Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask her to change it?

595 replies

Leprechaunsundays · 08/04/2021 16:38

I’m 7 months pregnant and DH and I finally have a girls name we love. It’s pretty unusual and we don’t know a single person with it. It’s something like 900th in popularity. We haven’t told anyone this name.

My friend just got a new puppy last week and posted a picture on Facebook of it announcing this same name! I immediately messaged her and said I was really sorry but that was the name we had chosen for our DD and can she choose something else. She just did the laughing emoji react to my message and then sent back “Haha that’s hilarious we chose the same one! It is a cool name though!”. She didn’t agree to change it, that’s all she said. But I assumed she understood and would do the decent thing.

Anyway today she posted again on Facebook that she had made an Instagram account for this puppy... and the name was still the same!!! What should I message her next? I thought she understood last time and now it’s just awkward to have to say it again

OP posts:
August1980 · 09/04/2021 20:06

@Kimye4eva

Oh OP, thanks for the giggles. You’ve brightened up an otherwise boring afternoon with your batshittery.
Me too. I am in stitches! Thank you for the entertainment OP and posters this really made me chuckle. I am sorry you are worked up about this, I do understand, the hormones etc but it’s just a name love.. nothing is really than unusual. My name is quite usual but on the global address book at work, I share it with 5 other people! (And we are more than 15000 employees) so really not that unusual. Could you tell us what the name is? I promise I won’t use it -too old for kids:) and I already have a dog! I should also say my name is hard to say because of its ‘uniqueness’ and I hated it growing up. I still answer to whatever version of it people can manage! Good luck with the baby.
Hippiechick162 · 09/04/2021 20:08

My sister was really similar, she chose 2 names for her twins Henley and Braelyn. She kept both but her dd1 shares the name Henley with her God mother's cat...she loves it to be fair!

winniestone37 · 09/04/2021 20:13

Bah ha ha ha

cooldarkroom · 09/04/2021 20:14

My dog's name is Jack...do I need to get all the Jack's renamed ?

tywysoges · 09/04/2021 20:20

Ooooh my name is in the 900s. Fab name. Doesn’t suit a dog though. Grin

Leontine · 09/04/2021 20:38

I’d love it if something like this happened to me. 😂

Carriecakes80 · 09/04/2021 20:43

Lol my ndn's dog had the same name as our daughter, we had it picked out for years as it was dh grandmothers name and her mohters name and so on....Our little girl as she grew LOVED having the same name as the beautiful dog next door! Also she would impishly shout 'Yeah!??' as a toddler when my neighbour called to her dog in the garden!
Don't be dappy. She got there first, you change the name or deal with it. lol

Glitterbug76 · 09/04/2021 20:43

Can we have the puppy 🐶 owners thoughts please I’ve had a puppy called bleu so can any one thinking of calling there boy or girl that please don’t Grin

Beyondridiculous · 09/04/2021 20:46

Jeez, this has really made my Friday 🤣🤣🤣 the absolute himarkty at thinking you own a name and all else should clear out. And that you don’t know the gender so apparently have a hold on it for an possible future kids Hmm Baby groups are going to be an absolute revelation when you realise your baby isn’t the be all and end all, or even remotely interesting to anyone but you

LadyPenelope68 · 09/04/2021 20:47

Err you don’t have rights on a name, I can’t believe you had the nerve to ask her to change it. Thus post has to be a wind up, nobody is that precious or thinks they’re that special 🤣🤣🤣

bellocchild · 09/04/2021 20:56

The dog won't live forever...:-)

August1980 · 09/04/2021 21:17

@Bassetlover

My nephew's girlfriend has the same name as my dog. I asked her to change it but for some reason she's refused!
Stop it, you are killing me....
MiddleClassProblem · 09/04/2021 21:23

My dog a has the same name as a famous film character. I wrote to Lucas Films to see if they would change it but they have not responded. Is it time for legal action?

