A friend used our name!!!! HELP

Honestly, anything could happen. If you like it, use it! Unless your surname starts with P. Cos if there are 2 of them in the class she will be called Penny P.

Ùse Penelope.

My brothewr was going to be an Andrew, but my mum's friend used it 2 weeks before my brother was born (on St Andrew's day).

Mum used a different name, they moved house two years later and we have not seen them since.

I like Delilah. But I agree with the comment above that the other names you’ve listed don’t seem in the same style as Penelope to me at all. They almost a different category of name to me. Penelope seems to have more in common with names like Wendy, Margaret, Dorothy etc to me. I’d think about what it is you like (eg is it the era it evokes, the number of syllables, the ‘p’, an association you have with the name) and go from there.

Just use it!

What your friend might think or there being more than one DC in a baby group/class at school don’t matter.

I'd personally just stick with Penelope. Just explain to your friend beforehand that it's been your favourite name for ages. It's really not that obscure a name- I can't think she'll be in the least bit surprised about someone else using it

If not Delilah is gorgeous

Clementine
Imogen
Felicity
Margaret (Maggie)
Edith
Martha
Jemima

For what it's worth I strongly dislike Penelope but think Summer, Alyssia and Enya are lovely. The "pene" part also apparently means penis in Spanish (this is what I've heard from a lot of people on here, so I guess it's fairly well known)

Delilah is okay. A bit posh and fancy for me.

Penelope is very different to your other names.
Cassandra - Cassie
Constance -Connie
Jennifer -Jenny

Penelope is pretty common nowadays.
Lovely name though!

If you have wanted the name for years, use it. You can explain that to your friend if you think it necessary.

Otherwise choose another couple of names you like (but without the pressure in your mind of them being the name) and see which one she looks/feels like when she arrives (if she's a girl).

Interestingly, I know a few pregnant women atm and nearly all of them have Penelope as their top girl choice! And one had her friend use it before she could too. I think it's becoming a lot more popular.

In the same class? *

Honestly I loved Penelope (penny) too and it was on my list, but when I realised how popular it is now I thought do I want my child to be one of those kids who has three other penny's in the same name? (I went through this with a popular name) things aren't always meant to be and this was your sign, I'd pick a few names I genuinely love and then decide when the baby is born. Did your friend know that was your name or an honest coincidence? Also I love some of the names above, specifically pippa!

Just go with Penelope... what if you decide on Summer and someone else does too and both Summers end up at the same school?

There are 3 Amelies in my DD's class. Single form entry. There are also two Freddies. At preschool my son was called Firstname-Surname so consistently, because there was another child with the same name already there, that other parents thought we had named him (not his name, but similar idea) Robbie-John - all the kids and teachers called him that without hesitation.

Call her what you love. There will always be other kids with the same names. We called our children names that hovered around the 50th most popular for the 2 years before they were born, because we wanted classic but not the same name as every other kid in their school classes. Lo and behold, those names rocketed up the charts shortly afterwards, because that's what every parent wants. We're all a product of our generational likes and dislikes, after all, names being no exception. If two of you are liking Penelope, so will lots of other people. If you love it, go for it. They could move away by the time both kids are school age, and so could you.

Parthenope
Apollonia
Phoebe
Petronella

Just use Penelope! You name a child for for life; it would be daft to change it just to avoid a possible clash that may or may not happen for a couple of years at school.

I would still use it

I have 1 sister and 7 cousins with the same name (all named after my granny)

She won't be at school for the majority of her life. They may move, you may move. So don't base it on the other couple's choice. It's not a very common name with anyone I know,so wouldn't be lots of them in general I think. It's gorgeous and I love it!

Just use the name if you have a little girl & still like it, nothing strange about doing that.

Another suggestion to add to those pp have already mentioned - Philomel. It's a name from Greek mythology. Very pretty I think.

I'd use it. You're not close friends and the child may not end up in the same school.
If they are in the same school/class it doesn't really matter does it?

To me, Penelope and the other names you've listed are really different.

Names in a similar style to Penelope to me would be: Eleanor, Josephine, Margaret, Caroline, Beatrice, Matilda, Philippa.

Names similar to Summer and Alyssia:
Amber, Jasmine, Ruby, Sky.

Names similar to Enya:
Una, Aoife, Isla, Orla.

Just use Penelope. No one sensible will care.