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Baby names

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Original poster

Colleague used my favourite baby name!

56 replies

Graceishere · 16/01/2021 18:36

I'm pregnant and had a favourite baby name for a girl (Mabel). However my colleague recently used it for a kitten. Out of all the names she could have chosen!! She's obsessed with this kitten and the whole team knows its' name. I feel really gutted about this. Would you still use it or go with a different name?

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MadameButterface · 18/01/2021 11:10

If younger ds had been a girl he would have been named after one of my childhood dogs, it’s a name i love. The name he ended up with gets called a dog name on here, in fact both his names come to think of it 😂 just use the name

hardrocknickina · 18/01/2021 11:06

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BikeRunSki · 17/01/2021 23:41

Use it! This is what will happen

In a few months time you will stop work for a few weeks or months.
If your baby is a girl, and you call her Mabel, your colleague may find this slightly amusing. Or she may not have any opinion. Or she may have left. It is extremely unlikely that she’ll be put out.
A few weeks/months later you may go back to work. Or you might not. You might change jobs. Same for your colleague. By which time people that you are close to at work will know your child’s name and it’s not really a “thing”.

vodkaredbullgirl · 17/01/2021 23:31

Did she know you wanted to call your baby Mabel?

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 17/01/2021 23:26

Absolutely still use it. Lovely name.

SuitedandBooted · 17/01/2021 21:07

It's a cat....

Use the name. It's nice, but not rare, and you will certainly meet lots of others. If it was your sister, I would be annoyed, but it's a work colleague. Chances are one of you will be moving on, and once again, its a cat. She hasn't stolen your baby name (or thunder!)

Boyorgirl3 · 17/01/2021 16:56

I have a dog called Poppy, everyone I work with knows it, a colleague, who I am friends with out of work too recently called her daughter Poppy, as far as I am aware nobody batted an eyelid.

Onlinedilema · 17/01/2021 08:36

I know a couple of dogs called Mabel.

Pudding01 · 16/01/2021 23:09

There are a lot of Mabels around at the moment, especially with pets! I know of 3 puppies called Mabel within a 5 minute walk of my house. So with it being so popular with cats, dogs and babies, I don't think it will be a thing if you called your DD the same name as your colleague's cat :)

Plus, how long will your colleague be in your life? ...

CheshireCats · 16/01/2021 22:49

Also know a cat called Mabel. For me it is definitely a pet name.

DramaAlpaca · 16/01/2021 22:47

I prefer it on a kitten... But you won't be colleagues for ever, so use it as you love it.

socketpocket · 16/01/2021 22:45

In a few years time you won't even remember this colleague or their cat.

MessAllOver · 16/01/2021 22:43

Use the name. Tell your colleague that her kitten sounded so cute that you named your daughter after her. She'll be flattered.

partyatthepalace · 16/01/2021 22:11

Wouldn’t let it stop me...

partyatthepalace · 16/01/2021 22:10

I think it is better suited to a kitten Grinso I’d let it go. But, obviously I would let a colleague and her cat stop me calling my kid whatever.

IamnotwhouthinkIam · 16/01/2021 21:35

Yes of course you can use it. You could easily change jobs and lose contact in the future and anyway your DD and the kitten aren't going to be having playdates or in the same class at school where having the same name could be annoying. My only hesitance would be is that while Mabel is pretty, it is also very trendy and may date - not because of a kitten!

ParisJeTAime · 16/01/2021 21:25

PS: I had friends at school with a labrador and a baby sister of the same name...the labrador was older, so the baby had effectively been named after the dog! The parents hadn't expected any more dcs and named the dog their favourite girl name and then had a surprise dd.

ParisJeTAime · 16/01/2021 21:24

Of course still use it! She's a colleague, so little more than a stranger and...no offense to anyone with a 'fur baby', but it's a cat! Use it. It's a nice name.

JohnBarron · 16/01/2021 21:20

You won’t work with them forever so just use it.

I remember a colleague giving their child a name that was also on my list. They all told me I couldn’t use it because she had. Do I work with this colleague now? Nope. So actually I could have used it and it would have made fuck all difference now.

FluffyEggsontoast · 16/01/2021 19:46

Of course you should still use it! You're overthinking

It's a great name for a girl by the way

00100001 · 16/01/2021 19:38

😂😂😂

BloggersBlog · 16/01/2021 19:37

Definitely use it! If either of you left the job and you didnt use it you would be even more gutted than you are now

toastofthetown · 16/01/2021 19:35

I’d still use it. But then I’d still use a name that a colleague used for their baby. I wouldn’t want to regret not using a name if the colleague left after six months.

SavoyCabbage · 16/01/2021 19:34
  1. it's only a colleague
  2. it's a cat
  3. it's a popular (and lovely) name
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