Would you use this baby name?

[RoosterRed1]

I have changed the names for privacy but they are similar style to these!

say DD1 is called Olivia. Discussing names for DD2 and told DH I really love Isabelle but we can’t use it as friends have an Isabelle. DH surprised me by saying he loves it too and he thinks we could use it.

His reasoning:

• Their DD is 6 so not a similar age to what ours would be.
• They live an hour away from us so no similar friend circles and they are peripheral to DH main friendship group.
• We see them twice a year at most.
• they are reasonable people
• it’s not an unusual name

I am not sure. I would hate to upset them. I like them a lot and even though we only see them once or twice a year would it be odd to have two children with the same name at those meet ups. I also feel like maybe we should go for a name nobody else we know has used and we might find one we love just as much!

would you use the name or just not get into a potential hassle?

I think it's fine. Friends with a similar degree of closeness used our favourite baby name for their DS born 5 months before ours. We decided to call DC1 something different as a result. But we then used the name for DC3, when their DS was 6 - it felt enough of an age gap by then. Less common name than Isabelle, too.

Does friends' DD go by Isabelle all the time, or does she have a short form or nickname? Would you have a pet name for your child?

I'd not mind if I was the friend, as the years go by the likelihood of the girls spending much time together is slim.

yes It Is a beautiful Name

Use it. They won't be peers. They'll spend very little time together. It's reasonably likely that she'll run into other Isabelles her own age at school/sports/brownies etc.

Use the name. Maybe spell it differently to your friends' dd. An Isabelle recently told me there were 16 spellings.

Totally fine. Not remotely worth agonising over.

For all the reasons you have listed I think it is absolutely fine to use the name

I don't think there is any need to run it by them first

I wouldn't even think twice about this. For all the reasons you listed and others pp have brought up, it's a total non-issue. Use it!

Just use the name.

As you say, it isn't like she is in the same friendship circle, or she has the same Grandparents or anything.

It has also been incredibly popular over recent years (when you add together the different spelling), so your friend's dd is likely to be used to being one of two or more in any group she has been to already.

Use the name you both love.

In that context, definitely fine. Normally I don't agree with the general mumsnet idea that nobody owns a name because I think if cousins or babies born within the same few days have the same name, it is good to check and make sure everyone is happy because it is a life time thing!

But you don't see these people a lot and realistically having the same name isn't a big deal anyway. Perfectly okay

My friend called her son the same as my son 4 years later. Didn't bother me at all tbh.

She texted and asked me.

I agree with DH 100%

Of course you can use it. Nobody owns a name. If they used a popular name they will be expecting to meet others along the way anyway.

They're not local and the children will be 6 years apart in age. That definitely makes it ok to use.

You can definitely use it

It’s absolutely fine.

Is the name actually Isabelle? Lots of people are basing their answer quite specifically on that and I thought it was just an example! 😀

Team DH. It's absolutely fine.

I chose my children's names with their unusual-ness in mind, but I'd be pleased and flattered if a friend chose the same name in the context you describe. And if the situation was reversed, and a friend had a problem with it - I'd think they were really entitled and a bit weird to be honest.

They'd be very peculiar people indeed to get upset at this.

I would 100% use it without any reservation!

My DD has a fairly unusual name and when she was tiny another mum at a group I attended was pregnant with her baby number 2 and asked me if I minded if she used the name for her child if it turned out to be a girl (I am of a generation when we didn't often find out beforehand). In the event it was a boy anyway so not an issue. I was quite surprised she even asked to be honest and of course I said I didn't mind which wasn't entirely true. In the longer run though our DC ended up at different nursery/schools and we lost touch anyway so it wouldn't have mattered at all.

He is right.

It's a very popular name. If they kick up a stink about it, I'd point out how many Isabelles, Isobels, and Isabellas were born in the UK over the last ten years. Do your homework and have the number to hand.

It's popular because it's lovely. If it's a name you both love, go for it.

I'd consider Sibylla or Venetia instead.

Of course you can use it. Why people get so stressed about using the same name as family/friends is beyond me

They are casual acquaintances and of course you can use the name.

I think it’s fine, you could do Isobel as the spelling?