Mum reacts to finding out her friend copied her baby name

"It's even the exact same spelling," she lamented, before hundreds of commenters told her she was overreacting. What do you think?

Naming a child is a decision fraught with personal meaning and significance, and occasionally, drama. 

Recently, a post in the Sydney Mums Group sparked a lively discussion after a mum shared that her close friend named her baby the same name as her child. 

The post read: "I’m very annoyed because a very close friend of mine named their child the same name as my child, with the exact same spelling."

She asked the group, "Do I have every right to be annoyed or do I need to get over it?"

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"Get over your pride and move on"

Responses quickly rolled in, with most telling the mum to simply "get over it."

One commenter got straight to the point, saying, "Seriously? This is an issue? Wow, please find a way to get over your pride and move on."

Another echoed this sentiment and told the mum: "Your child has a namesake. I would consider it a huge compliment."

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Then some took a more critical stance towards the OP, with one person saying, "You're not really her close friend if her naming her child the same name as your kid annoys you."

And someone else pointed out that there could be a silver lining to it all - "The children will love that they share the same name and when older and can play with it as teens and adults. There's no harm done."

Meanwhile, someone else weighed in: "I think if you're pregnant at the same time and give birth, I would be really annoyed but if your child is two or older, then it shouldn't matter as you don't own a name and she doesn't need your approval."

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"It's not about owning a name, it's about common courtesy"

However, not everyone was against the mum. "Nah, that would bother me a lot, especially because you're close," sympathised one commenter. "I would definitely be upset about that if she didn't bother letting you know that was her intention."

And another woman took issue with people telling the mum she doesn't 'own' a name - "No she doesn't own the name, but it's not about owning the name. It's about common courtesy. Is common courtesy lost? I feel for you, I hate people who feel the need to copy and not even have the decency to approach you about it especially when it's such a close friend."

Meanwhile, others suggested that the friend purposely didn't mention it to the mum beforehand because she knew what she was doing was a "sly move."

Finally, this mum found the middle ground and said: "Being annoyed is valid if you put a lot of effort into finding a unique name but expressing your annoyance to the friend would make the naming of their child about you in a way.

"So it's best to just try and forgive and forget. Also, it's sweet that they liked it so much, but personally, I would be more weirded out than annoyed."

This article was published in December 2023 and was updated in April 2024. 

Originally published as Mum reacts to finding out her friend copied her baby name