I was talking about this with a friend the other day who said that before she was pregnant, she told her sister-in-law the name that she planned to call her future daughter and then her sister-in-law got pregnant and stole her name and used it for her daughter!! So it got me thinking, has anyone ever stolen a name from you? A friend? A family member? Has a celebrity ever used one of your favourite names? (this one has happened to me) did you confront them about it or say nothing?
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Omg yes when [name_f]Chrissy[/name_f] used [name_f]Luna[/name_f] I was so annoyed, itās quite popular nowā¹ļø.
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Ugh yes this is so annoying. Iāll never tell anyone what names we plan on using for future babes for this exact reason!
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Whenever Iām taking to my friends about names and they ask me my favourites I always give them names I love but wouldnāt use, would NEVER give away my favourites!!
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Totally my opinion, but I think aside from a small number of cases (full combos with unique names being used by family or friends) names canāt really be stolen.
Donāt get me wrong, Iād be devastated if someone used our top choices but we all come across our āfavouritesā somewhere - whether thatās through suggestions by friends or family, pop culture, Nameberry, etc. I know some names I overhear Im instantly obsessed with, and you never know if the people who you tell will have that same reaction to the names youāve picked.
Having said that, Iāve only mentioned my top choices to my sister who is pregnant as well, as we have a very similar style and could potentially end up naming our kids the same thing by accident. Everyone else will find out when the baby is born 
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If you specifically told someone this is your name and they never mentioned (read asked) that they would like to use it, or something very similar to it, they stole it. Point blank.
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Iāve shared this before, but I was really disappointed when [name_f]Meghan[/name_f] Markle named her baby [name_m]Archie[/name_m], since [name_u]Archer[/name_u] is my favorite boyās name.
I actually get worried about āstealingā someoneās baby name. For example, my cousin recently had a baby named [name_f]Rosie[/name_f], and I was bummed thinking that I might not be able to use the name [name_f]Rose[/name_f] as a first name. [name_f]My[/name_f] mom said it doesnāt really matter since my future [name_f]Rose[/name_f] (nn [name_f]Rosie[/name_f]) and her [name_f]Rosie[/name_f] would probably never meet, and they would have different last names anyway.
Usually, when I see a friend/ family member/ acquaintance use a name, I decide that I shouldnāt use it so I donāt look like Iām copying.
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While pregnant with her first child, my sister decided on a somewhat popular first name and selected our grandmotherās maiden name for the middle. The middle name is not normally a given name and has never ranked within the top 1000. She made the mistake of telling everyone her name choice well before the baby was born. Her sister-in-law (husbandās brotherās wife) had her son about a month before my nephew was born and stole the entire name, never mind the fact that the middle name is an honor name for someone she isnāt related to and has never met. And she had the audacity to say it was a ācoincidence.ā Ultimately my sister decided to keep the name because she really loved it, but she was pretty angry. And now my nephew has the same first, middle, and last name as his cousin who is a month older than him.
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Oh my gosh Iād be so mad if someone did this to me!! 
I wouldnāt tell people the name of my baby before he/she is born for this reason.
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Crazy how people just blatantly steal someoneās ideas, if I was your sister Iād be sooo mad and kind of hurt.
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If that happened to me, the rational, calmer side of me would be upset, and leave it at that. The angry, not-so-calm side would post all over social media what she did. And always bring it up in the family. And get into a huge argument with her over it. I wouldnāt be so mean like that though, but itād be tempting to.
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Nah, not really. I make it very clear that people are not to steal names from me. I can be pretty scary, so nobody ever has lol
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Not to me, but to my mom! (And by my mom) So I have an older sister named [name_f]Lauren[/name_f]. [name_f]My[/name_f] mom wanted to name her daughter [name_f]Lauren[/name_f] for years, pretty much since she was a kid and loved [name_f]Laura[/name_f] Ingles [name_u]Wilder[/name_u]. So my mom and a family friend were pregnant at the same time. Mind you this was in the 90s so [name_f]Lauren[/name_f] was a top 20 name, but I digress. So family friend announces that she thinks sheāll name her baby [name_f]Lauren[/name_f]! [name_f]My[/name_f] mom is not having it. FF is due a few months after Mom, so Mom names OS [name_f]Lauren[/name_f]. But my mom mentioned, at least she says she had, that she loved the name [name_f]Sarah[/name_f], and was considering that for the next kid Iād it was a girl. A couple months later? FF has a baby, named what? [name_f]Sarah[/name_f] of course! That wouldāve been my name if not for that incident. Ended up being named [name_f]Alicia[/name_f], but weird to think I almost wasnāt.
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@max1035 what an awful situation! I really feel that one, I would have been pissed!
As for me, I fell in love with a popular name, [name_m]Isaac[/name_m]ā¦ and of course a friend ended up taking the name.
What really hurts is that my partner and I have been together for almost 10years, and alot of our friend group has gotten married before us, within a shorter amount of time to their partnersā¦ so in other ways I feel robbed from experiences and also baby namingā¦ especially since one of my favorite names were picked. Iām always on pins and needles when a friend/family member announces theyāre pregnant because I worry another name will be taken. All my other names are very unique too, so if I had to try finding another name to compete with it, it would be veryyy hard!!!
My partner thinks Iām overthinking the whole situation and just need to use names regardlessā¦but I wouldnāt feel right about it! Or I would associate THAT name to THAT couple all the time, and not to my own childā¦ If that makes senseā¦
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My bother in law just tried to steal my baby name. Iām 8 months pregnant and weāve named this baby girl [name_f]Cora[/name_f] - legally even because weāve already registered her for baptism (covid related necessity). I told BIL her name in conversation (and everyone in the family knows her name) and the other day he presented the name to his wife who is also pregnant, but only 14 weeks as a great name for their daughter that he came up with all on his own. Are you kidding me?
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I made up my first list 15+ years ago. I forgot about it after awhile (as it kept getting boxed up when I moved multiple times), and when asked I gave another potential boyās name for my future son ([name_m]William[/name_m] [name_m]Wesley[/name_m] ā I wonāt be using that one now anyway). I found it again a couple of years ago, and at the top of the list was one nameā¦ Br@yden. [name_f]My[/name_f] brother had a son 5 years ago now. His nameā¦ Br@eden. I still love it, but I have since found other names I would rather use, but I get a kick out of how much my brother and I think alike.
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Yeah a co worker named her son Zachary for her baby she had in August. She didnāt have a name planned at the time. I told her my name ( I was due in October) and then lo and behold she used it for her sonā¦
All my work colleagues were like oh another Zacharyā¦ And I was like noā¦ I had his name planned from 3 monthsā¦
I think itās quite sly to use another personās name
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Itās never happened to me, but Iāve never told anyone the name weāve chosen before the birth announcement. Not even family or close friends. The only people who know the name weāre going to use is me and my SO.
Our naming style is rather uncommon, so the chances of someone we know very well picking the name weād planned on using are very slim anyway. I do have a family member in Iceland who named her third son Hjƶrtur while it was on the top of my list for my oldest, but we live in different countries and I hardly ever see her and her sons. Hjƶrtur also isnāt very uncommon in Iceland.
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Still name your daughter [name_f]Cora[/name_f] and just announce to the entire family that youāve already legally named her that and it was your name in the first place! I would be so mad!!
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Hahah. We are! Luckily my SIL (husbandās sister) told him that we already claimed that name. Itās just such a male thing to take someone elseās idea and present it as your own. Best part, he didnāt like the name when I told him we were using it. 
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