Naming Etiquette

[greengecko]

I wouldn't use a name that a close friend had used for their child. But how far do you take this? Is it acceptable to use a name that a work colleague or an acquaintance has used recently? The names I like all seem to have been used recently by someone I know. Does this matter? For the record, some of the names I like are Jacob or Elliot for a boy, and Matilda for a girl. Any other similar names I could use?

I think it depends how you feel about it. If you were really worried about it, could you ask the people who have chosen the name 'first' ?

I have a similar dilemma - one of our possible boy's names is the name of one of my nct group (from first child)'s second child (not sure that makes sense but hopefully you get me). We have been umming and aahing for that reason when in reality we only see them once a year around the birthdays of our DCs. Funnily enough another nct group member has just had a baby and named him after the same person's first child (and they actually live v. close and see more of each other). This has made me think its probably ok for us to use it.

ellis,elija,boy. tilly,milly,martha,girl.

If we have a boy it's called Charlie but a girl who I work with has a little boy called Charlie but I asked her if she would mind if I pinch it and she was more than happy for me to have use it.
I think it does depend how close u r and whether your children would mix together.
Instead of Jacob u could have Jake? I prefer Jacob tho.
U could have Eli instead of Elliot? I know a little boy called Eli and he is lovely!
Can't really think of any names which are similar to Matilda sorry.

and i think u should use the one u like and dont worry about any one else its not as though u r steeling it from someone who is pregnant at the same time and there r other kids called it and u will prob have a nick name any way .

Well, one of my oldest friends has 2 DCs, a DS 10 and a DD 8. I have a DD 10 and a DS 3.5 - the girls have the same name and so do the boys!!! We both loved the names and agreed it would be mad not to use the names we liked.

We do live 100 miles apart though - maybe that's what makes the difference?

I think if it is a close enough friendship that you and your children will be socialising together frequently, you should exercise caution (though even then I wouldn't rule it out). If it's somebody where your children will never or rarely meet each other, I think it's ridiculous to treat name as property. There are almost no original names, after all. They're all 'nicked' off somebody.

I did give my dd a name perilously close to that of my best friend's dd. It wasn't great. But it was honestly the only name me and dp could agree on, the girls will not go to school together, and I can't imagine it will ever bother THEM. My bf felt a little odd about it but gave me the go-ahead. We do get the girls' names confused a lot, but it's just not a big issue.

DS (5 months) has the same name as the DS (5 yrs) of a very close collegue. For both of us it is a family name, and I was not influence by my collegue's DS. Shortly before I went on mat leave, I told him that if the baby was a boy, then this is what we were calling him. He was not bothered at all, and joked that great minds think alike.

I think if it's somebody in your office and the name is very unusual then you should avoid it (or people will think you copied and that you have no imagination. If you can live with that perhaps it doesn't really matter).

If the name is in the top 10-15 then that is just statistically likely, so they have no gripe, and no reason to suspect anybody of copying them.

I thought about using Lydia and didn't because my cousin who lives in a different country has one. I have a lot of cousins, and he can never remember what my children are called! but still, glad I didn't use it. He got it first.

Wheelybug, lol at the name being used by somebody from your nhs group from your first child for their second child! sounds montypythonesque but I understand.