still to be hacked off about this?

[brownbug78]

Our very close mates had their 2nd child, a baby boy, a few months ago, and to our absolute horror, they called him the same name as our son (a couple of years older)!

I just don't know how to act now with them, it is so awkward when we see them, and if I'm honest, I'm still seething about it! In our company, they call him by a shortened nickname version (which he doesn't respond to, incidentally!) just to distinguish between the two children!!

On top of this, 3 weeks before he was born, we asked what their name options were, and they said they didn't know!

AIBU to have thought that SUCH close friends could have just, I don't know, PICKED ANOTHER NAME!!

YABU

My cousin called her youngest DS the same name as me - didn't say anything to me beforehand and it didn't bother me in the slightest.

So at family gatherings there's a 4 year old boy and a middle aged women with the same name. DO I mind? NO! Actually a bit flattered!

Your lives may probably take different paths as the children grow up so it won't be an issue.

I think it really does matter what the name is. As has already been said several times, if it's a particularly unusual name then friends chosing it is a bit weird. If it's Jack or some other of the top ten most popular names then the OP needs to move on.
So, WHAT IS THE NAME?

Infact don't bother telling the name, I'm bored of it now.

Yes people on MN are blunt.
Which is quite refreshing, when so many chat boards on the Internet are moderated into banality.

What is the name, OP? Why aren't you flattered that they like your taste?

Well I am horrified that my stepson chose a partner with the same name as his own sister..

Equally horrified that my stepdaughter has married a bloke with the same first name as her dad.

It gets very confusing in family conversation.

Thing is brownbug, your friend could have come on here a while back and asked us if she was being unreasonable to use the name. And the consensus would've been 'no'.

• there have been many threads like that.

....and it does depend a bit on the name: is it Oliver? Jack? or similar in popularity?

Boffffff...3 pages and still not a mention of this unique name!

If the name is very unusual, you YANBU. If it's a fairly well used name, YABU. I have a Jack, and every other child I meet is also a Jack. My neighbour called her son Jack when mine was only a month old

Why would someone else be baffled by their choice of name?

YABU a name is not 'owned'. But if you really think YANBU then you need to tell us the name so we can judge properly.

I'm not going to tell you the name of my son on a public post, obviously. What I will say is that it's not a top 10 name but on the other hand it isn't Fignacious either.

I thought it went without saying, but the issue CLEARLY isn't about how many other people he's going to come into contact with who have the same name - that's always going to happen, and I couldn't give a rats arse if every other stranger in the world calls their child the same name. I know I don't have "ownership" - I just think it's WEIRD for two couples in a close knit set of 3 couples to have kids with the same name.

Everyone on here keeps saying "why shouldn't they", but my question is "why WOULD they"? Yes, it's a form of flattery, but if it were me, I'd never dream of naming my child the same as my best friends' without at least speaking to them first.

Pound to a penny it's Oscar.

Get over it love

NO fair, Brownbug. Give us a rank, within 5 places (can someone else find the Bounty Boys' list for 2010, I am failing utterly to locate it).

So Brownbug, if there was a name you absolutely LOVED, and you'd always dreamed of calling your child this name, and then a friend/relative happened to breed first, and used the name, would you call your child something different?

If the family member/friend KNEW you loved the name, and used it anyway, would you be angry that they'd "stolen" the name by getting in there first?

It's just ludicrous.

Here we go, OP, give us a rough idea where it tends to rank. If it's not on those lists (too uncommon) then in a close circle of friends, I have some sympathy that they should have asked if you minded -- although even if you did mind, it's still their decision and not reasonable for you to get upset about it (upset enough to brave the choppy waters of AIBU over it).

Yes because XXX Brownbug is an instantly recognisable name.

FFs grow up. It's a name. But it's not your personal, special, invented-all-by-yourself name. Our next door neighbours called their new cat the name I wanted to call my PFB. I just chose another name, although I could have just as easily still called PFB by that name.

I'd be pissed off too.

Does it really matter what the name is? Whether it be Oscar or Malcolm, it'd be fucking annoying for your very close friends to call their kid the same name as your offspring. Not to mention confusing.

I think I'd be pissed off but maybe try and take it as a compliment, obviously they think you have good taste. Why don't you ask them about it, if they are good friends then they shouldn't mind. It is annoying but am sure it will matter less as your DS gets older

RAGGED: between 70 and 90 on your list

I have tried to really imagine this and how it would feel if it happened with us and our friends. To be honest I really feel that if friends had called their newborn the same name as my DS, I would have found it no problem at all. I really have tried but can't imagine a problem with it. I think your anger is maybe a little over the top.
They might even see it as a little tribute to you and your lovely child? My best friend have her daughter my name, and I was so touched. Maybe they are thinking along those lines?

Joe, Sam or Zachary?

I'm really struggling to understand why it might be confusing.

Two siblings with the same name - maybe.

Otherwise.... nope. Can't see how it would be confusing.