ZenNudist · 09/04/2021 21:29

Bless you at least you came round to sanity rather than insisting she changed it. I reckon you will find another girls name you like more. I don't think this one is meant to be.

numberoneson · 09/04/2021 21:35

@Leprechaunsundays

I’m just really upset because it took us so long to find a name like that and now if we do have a DD (we’re not finding out the gender until birth) she has to share it with a dog!! I just thought being my friend she would respect my wishes
But the reverse is true also: if you're her true friend you'll respect her choice of name which she made before you! Your wishes are not paramount.
megaann · 09/04/2021 21:41

@Leprechaunsundays

If we have a boy this time we’ll still keep the girls name for next time. I really thought nobody else would pick it as it was so unusual. I feel like now she’s picked it for her dog and even made an Instagram account for the dog, it might become more popular now because other people will have heard of it. So not only has she ruined it for this baby, but also for our next baby in case we don’t have a girl this time,

I actually think she maybe found out somehow even though we never told anyone.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 who says you are guaranteed a girl next time if this baby is a boy? You could have 10 boys.. I think it's quite ridiculous now that you are making conspiracies to how she might have even found out the name 😂😂😂
numberoneson · 09/04/2021 21:44

@Leprechaunsundays

If we have a boy this time we’ll still keep the girls name for next time. I really thought nobody else would pick it as it was so unusual. I feel like now she’s picked it for her dog and even made an Instagram account for the dog, it might become more popular now because other people will have heard of it. So not only has she ruined it for this baby, but also for our next baby in case we don’t have a girl this time,

I actually think she maybe found out somehow even though we never told anyone.

Now you're worrying me. This level of possessiveness and paranoia is not normal. If you're for real, which I'm beginning to doubt, 'phone your doctor and ask to be referred to a psychologist!
Emma1234567 · 09/04/2021 21:52

I’m guessing you’re not going to tell us the name in case we all start using it and send it’s popularity soaring! 😂 I understand this would be a bit frustrating but if your friend didn’t know you planned to use it then she really hasn’t done anything wrong! You just need to decide if you still want to use it anyway or just pick another name, it’s not as big a deal as you’re making it!

SelkieBeag · 09/04/2021 21:57

It's far more likely that you and your friend have similar frames of reference and both find the same name appealing. It may be number 900 but I'd bet it's rising not falling and it will appeal (if it appeals to you) to other people like you ie, same age, background, nationality etc

You should read ''The baby name wizard'' by laura wattenburg. She explains why this happens.

It's not a flash of inspiration unique to you that this name popped in to your head. It sounds fresh to you because of your age and how few people you know called this name (same for your friend). It sounds cool to you because it's rising up the charts not falling. Your friend is living in the same world! It sounds usable to you at around about the same time it feels usable to your friend because she has been exposed to (or unaware of) the exact same cultural references, she is probably a similar social class to you, she is probably a similar level of education and you would both be aiming to ''project'' similar values through a name choice.

So, there will be huge overlap in the names you and your friend suddenly find appealing.

sbhydrogen · 09/04/2021 22:15

Eh, it really doesn't matter. My DD has the same name as her second cousin once removed (who we see on a regular basis), and there's no sense of name stealing.

As for Instagram, I follow my friends' dog/cat pages to be polite, but mute them.

motherofadog · 09/04/2021 22:17

I know a couple who were looking after a dog for a friend who'd gone abroad for a few years when they got pregnant. They gave the baby the same name as the dog that was actually living in their house. Nothing bad happened.

Jynxed · 09/04/2021 22:36

My eldest daughter is called Ella May, and the very next week after she was born a cow on The Archers was named Ellie May. I should have sued of course, but in the end I decided I didn’t give a shit.

ForeverInADay · 09/04/2021 22:40

I hate to tell you this but any name you pick, someone will have used it as a dogs name so your child will be 'sharing it' to that extent.

It is obviously a nice name, take it as a compliment.

It is totally unreasonable to expect your friend to change her puppy's name.

There is absolutely no reason you can't use it.

Sprockerdilerock · 09/04/2021 22:45

If it makes you feel any better OP my favourite girls name was stolen by Alex Salmond to be the name of his new scottish independence party. So that was that one out the window. Onwards and upwards!

Ginburee · 09/04/2021 23:03

Get over yourself love.
My son's short name is the name of many dogs and he loves that. We do too as he is our boy and not a dog as it is just a name.

Swipe left for the next trending thread