Colleague used my favourite baby name!

[Graceishere]

I'm pregnant and had a favourite baby name for a girl (Mabel). However my colleague recently used it for a kitten. Out of all the names she could have chosen!! She's obsessed with this kitten and the whole team knows its' name. I feel really gutted about this. Would you still use it or go with a different name?

Yes, definitely. It's only a colleague, you'll have a different job at some point.

I can see why it’s a bit awkward but go for it still. It’s a lovely name and your colleague will likely never interact with your daughter - don’t discount a name you love because of someone you might not even know in a year!

I would still go for it, maybe even drop it into conversation that that’s what you decided to name your baby. Colleagues come and go, imagine in 5 years you might not even work with them and you would then regret not using the name!

Just use the name. It's likely that in a couple of years you won't even know the colleague as one of you will have moved on.

My dads got a dog called Mable and I met another dog out on a walk today called Mable, it’s definitely a popular pet name right now, but go for it !!

You are really over thinking this. It's just a colleague and a cat. Of course you can use the name.

1. it's only a colleague
2. it's a cat
3. it's a popular (and lovely) name

I’d still use it. But then I’d still use a name that a colleague used for their baby. I wouldn’t want to regret not using a name if the colleague left after six months.

Definitely use it! If either of you left the job and you didnt use it you would be even more gutted than you are now

😂😂😂

Of course you should still use it! You're overthinking

It's a great name for a girl by the way

You won’t work with them forever so just use it.

I remember a colleague giving their child a name that was also on my list. They all told me I couldn’t use it because she had. Do I work with this colleague now? Nope. So actually I could have used it and it would have made fuck all difference now.

Of course still use it! She's a colleague, so little more than a stranger and...no offense to anyone with a 'fur baby', but it's a cat! Use it. It's a nice name.

PS: I had friends at school with a labrador and a baby sister of the same name...the labrador was older, so the baby had effectively been named after the dog! The parents hadn't expected any more dcs and named the dog their favourite girl name and then had a surprise dd.

Yes of course you can use it. You could easily change jobs and lose contact in the future and anyway your DD and the kitten aren't going to be having playdates or in the same class at school where having the same name could be annoying. My only hesitance would be is that while Mabel is pretty, it is also very trendy and may date - not because of a kitten!

I think it is better suited to a kitten so I’d let it go. But, obviously I would let a colleague and her cat stop me calling my kid whatever.

Wouldn’t let it stop me...

Use the name. Tell your colleague that her kitten sounded so cute that you named your daughter after her. She'll be flattered.

In a few years time you won't even remember this colleague or their cat.

I prefer it on a kitten... But you won't be colleagues for ever, so use it as you love it.

Also know a cat called Mabel. For me it is definitely a pet name.

There are a lot of Mabels around at the moment, especially with pets! I know of 3 puppies called Mabel within a 5 minute walk of my house. So with it being so popular with cats, dogs and babies, I don't think it will be a thing if you called your DD the same name as your colleague's cat :)

Plus, how long will your colleague be in your life? ...

I know a couple of dogs called Mabel.

I have a dog called Poppy, everyone I work with knows it, a colleague, who I am friends with out of work too recently called her daughter Poppy, as far as I am aware nobody batted an eyelid.

It's a cat....

Use the name. It's nice, but not rare, and you will certainly meet lots of others. If it was your sister, I would be annoyed, but it's a work colleague. Chances are one of you will be moving on, and once again, its a cat. She hasn't stolen your baby name (or thunder!)