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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

please help with a naming "situation"!

35 replies

pinkmook · 29/03/2010 13:49

Hi, just wanted to get some other opinions on the situation we are in WRT baby names.

We are due to have DD in June and would like to call our DD Kitty (shortened form of Katherine) as this was my grandads mums name.

However our neighbours have a 6 yr old ccalled Kitty also. We see quite a bit of them and Kitty and their other DC's play with my DS - they are all in and out of each others houses all the time.

So, would you call your new baby the same name as nieghbours daughter? I'm worried how it will come across and dont really want to pitch up explaiining the connection to our family.

Also, no - one else I have ever met/known in RL has this name so it does seem a bit like we have "copied" them - Oh I know this all sounds very silly but I just wondered what others thought even if you do think IM being a bit silly!

Thanks for reading the waffle!

OP posts:

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ChippingIn · 01/04/2010 11:34

Pregnancy hormones are creating a problem where none exists.... just tell your kids and hers that the babies name is Kitty - after her great Granny... the message will get through and tbh, even if it doesn't, what the worst that will happen - she'll be a bit from 3 doors down!? Stop ya worryin'

Lancelottie · 31/03/2010 11:31

Our high street has Charlottes at three consecutive houses! Stop worrying.

Original poster

pinkmook · 31/03/2010 09:35

lol at mathanxiety - i wouldnt put it past her

I like the idea of just introducing baby kitty in july LOL!

OP posts:

ozmetric · 30/03/2010 23:07

I would have thought she might be flattered rather than annoyed. Great minds think alike and all that.

nighbynight · 30/03/2010 22:39

We have 2 neighbours with sons of the same name.
Kitty a lovely name, tell her its a family name, so no arguments!

mathanxiety · 30/03/2010 21:54

Well, there is a chance she might be annoyed. However, what's she going to do about it? Egg your house? Stick out her tongue every time you walk past? It's not a name she made up. It's been in the top 100 girls' names since the dawn of lists. There's a good case to be made for you using this name, but really, no need to feel you have to make it. She's not the boss of you! Introduce little Kitty one day in July. She will get over herself.

Original poster

pinkmook · 30/03/2010 17:30

Im so conflicted about it - Im leaning towards agreeing with the people who have said its perfectly acceptable not an issue - but there is part of me thinks she will be annoyed and maybe im being unreasonable???

OP posts:

cece · 30/03/2010 17:26

sorry should not be considering it a problem

cece · 30/03/2010 17:25

I think you should even be considering this a problem. It is a family name, you like it, use it. If she has a problem with it then it is her problem not yours.

TBH you're not going to be neighbours forever are you really?

In 10 years time when you are no longer neighbours you will be kicking yourself for not using it won't you?

Original poster

pinkmook · 30/03/2010 17:20

i will have to try and bump into her now - truly cant be bothered with that convo! Oh well I have til the end of June to bring it up! LOL

OP posts:

Magaly · 30/03/2010 16:56

I'd just say to her, look, we won't always live right beside each other, but Kitty will always have been my Grandma's name and I'll regret not using it when we move.

I know of two Kittys. Not loads I know but it's not like, I don't know........ Hyacinth.

Original poster

pinkmook · 30/03/2010 16:53

she is 3 doors away from me and her dd is 6 or 7 now so unlikely they will play together. JUst a bit embarrasing really but as others have said its not a vastly unusual name, we are not close friends , would not keep in touch if she moved so I guess I could use it - just feel a bit uncomfortable I suppose

OP posts:

sallyseton · 30/03/2010 16:53

You HAVE to tell them, otherwise they will be angry. It depends if you can convince them that you arent copying them- no matter what you say, they might think you are.

Magaly · 30/03/2010 16:49

Are they next door neighbours? Might be a little bit much if they were.
When I was pregnant with dc2 I discovered that a neighbour was considering the same name. She obviously considered me so insignificant in her long term life plan that my having the same name on my list as her didn't phase her in the slightest. And she was right, because I moved, and then a while later she moved too.

I do feel relatives shouldn't duplicate names though. Jmo

Original poster

pinkmook · 30/03/2010 13:24

5DollarShake and mathanxiety - thank you feeling much more confident about using it now!

OP posts:

mathanxiety · 29/03/2010 20:29

Go for it. It's a beautiful, classic name, it's not copyrighted, and you're possibly not going to be neighbours forever.

5DollarShake · 29/03/2010 20:09

Do use it if you really like and want the name!

OK, neither of you might be moving imminently, but who's to say where either of you will be living in 5 or 10 years? It'd be a shame to forego the name for a reason that may not even exist sooner than you think.

Tell them, if you have to, that her name is Katherine. She's a baby and will be for some time. It's not as if you have to refer to her as Kitty in front of them for quite a few years.

If and when you do reveal the name, use her full name and just drop in that she is named after your great grandmother. I really can't imagine your neighbour would read anything into it.

LLJ4 · 29/03/2010 19:28

Catherine nn Kitty is top of my list atm so I definitely approve.

I think the chances that you will still be living next door to "big Kitty" in a few years' time are pretty remote. Your Kitty will just be "Kitty".

I also like SqueezyB's suggestion of a remote family connection so you can say "Not after your Kitty, although she did remind us..."

Original poster

pinkmook · 29/03/2010 17:39

No - def not close friends - interesting point I could just say Katherine to them. Really I suppose its none of their business! But I dont want to seem weird for using the name

OP posts:

liliputlady · 29/03/2010 17:36

I would still use it, especially given the age gap - yours will just be "Baby Kitty" then "Little Kitty" to them.

SqueezyB · 29/03/2010 16:51

I wouldn't worry - it doesn't sound like you are close friends, in a few years your kids probably won't even play together. Just mention it lightheartedly in a 'ooh, isn't that a coincidence' kind of way. Perhaps when your kids are playing you could start a conversation about baby names and then say, 'it's funny, we've always said we'd use the name Kitty if we have a girl - it was my great-grandmother's name.'

Alternatively, tell her the baby's name is Katherine and just refer to her as Kitty among your family/friends?

Original poster

pinkmook · 29/03/2010 14:33

I guess so! Am finding it hard to make even minor decisions at the moment! Thanks again

OP posts:

lockets · 29/03/2010 14:30

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Original poster

pinkmook · 29/03/2010 14:27

Its Katherine shortened to Kitty

OP posts:

lockets · 29/03/2010 14:25

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