I initially thought it was a sound issue so said the names aloud and still didn't get the connection.

It wouldn’t click with me at all as being in any way related. Don’t forget it will be ancient history by the time they are teens.

If it helps, I read your OP to DD(19) earlier and she didn’t have a scooby what the issue or reference was.

If I'm honest, it does bring those poor girls straight to mind and it's the worse reason why. I don't think I would. What does DH think?

I knew what you meant straight away but I don’t think it’s an issue. I’d still use Jessica if it was the name I really loved. I don’t think many people will make the connection in real life.
I’m due in September and I really like Madeline but my husband has said no for the same reason, I’d use it though.

Of course you can, most wont twig now and later in their lives even less will. I think you'd be silly not to

I didn't make the connection until PP pointed it out also when the murders happened I was the same age as the girls so maybe that's a part of a reason I didn't make the connection, I think people my age (25) or younger wouldn't link it. Also as they'll be half sisters so a little less of a sib set too.

It's a tricky one. I'm not one to follow the most sensationalist or horrifying news any more than necessary and I don't like in the UK now or when the awful murders happened, and I still made the connection right away.

It depends on several things I think. Do you live near where the affected town or at the other end of the country? Are there additional children on either side "Holly, Thomas and Jessica" or "Holly, Anne, Ben and Jessica" dilutes the connection quite a lot. Is the elder daughter Holly old enough to have heard of the murders?

And then there's the issue that even if you've adores a name forever, you still need to reach agreement with the child's other parent. So without this issue, it's entirely possible that you end up falling in love with and having children with a man who vetoed Jessica as a name because he was bullied by a Jessica at school, or because his twin sister is called Jessica, or Jessica is the middle name of his child from a previous relationship, or the initials would spell something rude, or he just doesn't like the sound of the letter J, or a million other reasons why loads of individual parents cannot or have not named their child a name they have individually loved.

Of course, it's entirely up to both of you, but there is a strong chance of people making the connection and of having it upset the girls when older. It's possible that a great number of people won't make the connection, if in a different part of the country and if there are several other siblings but I think it's unlikely that nobody will make it.

For what it's worth, I think Jessa is a beautiful alternative as someone suggested above. Or Jessica as a middle name.

Best wishes.

Cherry

The issue isn’t either name on their own, it’s the two together.

Op -honestly if you’re thinking about it now, choose a difference name.

I loved the name Eva/Ava. Unfortunately I have a one syllable surname beginning with B and kept thinking to myself “it sounds like Eva Braun, Hitler’s wife”. In the end, despite knowing I was probably more bothered by the sound similarity than anybody else (except my daughter’s dad who agreed) a different name was chosen and my god I am not sorry!

Sorry, I see now you must mean the age of the children - but still their parents will.

Sequin I am exactly the same age and I do remember. I remember my parents being deeply affected, I remember the news coverage and I even remember where I was when I heard the news.

I wouldn't either. I'm in my twenties and vividly remember that awful time. Poor girls.

Only people over a certain age or living in that area will link the two names surely? No one of their generation will. I was looking for a problem with the names together and still couldn't see one until people pointed it out. I would never male that connection in real life when meeting a holly and Jessica. Then again, if you asked me to name the two girls I couldn't have and the names are obviously much more familiar to other people.

I did make the connection, but I don't think it should put you off. I agree with Sugarpie... As sad and awful as the reason we know about the Soham girls is, the names themselves were the names of two beautiful, innocent children, not of something horrible. I don't like the idea that the names themselves, or the use of them together, is tainted by what was done to two other lovely children who happen to have had those same names.

Thought of Soham straight away