A friend used our name!!!! HELP

No-one owns a name, and most names are not original. If you like Penelope, go with it. It's not as if your daughter is going to live near your friend for her whole life.

Penelope is a commonly used name now, I know of 3 born in the last year. I think it doesn’t help that a Kardashian has a Penelope it’s on the rise. I’d just use the name I loved. I really wouldn’t care about others opinions if I was set on something.

Someone i work with called his daughter Primrose which i thought was quite sweet. But if youre not close to that couple, just use it anyway.

Penelope is definitely on the rise, I agree with PP about Pollyanna. It has a similar vibe but feels fresh and less likely there will be another one.
Also I don't think this friend will think you've stolen it as you appear to close for that as it would be too obvious with the children being in the same year/class at school, I would just assume you had already picked the name and were set on it

I wouldn't use it. It would seem odd to me if two mutual friends used the same name so closely together. Could you use Penelope as a middle name?

It might not even suit her when she's born anyway. I vetoed my top 5 names for my dd once she was born as none of them suited her once I actually saw her. Maybe wait and see how you feel after she's born?

Jemima is pretty too and not popular

I love the name
Elsie
Alice is pretty

And what happens if you have a boy?..

If its not a close friend I would use the same name...

I don't like the name personally but the little one I know has a sister called Lydia, how about that? I also like Clementine and Angelica for very feminine names.

If it helps, I had a favourite name for a girl. It was just what my daughter was going to be called if I ever had one. Let's say it was Polly. So I had two sons and couldn't use Polly and then got pregnant with a daughter who was going to be Polly. However, a close relative gave birth to a daughter about four months before mine and guess what they called her? So it was back to the drawing board.

My daughter was born and we picked a new name. She is now totally that name and I can't even imagine calling her Polly, it wouldn't suit her at all!!

So even if you are dead set on a name you can find another!

Hmm...a name similar to it.

Penelope.

I’m going to use the MN favourite here, no-one owns a name so if you like it then Choose it. Who cares if she’s not the only one in her class and who cares if anyone thinks you ‘copied it’. You love the name so go for it.

I would stick with Penelope. If she was your best friend or your sister then I would pick something else, but honestly, for a regular friend that you might not even be in touch with in five years' time, I would just use the name you love.

Just use Penelope, once you are out of the baby years you will see it doesn't matter

Alyssia is gorgeous,better than Penelope

My dc both have another child in their class with the same first name and are “Tim G” for example. Neither of them minds, I really don’t get why this is a problem. I have a known, but unusual name for my age, and I was so envious of my sister who must have had the most common name in her birth year (3 in her class at primary, 8 in her year at secondary).

Seriously, why wouldn't you use it?

Its not like any name is unique truly? apart from completely ridiculous ones that no one in their right mind would use

Just use it. If you know her well enough to ee’ve a card/text of congratulations jokingly say “amazing name, it’s what we’ve been planning for years if we have a girl”. If you don’t know her that well, then it doesn’t matter at all.

Your daughter will (hopefully) be Penelope for 80 or 90 years. Don't be affected by the fact that it's possible that between the ages of 3 and 11 she may not be the only Penelope in her class. That's silly.

The worst person I’ve ever had dealings with was called Penny, so I’d consider that a lucky escape.

If you like it just use it! One of our kids has a known but underused name. There were 80 or so born in the whole of England they year they were born. We moved abroad where the name isn't even common enough to make official name tables. There is another kid with the same name at nursery 🤣

Love Enya, it’s really nice. Not common but not wacky either.
Alyssia and other variations are getting popular, I know a couple of children called it and Elyssia and Alicia and Aleeza etc.

Philomena?

Fenella? Phaedra? I dislike Penelope and Delilah I must say.

When I was at primary school, half the boys were called Ben or Tom and no one seemed to mind. I assume as it was a small town that some of the mothers must have known each other pre-children and so it can't have been a big deal to use the same names within a friendship group.

Penelope is a top 50 name now, so I don't think people would assume you are copying your friend.

I think that your daughter(?) may thanks you for giving her one of the other names.
I have an adult friend called Penelope and she hates it, was bullied at school for it and said that she thinks it sounds ugly. When she meets people she tells them that Penny is her full, official name.

Penelope is a lovely name, and penny is cute. If you love it, just use it. Chances are you’ll meet a few others along the way, it’s gaining in popularity at the moment.
I absolutely adore Delilah (husband has said absolutely not, the bastard!) and also like Felicity and Adeline. Maybe Florence or Rosalie?

I was gonna suggest Delilah til I saw you asking about it , that's rising in popularity too. I think it is down the same sort of lines as Penelope.
It's a lovely name.