Has anyone ever stole your name idea?

[Tippitoesandbuttonnose]

My DM always wanted to call my brother Jamie when he was born( with James on birth cert). This is what she introduced him as to everyone who visited in the hospital but they called him James and eventually my poor mum went along with it.

Fast forward 18 years and my cousin is pregnant and plans on calling baby Jamie! This isn't a coincidence we don't think as her sister my other cousin named her DS Ethan, which was my mums first pick for her DS2 but my dad didn't like it so they called him Nathan. When baby Ethan was born my auntie said to my mum 'oh we know you wanted to call yours Ethan'

So that's both cousins, daughters of my auntie who has known my mum through all the births of her children, who have picked names they've known my mum loved and wanted.

Just wondering if you've ever experienced someone stealing your name choice.

Its hardly stealing is it?

These are all very common names.

It's 18 years ago! Let it go.

I don't think it's stealing 18 years on and with a name as popular as James. If I've understood your post correctly.
Best to keep name ideas quiet when pregnant anyway until baby arrives then there's minimal hassle

They are different generations so I really can't understand why it matters.

In fact I think it's quite nice that the names your DM liked are now getting used in your extended family.

My neighbor adopted a dog who had my fictional girl child name.

Cunts

Is your mum planning on having more children?

Yes with my 1st born. 16 years ago. I was pregnant at the same time as a friend of a friend. She knew she was having a boy. I didn't know the sex.
I didn't have a name for a girl but had cayden for a boy. I know it's a bit chavy now but I had never heard it before back then.
She said she was going to call her baby Ethan.
So a few months later I gave birth to a baby girl.
My friend told me this conversation took place.
Df "so funnyfarmer had a baby girl"
Name stealer. "A girl? What has she called her?"
Df "babyfarmer"
Ns. "So she didn't use the name cayden?"
Df. "Obviously not"
A month later she gave birth to a baby boy. Called him cayden!
She denied that she ever even due that was the name I had even though I told her myself.
She Also denied the conversation with df took place.
16 years later. Still bugs me

To be fair, I don't think it's name stealing as much as a name growing on you. That's why names are out of fashion for so long, but then grow in popularity the more you hear them.

We were going to call ds1 Oliver Jack then changed our minds when he was born ; 6 months later our friends asked us if we minded if they called their newborn Oliver Jack. Absolutely not a problem, flattered if anything,

I really can't see an issue. 18 years is a very long fast-forward.

Honestly, OP, I could understand it if you mother had been telling all and sundry of her lifelong desire to call her babies Sanskrit Blue and Tacitus Ninja, but James and Ethan are so common you might as well be complaining, 18 years on, that your relatives copied the names Boy#1 and Boy #2.

littleaunshine's situation would really piss me off though.

My grandmother and her best friend were so worried about offending each other and stealing each other's name they both carefully used their favourite name as a middle name instead (name was Margaret). I always thought that was rather sweet.

When I was at primary school, a girl from my class came to my house to play, whereupon I introduced her to my three guinea pigs. A few years later, when we were in secondary school, I went to her house and met her two rabbits, which had the same names as two of my Guinea pigs! I, of course, was secretly outraged, though never mentioned it. I was 12 though, in my defence .

I don't think what you've described in your op sounds like name stealing... it's not as if your mum might use them for future dc is it? And they're common enough names, that it isn't that strange.

It's probably a bit of a compliment to your mum that they have chosen the names she mentioned liking. Her taste and opinions must hold a lot of weight with your cousins .

I don't really understand. Your mother wanted her son's name to be James and it was James. If she wanted to call him Jamie, why didn't she?

18 years? Blimey. Move on.

I came on here to say it's understandable to feel a tiny bit odd when you've imagined your child having a name, to then have to get to know another child with that name. But that you should of course just get over it, and name your child as you please.

But this is just ridiculous.

Your cousin has named her baby the same name as her cousin. Some people would not do this, others don't think of it at all.

Another cousin has named her baby a name that nobody in her family has, but you're still imagining that it means something?

bridget I think OP means that people persisted in calling him James and not Jamie.

In a reverse of that: little James Bulger who was murdered is constantly referred to as Jamie Bulger, although his parents called him James and his mother has made it clear that they didn't call him Jamie.

18 years. Get a grip!!!!

Just out of interest, what has your mum said about the situation? Really seems a little strange that you consider this name stealing, unless there is some family history you haven't mentioned!

Blimey OP - worrying about different generations sharing names is a bit OTT!

I was pregnant with one of my kids at the same time as a relative with hers. We had decided on a name for a boy but not told anyone, nor had we found out the sex. Our baby was due six weeks before hers. Before her baby was born she sent round a message with a picture of the babe with his name attached. It was the same name as we had chosen.

So what did we do? Like most normal people we just chose another name and didn't say anything to anyone else. And then we got on with life and enjoying all our babies.

I forgot to mention the 2 cousins are sisters, we are a small family. They have a long run of spiteful things like that. If my mum spotted clothes she liked and mentioned them when cousins and I were younger, auntie would run out and buy them first, party theme ideas mum mentioned would be used for her children before our birthdays came around etc. She's very much a 'I'm goin to have it because you can't ' person.

Also, were not massively bothered it's the way they say 'we know you wanted the name X'. It's like choose whatever name you want but don't rub it in spitefully.

Ye my silver and I where pregnant the same time.I knew I was having a boy and Jamie was the name I picked.She was a few months ahead of me,well you can guess the name she picked.And she even stole?e my middle name to go with it.

Ah but I laugh now,Jamie was popular that year and also I don't like he name now.

As it happens I love the name James but vetoed it as a first name for my child because DH's cousin had already called her son James, known as Jamie when he was little, and she also has the same first name as me! I had visions of people in the family constantly wondering who someone was talking about when they mentioned "myname" and James! James is one of DS1's middle names though, so it doesn't cause any confusion that way.

And we really wanted to call DS2 George for a while but didn't because there were so many other little Georges in our circle at the time. Again, we used it as his middle name instead. Sometimes I wish we had called him George because the name we actually gave him ended up being even more popular than George, and at any given time he's usually had at least 2 friends with the same name (I wouldn't call that stealing though, we've moved towns since he was born and none of their parents knew me when I was choosing names!)

29palms (good username btw!) - I'm glad someone else is bothered by the James/Jamie Bulger thing - it's always bugged me a bit - and Madeleine McCann wasn't known as Maddie either apparently. My DS1's name has a common shortening with an -ie, which he's never used, and one of my odder worries when he was younger used to be that if anything awful ever did happen to him, the media would rename him!