Continuing the discussion from Hot Takes? 
:
Because it comes up repeatedly in the Hot Takes thread, why not just create a separate topic where everyone can share their views (or copy their text from the other thread if they want to) and itâs all in one place.
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I think it would depend entirely on the names being used. If they were common names, I could see quite a few people coming up with the same combos (believe me, when you looked at my high school by class, you would think all these parents sat down together â prior to the internet and email â and planned out the exact same combos even though most didnât meet each other until their children went to school together). On the other hand, if the names were less common, especially in your area, pulling a combo from someone else should have some form of acknowledgement to it.
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i have no problem with it; i donât take other peopleâs combos because it seems to be protocol but if anyone wants to borrow mine they can go right ahead. itâs maybe a little stranger if there is already a living kid with that name, but even so, if you donât live in the same area, who cares? also, if i had met someone with my exact first and middle name as a kid, i would have thought that was awesome!
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I agree with @shells15! I wouldnât be surprised or upset to see another user with any of my combos, because I tend to gravitate towards well-known names.
However, with rarer names, especially when both names in the combo are uncommon, I think itâs less likely multiple people will separately come up with that combo, and I can see why somebody would be upset if another user randomly put one of their combos in their UC or claimed it as their own with no acknowledgement. Of course this could still happen coincidentally, I just think itâs less likely and I understand why someone might feel like their combo is special to them when itâs theirs alone.
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Like I said on the Hot Takes thread, I would be terribly upset if someone were to put one of my combos on their UC.
I donât mind people appreciating my names, but many of my names hold vast significance to me. If someone were to take one of my combos, say Mari Driftwood (especially with the intent of using it for a child, since it is also my top name for a future daughter) I would be heartbroken.
I donât think someone can have âownershipâ of a name, but unique name combos I feel are different. They arenât your average name combo, so if someone were to put it in their UC, it does infact, feel like stealing due to it being uncommon.
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I generally donât put a combo on my UC if I know it belongs to someone else, but at the same time I generally wouldnât mind if someone had the same combo as me.
That being said, if someone put the exact same combo that I have under the âMy [name_u]Future[/name_u] Childrenâ section of my user card, I would be annoyed. It isnât the end of the world, but as I have that combo on there with the intention of using it for a child AND having specifically stated so, in addition to the amount of honours those combos contain, it would tick me off a bit for someone to use it without the same significance as it has for me.
I can completely understood the views of someone like @halinka and if I was in a similar position, it would feel like stealing. On the other hand I can also agree with those who pay this no heed.
I donât think you can âownâ a combo, but there are definitely some that scream of a certain user, for example not tagging in case the users donât wish to be part of the discussion Seawillowâs [name_f]Hallelujah[/name_f] [name_f]Liv[/name_f] or EllieWilburyâs Radu 'Imi [name_u]Ola[/name_u] and I would think of them if I saw this particular combo.
I think I would only have an issue if the name/s in question were rare and/or extremely meaningful, but if someone else came up with, say, [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] [name_f]Scarlet[/name_f], I would congratulate them on their good taste rather than having an issue with them also having this combo as one of their own.
Ultimately, I know peopleâs views widely differ on this topic, so I will continue to respect those who craft their combos with rare, significant names by not putting a combo I have seen elsewhere on my UC. Iâd prefer to not have a name on it than risk upsetting someone for whom this is a big deal.
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Iâve already said this in the Hot takes thread once, but: I can understand people being upset about someone else using one of their comboâs, especially if itâs one that has special significance to them. On the other hand, it also depends on the name. [name_u]Robert[/name_u] [name_u]James[/name_u], for example, is more likely to be used by several people than [name_f]Mari[/name_f] Driftwood. So I agree with @halinka on that, unique combos are different.
For me personally, I think I would be very surprised to see one of my combos in someone elseâs UC because I have a rather distinctive taste. I donât think the chances of someone else using Robichaux [name_u]Meridian[/name_u] are very high.
I would be upset however if someone put one of my childrenâs names in their UC, but again: the chances of someone else wanting to use [name_m]Endymion[/name_m] Zakynthos for example are very slim.
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Ok I just wrote this on hot takes but just spotted this so Iâll put it here too:
âIâm not sure this belongs here and I donât want to rehash stuff but just wanted to say after seeing peopleâs quite strong emotions - Iâd never duplicate someoneâs combo on purpose but if anyone ever spots that I have done so inadvertently on my UC (or when mentioning a new combo) - please donât sit on it, just message me and I will remove it. Donât want to upset anyone. That is all.â
Also I swear I saw a thread somewhere where you could write a name you had in mind but had a feeling you mightâve seen it somewhere before, just to check youâre not stealing it from anyone - if that makes sense. Canât find anything like that now though, so am I imagining it!?!
I donât personally have an issue with people using most of the combos in my UC, because most of them are made of, if not common names, names that are well known enough on Nameberry.
I think it all depends on the person and the names, really. There are a few combos I have that Iâd feel kind of weird about other people using.
