Is this name stealing?

Many years ago I vaugly remember a woman who at that time was a close friend saying she wanted to name her someday son her maiden name. She has one daughter but no sons yet. She has not used the name.

Now I am having a girl and would like to name our daughter this name. It would be unusual on a girl, although the name itself is not unusual.
Sadly, I am no longer friends with this woman. We have some mutual friends and are “facebook” friends. But we have had no contact for 5 years and a somewhat of a bitter friendship breakup.

My husband and I really love this name. As we are no longer friends and our kids will never meet, it seems ok to use the name. Also, it is a fairly common last name (just not a common first one), so it’s not like she made up a name which I stole. And I have no idea if she would still name a hypothetical future son this name, as she expressed this desire 7 years ago.

Is it ok to name my daughter this name? I feel guilty but can’t decide if this is wrong.

Seems like a safe situation to me

I wouldn’t use it since it will always be attached to your ex friend. Honestly, I think it would be a bit of a reminder of a friendship that ended badly. She will probably think you did it out of spite and that will start more drama with mutual friends having to be in the middle. Plus, are you sure you will truly NEVER be friends again?? Things might change down the road, and you might become close again, and it would be weird if the baby had her child’s name. If you are going to go through with it, which I don’t advise, then I say drop her from your facebook friend’s list as well. At least that way she won’t have to go through the drama of seeing your updates about your baby in her mini feed. All ties should be cut in order to prevent drama. Besides, if you feel like the friendship is beyond repair, why even keep her as a Facebook friend to begin with??

I think the only weird part about this is that you would be naming your daughter your ex-friend’s maiden name. That’s right, isn’t it? If it were just a name she liked, I wouldn’t find anything odd about this at all and I’d tell you to go ahead and name your child this name. But, your ex-friend’s maiden name must certainly hold some sort of connection to said ex-friend still, right? If not, and it really wouldn’t bug you to call your child by her - the ex-friend, that is - maiden name, then I say go for it. Some people fall out of your life - at that point, they really should have no sway over what you name your child. Good luck!

[name]Lemon[/name] :slight_smile: