Can we give baby same name as cat?

[Mammanat222]

We don't know gender yet so this may be a moot point but the only girls name we both like is what we called or cat (she is 6 and we've had her since she was 9 weeks old, so she is a proper part of the family)

Part of me thinks "well if it was good enough for Indiana Jones" but another part of me thinks it's silly.

Everyone that knows us semi well - family, friends, even some of my work colleagues - will know baby and cat have same name.

What to do?

Our DS' middle name belonged to the cat. As it happens, he was run over not long before DS was born, but we made the decision when he was still alive. We've made sure to choose slightly cattier names since then for subsequent mogs.

Of course you can. It's a really nice name. And anyway, by the time you have a few kids and the inevitable accumulation of animals the names will be all mixed up and you will call all of them anything that sounds familiar and loud enough.

I think in these situations it's easy to believe that people will either notice or care far more than they actually will.

If you love the name Amber then use it. There's no point choosing a name you don't like nearly as much just because someone may or may not notice that it was the cat's full name.

I was given the same name as the cat. Apparently they loved the name so much they decided to bestow it on their PFB a mere 18 months after getting the cat.

As a child I felt quite honoured to have been named after our beautiful moggy and felt a special connection with her.

As an adult I find it amusing.

One of our cats is called Lila (she was originally Delilah when we adopted her) and we love the name. However there are others we love equally so we won't use it, plus our cats DO know their names! The correct one comes running if you call just one of them :-) only problem is we've realised that our chosen girls name has similar vowel sounds to Lila so poor cat may get confused anyway...

I wouldn't think twice, it's hardly like the cat is using its name itself , and it's not like they're both going to get post at the same address

Amber is a lovely name and I think you might be raging if you don't use it because of the cat especially if you really love it.

I know of one or two people who regret using their favourite name for their pet. But I don't think they actually used it.

It's up to you, obviously. I wouldn't, though. You've been using it for your pet for 6 years, and ambi/amber are too similar. Plus you might, at some point, want to use 'Ambi' for baby Amber.

Also remember it will seem like a big deal now because everyone you know closely, knows your cat's name, but over the next few years you'll be meeting people through DC who may never even know you have a cat. They won't care and even if they found out it wouldn't be more than a raised eyebrow or a giggle I wouldn't think.

Thanks all. Will see if it's even an issue in a few weeks!!

Change the cat's name to Bambi and name the baby Amber if you can't think of one single other name you both like.

What would you have named the other one if you were having g/g twins?

Of course you can do it.

If you don't, you'll only regret it later.

amber is a lovely name.

go for it.

Our cat and baby have a very similar sounding name that rhymes. So when I call one, they usually both turn up to see what I want.

They adore each other and are usually to be found playing as a contented if slightly bold trio - geriatric boxer dog is the boss (but not brains) of the gang!!

Without meaning to sound harsh, the cat will be dead in a few years . People will think it's a bit odd for a few weeks or months, then they'll forget what the cat's original name was and you get to call your daughter the name you really love. It's not as though it's a 'cat's name' in the first place, like Tabby (Tabitha). I say go for it. (Do change the cat's name to something very different, though.)

As long as your cat isn't called Tiddles I don't see the big deal

My friend did (her cats were named after two film characters, they are normal people names). At the time everyone said "erm..." but it was a name she loved and when she got the cats she thought she'd never have children.
Now the cats are long gone and it's her son's name.
I'm named after a character in a play but the long form of my name was the name of a cat of my grandmother's. My DGM was up in arms but it's my name now, with the cat long forgotten apart from this tale! (Boom boom).

I think it's fine. We named our first child after my old dog, who died when DS was 3yo. We loved the name (it's a common boys' name), we loved the dog, and now DS likes the story behind his name. If you were considering naming your baby Fido or Pussy, I could see a problem. But a common human name shared with an older pet for a few years? No issue.

Very glad my parents didn't do this but their cat's name was Tigger!

Having said that I gave my DS an extended version of my childhood dog's name much to my mums horror

Amber is lovely, for either your cat or baby

Moral of the story - give pets pet-like names if you might have children soon!

Do it - if nothing else it will make your life easier - you won't have to worry when you get the names mixed up ...
I frequently call my DDs by the each others name and often the cat by one of the DDs names ...I do usually realise straight away but not always
I once shouted loudly 'DD1- get down' to the cat jumping on the kitchen worktop ...didn't even register I'd got the name wrong until a (slightly upset) DD1 told me...

Go for it. Ds1 is has the same name as a family cat. Cat was dead by the time DS was born but we liked the name so did it anyway. Actually told Ds (9) about the cat the other day and he thought it was quite funny.

I love the name Amber and know a very lovely girl with that name.

I also love the suggestion upthread of calling cat Bambi. If anyone questions you about dd's name being the same as the cat, just look at them totally straight faced and say the cat has always been called Bambi. Unless you have a framed naming certificate for the cat hanging on your wall I doubt anyone will challenge you.

When you get to the stage of continuously saying "Amber - NO, NO, I SAID NO" every 60 seconds or so, your much loved family cat is going to move out.

Don't call her after the cat.

We have a dd and a cat with the same name, one is known as "Hermione-the-cat" and the other is quite often known as "Hermione-the-child" (neither is actually called Hermione). The cat came with the name already when they were both about 8 years old. It was too late for dd to learn to respond to a new name by then. They are both 16 now. It doesn't give us much trouble and not that many people actually know the names of both your children and your cats, in my experience. The cat has no idea what her name is anyway.