These are my responses to it, copy & pasted. If you want more context, you can go check the thread.
i feel opposite and i hope this can explain why me and so many others do.
no matter what age you are when you are on nameberry you are creating possible names for your children (not all berries but probably most of them.) you will notice most people on nameberry donât like common names and them becoming a namenerd was to get away from those common names (olivia, ava, mia, noah etc.) so, when they are making combos they are making them with the hope that it will be entirely and utterly unique. if someone takes that combo it can ruin it.
now, to speak on the coming up with the same combo thing. yes, a combo like Bea Louise would be quite an âeasyâ one to come up with and it could be remade. but, i know if i saw the combo Hyacinth Clover Elain somewhere other than where i put it i would almost positively know it was stolen.
however, i donât think that you canât do this. i believe if you see a combo that somebody else has made, you could message them and say âhey! i love this combo, would it be okay if i could put this on my list/uc?â and i think they have every right to say no. but, if they say yes, do it! i think itâs almost something like a small company takes this design that they spent hours-days even-creating and puts it up on their website to sell/to show and another company comes and steals the exact design. and itâs almost like this with teenberries too. small company (teenager) sells this cute shirt on their website (shows combo they love!) itâs $25.00 because it is hand-stitched (they are farther away from having kids therefore are in more danger of the name getting stolen.) oh, big company (adult) with a manufacturer (with a partner/ttc) steals exact design and sells it for $15.00 (names their kid it.) now, the teens name has been stolen and used before they could even think about using it irl.
Personally, I donât agree with this. I donât think you are wrong for not minding if someone takes a combination youâve made but, I would take it personally and be very upset. Thatâs just my nature. If you get the combo from me please give me credit and ask to use it. I work hard on combos. They are what I want to name my future children. And if someone stole that and used it before I could, I would be pissed off. So, I think unless someone flat out says âtake my combos freeâ I would never do it. And, I expect the same respect.
I wouldnât mind. [name_f]My[/name_f] names are special to me but at the same time, names are there for everyone to use and a combo is two just put together -i dont feel I can stop someone doing that
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Umm⌠giving credit for combos??? Ridiculous!
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I donât really mind. I mean the likelihood of my combos being used by someone in the same school district as me are pretty slim so I donât see a problem if there was another child somewhere in the world whoâs parents loved the names together as much as I do. However, I do know I share a combo with someone on this site - [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] [name_u]Robin[/name_u], which is completely coincidental. But again I donât know anyone on this site in real life so it doesnât really bother me
I think some people ask about this in the quick poll thread!
Personally, I think it would bother me more with some combos/names than it would with others, but at the same time none of them feel completely set in stone, only the single names themselves.
Iâm actually happy when combos that are only in my UC for show (as in, I like them but canât use them) are considered more seriously by other people.
I also think that unless youâre going to have a child soon, the possibility of your favourites changing - yes even those very meaningful combos, is relatively great. So why forbid someone from naming their child the combo right now (even if they came up with it separately) when you may never get to use it?!
That being said, I donât think itâs necessary to ask, but itâs always nice when someone tells you they discovered a new name because you mentioned it!
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It would not bother me at all. But Iâm also not naming someone or planning to, so to me my favorite names are just two-word poems. And I know this isnât everyoneâs approach to names but I feel like if two people love the same name, itâs a form of self expression for both of them, and both should feel free to use the name here. I canât imagine a scenario where someone would use a combo for any other reason except loving it, just because of the culture of this website.
This is more of an ideal situation though and I wonât use othersâ combos knowing that some people are upset by this. I do wish the culture here was a little more lenient about this but I think respect for other users should be prioritized.
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To me, another user âhavingâ the same combo wouldnât be a problem at all.
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The first names I like usually happen to be pretty common on Nameberry and the middle names Iâd actually use are honors in one way or another. So if someone shared the same combo as me Iâd assume it was a coincidence and not a big deal.
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I would be more annoyed if someone I knew in real life used one of my kidsâ names than people on the internet who probably donât live anywhere near me. I chose my kidsâ names because I didnât want them sharing a name with a bunch of other kids. I only know of one person from my church who used [name_f]Noemi[/name_f] as her daughterâs middle name, but thatâs because her mom was named [name_f]Noemi[/name_f]. In that case, itâs completely different because itâs a name that was important to her before I used the name for my daughter.
I donât have a UC, but if I did, I wouldnât care if someone else liked the same names as I did.
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I just donât see people as owning names. If my best friend used exactly the same combo as me after Iâd had an actual physical child that would be⌠well, weird. But combos arenât real people and getting in relationships has taught me that thereâs every likelihood they never will be real people because a second person being involved in the naming inevitably changes things.
I guess I just see people as coming here for inspo. Is it necessarily in best taste to lift an entire combo? No, of course not, but Iâm almost certainly never going to meet them, theyâll have no bearing on my real life. I avoid using exactly the same combo as someone else but itâs also a possibility I could do so by accident. Câest la vie, I donât have time for internet drama. Think Iâve mellowed in my old age. If you fancy my crusty old man pope names, go for it, someone needs to use them and it wonât be me if my boyfriend has his way.
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