My friend is expecting a baby boy in late [name_u]January[/name_u], but has one problem. Her dog has the same name as her future child! My friend and her DH likes the name, [name_u]Flynn[/name_u] [name_m]Aston[/name_m]. But their dog’s name is [name_u]Flynn[/name_u] too! What do you think? Is it too weird? Any name suggestions close to [name_u]Flynn[/name_u] [name_m]Aston[/name_m]?
Well…it’s not the worst thing ever, but there are so many options, why would they need the same one?! This is why my pets didn’t get any of my favourite human names. Can they swap and do [name_m]Aston[/name_m] [name_u]Flynn[/name_u]? Maybe [name_m]Finnegan[/name_m] or [name_u]Finlay[/name_u]?
They like the name [name_u]Ellis[/name_u] [name_m]Scott[/name_m], but they’re too hooked on [name_u]Flynn[/name_u] [name_m]Aston[/name_m] or [name_u]Flynn[/name_u] [name_m]Wilder[/name_m].
can they not just change their dogs name?
I’m pretty sure it will be hard to re train a dog another name.
[name_m]Aston[/name_m] [name_u]Flynn[/name_u]?
A dog lives for about 10 years, whereas she is going to pronounce the name of her kid for probably 50 years, if not more. I wanted to name my kid after my dog, but my tastes have changed. I will use it as a middle name maybe.
Sharing the same name is not a big deal, it is just going to be a problem when she calls “[name_u]Flynn[/name_u]”. Both are going to answer to the name. Now, the dog knows “[name_u]Flynn[/name_u]”, if they call him “Flynno”, 'Flynnian" or “Flynnius” he will normally answer to this name too, but the kid obviously will know that his mom did not call him 
However the reverse does not work. When she will call her son, the dog might also come. But is that a real issue? That’s for her to judge.
I don’t see any other problem.
I far prefer [name_u]Ellis[/name_u]. I think it’s very odd to have a child and dog with the same name. That could become confusing.
Yeah, while it’s not the end of the world, I would never do that to a child. [name_f]Nor[/name_f] would I want to have a name that was the name of my parents’ dog…
The whole idea seems far fetched. Who would want to name their child the same thing as their dog? Wouldn’t they already associate the name with their dog? I mean babies and dogs do both drool, poop, and pee in the house…but I think the established association with the pet would be a turn-off for future naming of a child.
Nope. I’m just not buying this.
Thank you so much for the words, guys! My friend thinks it’s cute that her dog and son share a name, but her hubby is still skeptical. So they’ve decided it’s either [name_u]Flynn[/name_u] [name_m]Aston[/name_m], [name_m]Aston[/name_m] [name_u]Flynn[/name_u], or [name_u]Ellis[/name_u] [name_m]Scott[/name_m].
They are the ones who chose the baby’s name so why are they so shocked it’s the same as their dog’s name?
I think it could work.
They’re not shocked by all means. They had the dog’s name in mind while choosing a name for the baby. They thought it was cute at first, but they think their kid might get remarks about his name being the same as his dog’s.
I think that’s super weird and would probably be really confusing for the dog. But it’s not your child, so if that’s what they want to do, whatever.
[name_m]Aston[/name_m] [name_u]Flynn[/name_u] is cute. I don’t think they should call him [name_u]Flynn[/name_u]. A dog is a member of the family and has its own identity. That name is now taken! Choose another name for the baby!
This will probably confuse the dog most of all. I wouldn’t recommend naming the child [name_u]Flynn[/name_u] or anything similar to it for that reason. On the other hand, using the pet’s name as the child’s middle is sweet and adorable (you get to honor your pet without any confusion since you won’t use his middle name to get the child’s attention), so [name_m]Aston[/name_m] [name_u]Flynn[/name_u] is great.
I think they have to make a slight change to either the planned baby name or the dog’s name. [name_u]Finn[/name_u] and [name_u]Flynn[/name_u], for example, could totally work. But to me, I couldn’t accept having a son and a dog with the same name at the same time.
If [name_u]Flynn[/name_u] is ABSOLUTELY their favorite name then they should use it on the kid, and change the dogs’ name slightly. If they start calling the dog [name_u]Lynn[/name_u] or [name_u]Finn[/name_u]…or Blinn, or something very similar, I don’t think it’s going to confuse the dog TOO much (though he will probably still come when they call their son if he’s a well-trained dog, but that’s not a big problem). But honestly, I think they need to have slightly different names just so that they don’t introduce “this is my son, [name_u]Flynn[/name_u], and our dog…also [name_u]Flynn[/name_u].” With the slightly different names, it could actually be a cute story though when they tell family and friends (and the vet!) about the dog’s new name. I think a lot of people have “accidentally” used their favorite name on a pet not realizing they might have a child within the pet’s lifetime, and I can see saying, “we had to change the dog’s name because we decided there was no other name we loved as much as [name_u]Flynn[/name_u] and we just had to use it for our son.”
I agree with the previous poster, too, that [name_u]Flynn[/name_u] could be used in the middle, even without changing the dog’s name.
I know a family that adopted a rescue dog that had the same name as a child in the family–so they changed the dog’s name to something one letter off (think [name_m]Johnny[/name_m] to [name_m]Donny[/name_m]) and as far as I know the dog hardly even noticed. Rescue dogs often get their names changed and they seem to adapt.
When my husband and I first started dating, we fostered a dog and named her [name_u]Ruby[/name_u], after the restaurant where we had our first date (The [name_u]Ruby[/name_u] Slipper). The dog was kind of a nightmare - she was sweet but she would not pee except in the house, she escaped constantly, chewed through walls, etc. Many years later we got pregnant with our daughter, and I really loved the name [name_u]Ruby[/name_u], both for the sound/meaning of the name and for the association with that first date. But we simply couldn’t overlook dog [name_u]Ruby[/name_u], despite the fact that we only had her for a few months many years ago.
So I personally would not do it. That said, if they really love the name far more than any other, I think they should go for it. As a PP pointed out, the child will live much longer than the dog, and they may regret not following their first choice. I would think they could change the dog’s name. It’s not ideal but I’d think it’s doable.