I know you can't steal a name but. . .

[SAEJ]

OK, I am an adult, I know this sounds petty but I still feel a bit miffed. A close friend has had a baby, and knows that we have chosen Mabel as our baby name. She has named her DD Mabel.

I knwo you can't steal a name, I know I sound like I am 9 years old but I still feel a bit hurt. It won't stop me from using the name but it has certainly taken the shine off it for me.

I have not said anything - I can't bear to even raise the topic because I know how childish it sounds but she really did know we wanted the name and she even acknowledges that she loved the name after we chose it.

Go on, let me have it, am I too childish for words?????

I know it's a real name, it was my reat aunt's name, but it still looks like a mish mash of a selection of names. I like Mabel, Annnabel and Amelia. I think Amabel is less attractive. JMO.

And a lovely opinion it is too.

this happened to me with my ds1 i picked cody and another girl who was pegnant and at my friends christening said she didnt really have any names picked out any way i had myds and changed my mind and use somthing different but 3 weeks later the cheeky moo had used that name and the middle name id picked out too so this kid is walking around with the full name i picked cody lennon and then to top it of my cousin used lewis for her ds 3 months later if u use mable she will always say well i picked it 1st ,what about mai bell change the spelling so u can go oh well we spell it this wAY

MY DS IS LEWIS

I think she has been really cheeky especially as she is supposed to be a 'close' friend. I think she could be given the benefit of the doubt if it was a name in the top 10 or 20 or if when you mentioned that you had chosen Mabel she had said something like 'I can't believe it- we've chosen that too!'
If you love Mabel, I would go with it anyway but you may find that you prefer to think again and come up with something you love even more!
How about:

Elsie
Ivy
Iris
Beatrix
Margot
Cecily
Pearl
Ada
Violet
Flora
Agnes

These are all 'old lady chic' and pretty in the same style of Mabel.

She's a cheeky mare, how very dare she[grrr]

TBH if this had happened to me I wouldn't use Mabel (beautiful name as it is). Even though it's popular ATM I'd be paranoid about people assuming I was the one who'd copied from a friend...

How about Maeve? Has a similar feel IMO.

pmsl at the kick in fanjo with pointy shoes.

Its a toughie, it really depends if any other name comes up to scratch. tbh I would be gutted. And yes she should of told you she was using/considering name at the time.
When pg with dd didn't tell anyone, (well only one sister as the other would of told the world).

"Even though it's popular ATM" Mabel is at 900 in the Bounty name lists so not popular at all
that makes it even more more noticeable that she has copied, not like its a top 100 name like Matilda then you couldn't complain so much.

Oh I would be furious SAEJ. And it is all the more frustrating as you aren't allowed to complain about it openly as otherwise you will look petty. Grrrr.

carlacrispandeven - it's rising fast and I think it could well get into the top 20 in the next couple of years. I have seen it mentioned on here an awful lot recently, 'tis on my list too...

I would be absolutely fuming! If she had said that they were thinking along those lines too then fair enough I suppose but if she wasn't then tbh I think I'd have to say something to her because that isn't what good friends do to each other. Is her child likely to be in the same class at school as yours? If they'll be in different schools then I probably wouldn't mind so much (but I would still be annoyed with her and would tell everyone ) If you can find it in your heart to change your choice of Mabel then I'd go something along the lines of, "Oh we were going to go for that but it's too traditional/boring/whatever (delete as necessary) but we've gone for Maeve/Amebel/whatever because it's far more unique like our darling dd!! She certainly wouldn't be agood friend of mine, that's for sure.

From 900 to top 20 in a couple of years
I have an Esther and that's only risen a few places a year and people say it's getting popular.
Don't give up the day job

to you too

Take a look at this (you need to scroll down a we bit), the gray line shows the progress of one name through the top 1000. It definitely does happen...

Like I said, don't give up the day job

Did your friend tell you any of the names she was thining of calling her baby beforehand? If not perhaps she was thinking of mabel all along?

BTW the bounty name lists aren't very accurate. Martha is actually 84th most popular name of 2008. According the bounty it is 178

yes you are right to be peeved, you are not being childish

yes you are right to button it as you will seem petty

yes you are right to choose another name...there are lots of names with the same " feel" out there, as others have suggested

actully i prefer Maeve, Ava, Iris and Beatice

though i DO realise that's not the point

maybe you coudl look at it another way, perhaps Mabel is not the " right" name for your DD and this is God/fate/life's way of making you choose another name that will be prefect for her

I know I could pick another name - but I have been thinking of this LO as Mable for months now.

For those who ask - my friend did not make a mistake or choose the name by conincidence in fcat she even credits me - we saw her with other friends this wek and someone commented on it being a lovely name to which she replied 'Yes, clever Auntie Alex named her' (I am Auntie Alex) I did think this was a bit cheeky.

Even worse is that she has apologised for using the name - she brought the subject up - she said she just loved it when she heard me use it. I said it was fine - I don't want to make an issue of it but also added that I was still likely to call my LO Mable too. She then told me she thought that this was a bit cheeky!!!!!!!!!!

Very glad my DH arrived and very swwetly said that it was his family name and we had always intended to use it.

Grrrrrrrrr. . . .

that she now thinks you shouldn't use it after she stole it from you.

You should spell Mable [sic] properly if you use it though

Cheeky bint, she has nicked it off you knowing how happy you had choosen your dd name and now being brazen about it. That's one friendship you can really do without.

You can lend my pointy shoes for that big kick in the fanjo.

My sister has already ' bagged ' several names even though I am the producing one. She even has them on a board in her house. Makes me chuckle. To be honest they are all chavy though!

I thought of this thread when I was watching something on tv earlier, one of the presenters or whatever she was, was called Sybill. Has a mabelish ring to it!

didn't this happen on sex and the city too? oh, i forget that isn't actually real life but charlotte was peeved and you have a right to be too. I would stick with the same you want. in a few years time you may have lost touch with the other mabel.