Naming baby almost the same as me?

[sleepawaythedayahead]

My name is Sophie. Thinking of naming new baby Sophia

I love my name and she is due the same week as me :)

I'd only use it as a middle name. She's an individual not a mini you

Men do it all of the time and no one finds it weird.

Err I think they do!

I think it's weird but I can't put my finger on why. I actually think it's less odd to just call her the same name, even though that always makes me raise an eyebrow.

Then again: it's a lovely name, so who cares if people think it's weird?

Um, yeah. I think that is weird too.

Yes we do. It's weird regardless of the sex of the parent.

It’s fine- no weirder than the thousands and thousands of men who name a son after themselves (including some in my own family) and I’ve never heard anyone comment on those.

Naming daughters after mothers does seem to have fallen much more out of fashion now, but it used to be fairly commonplace too. As long as you wouldn’t feel embarrassed when introducing yourself alongside your daughter, then it’s no big deal imo. Make sure you give her a different middle name/different initials though just in case, to be sure to avoid any potential postal/bank/medical record confusion.

(Tbh I considered doing the same thing if I had a girl - because unfortunately a close variation of my own name happens to have always been my favourite name after I first heard it in a film as a child 🤣. But luckily for introvert me, I had a boy and my favourite boys choice sounds very different!).

This reminded me of Will Smith and Willow and Jada Pinkett-Smith and Jaden!

Silly

I think a lot of people forget it was once very common for children to be named their parents names.

Both my grandmothers and grandfathers had children they named after them, one my grandfather was also named after his father and so on. My daughter has the same name as my Nan, Aunt and one of my cousins.

Could you imagine anyone complaining about it being weird that a man called Mohammed named his child Mohammed, which happens all over the world every day.

If you like Sophie and Sophia do it.

Yes it was common a few generations back but in the last couple of generations it’s certainly not normal. If a new family moved into your road and introduced them selves as Sophie and Thomas children Sophia and Tom sorry but pretty much everyone would think them extremely odd.

I do have a friend who was named after her mum - her mum uses the full form and she uses a short form day to day, but they are v similar - like Rebecca and Becca

So much the same as you, and while I have to say I would find it weird if I didn't know them, it seems to work for them fine..

Do you know, I'd never made that connection between the generations of Pinkett Smiths.

Either I'm an idiot OP (the evidence is strong) or in fact people are overthinking and no one will pay any attention. In the end no one does care much about what other people do

I know a couple who named their kids after themselves. For example, say they were Charles and Ophelia who named their kids Charlotte and Phil.

I always thought it was really strange, especially when they had a surprise third baby who just has a seemingly random name 😅

OP, I’d recommend giving the baby their own identity away from yours.

Smacks of narcissism.

Don’t do it!

My mum did this to me and for as long as I’ve known I hated it. So much I changed name.

I think it's perfectly fine. People have been doing this since people have been naming babies. You can see by the reaction on MN that some people will judge you and consider it weird, so be prepared for that! Just at this point in history it is not a common practice in the UK. But in the past, for centuries, and in other cultures, it is commonplace. Personally, I wouldn't see it as an issue that a mother and daughter have such lovely names that echo each other.

Yes, but there’s a reason it’s no longer popular.

I would go for it as a middle name OP but I don’t think it’s a good idea as a first name

Which is?

It's delighful.
Sophia Minnie Surname.

There are lots of good names OP, I would pick a new one specially for your daughter.

There are many things the Victorians did that would seem odd now this is one of them.

They don’t ‘forget’, they just think it’s a bad idea, now deservedly out of fashion. Previous generations also reused the names of dead children for subsequent children.

I do think that it’s viewed different for boys (tradition of passing down) and thus more common with them.

If you love the name you should do it

Not everyone thinks it’s a bad idea plenty of cultures still do it.

I have more understanding why some wouldn’t like naming a child after a dead sibling, that has happened in my family but usually the deceased child would then be referred to by their middle name. No one has any issues with being named after an older deceased sibling, it’s a tradition that was used and they understand it has nothing to do with them being a replacement.