My cousin and his wife are expecting their fourth child in a few months and it seems to me that they haven’t got an original name in their heads! Their first son is named after my cousin’s father, [name]Christopher[/name], (my uncle) who passed away when we were kids. I can understand that. Their second son is a junior, named after my cousin himself. Their third son has the exact same name, [name]Issac[/name], as one of our other little cousins, who was born just a month before. And now, they’re expecting their fourth child, which they intend to name [name]Elijah[/name]. That’s my son’s name. And it BUGS me. Why can’t they find their owns names? Why name steal from others? Am I just being petty, or do I have an actual reason to be annoyed?
Wow.
As strange as it is to me, a name obsessed berrie, this couple might just be completely disinterested with the naming process!
They might think of this as a way to show administration to you or your child? They might just think, well, that namealways sounded nice enough tp me so I guess we’ll just use that!
I think you should speak up. If naming is done so without creativity & real interest they might be fine with letting it go. [name]Just[/name] suggest some alternatives since they seem to have trouble thinking them up!!
I think you’re blowing things out of proportion. Their first son is named after your cousin’s father and the second is named after your cousin, so they didn’t “steal” those names. They just used family names, nothing unusual or wrong about that. As for [name]Isaac[/name] and [name]Elijah[/name], those are both pretty common names these days (I know at least one baby named [name]Isaac[/name] and several named [name]Elijah[/name]/[name]Eli[/name]) so they probably liked those independently of them being used by other family members. You said that the other [name]Isaac[/name] in your family was born just a month before theirs so it’s possible that they had that name picked out for awhile and didn’t want to change it just because another cousin also used it. While it might bother some people if family/friends have a kid with the same name, they obviously don’t care so I wouldn’t bother them about it. Also, they might have liked both [name]Isaac[/name] and [name]Elijah[/name] for years and just decided not to let the fact that other family members used it first deter them (And honestly, if I liked a name, I wouldn’t let the fact that a cousin used it stop me from using it too. Especially if the name in question was a classic, common biblical name like the ones you’ve listed).
Pp@pansy might be right, but to me it sounds lazy. Maybe sound out their motives? If [name]Elijah[/name] really was on their list for awhile, fine. If not-- maybe suggest, berry-style, some similar biblical choices ([name]Caleb[/name], [name]Isaiah[/name], [name]Jared[/name], [name]Micah[/name], etc).
I don’t think you’re overreacting at all. Okay, their first two names are fine (if a little unimaginative), but people shouldn’t steal other parents’ names! I’d definitely be annoyed if someone close to me named their child the same name as my recently born child. For this reason, there are several names I accept as being off the table for me when my child is born (TTC atm) because they’ve already been used by cousins, friends, in laws, etc. I think you should speak up. Maybe give her a list of alternative names and just tell her you’re uncomfortable with her using your son’s name!
Wouldn’t personally use a name that’s already in use by a young family member, but maybe they just like the names. I mean, if someone in my family named their kids [name]Amaury[/name] (fat chance, but you get the picture), [name]Theo[/name], [name]Anna[/name] or [name]Ingrid[/name], I wouldn’t even blink when I name my own children that because I’ve loved them for so long and that’s just what my children’s gonna be called, maybe they’ve been feeling the same way.
Firstly, I desperately hope at least one set of parents involved named the kid [name]Isaac[/name] and not [name]Issac[/name].
[name]Elijah[/name] is in the Top 20, I don’t think you can be that defensive of names that popular. Nothing wrong at all with popular names (I quite like some) but I can’t really roam around annoyed other people like them too. They’ve always BEEN popular - all the names you’ve specified have been in the Top 1000 since 1880. Honestly, [name]Christopher[/name]/[name]Elijah[/name]/[name]Isaac[/name] are all very classic and anybody who picks them should know there’s going to be less than six steps to another one.
My “that’s stealing!” is some what inverse to the name’s popularity. [name]Ava[/name] cannot be stolen no matter how close or how many you know. [name]Amarantha[/name] is really hard to write off as “oh well I didn’t even THINK of little niece [name]Amarantha[/name]!”
That’s aside from the fact there’s nothing wrong with them wanting a junior or to name after the child’s grandfather even if it WERE [name]Bonaventure[/name] or something equally stands-out-as-copied.
@stripedsocks: yeah, I misspelled [name]Isaac[/name]. I’m a blonde 
And my cousin and I used to be close, but we’re not anymore. His wife (whom I’ve known since childhood) doesn’t like me or any of our family, so suggesting other names is out. She says that they’re using these names because they’re from the Bible. They are a very religious family and that’s part of the reason they don’t come around the rest of us, because we’re not “good enough”. It just seems so unoriginal and lazy to me. I know that there are a TON of other [name]Elijah[/name]'s out there, and its been a name I intended to use for my first son since I was 15 and fell in love with [name]Lord[/name] of the Rings (and [name]Elijah[/name] [name]Wood[/name]). I just wanted to kind of vent with other name nuts like myself and get some thoughts on it.
Yup. It’s odd.
I get why you think it’s weird. It really is kinda weird. The first two choices were unremarkable (one after a grandparent and the other a junior), but then to give the third the same name as a little cousin and then prepare to do the same thing all over again with the fourth…well, it does start to feel less like a coincidence and more like a pattern.
If you were close, I would lean toward thinking they’re just unimaginative “name poachers,” but you’re not close, and that changes things. I’m not close to my cousins, and I don’t care what they name their children. If I found out one of them used my favorite name, it wouldn’t stop me from using it myself. It doesn’t sound like your [name]Elijah[/name] and their [name]Elijah[/name] will end up spending much time together. In your shoes, I’d really just try to shrug it off.
I can understand your annoyance, but in general it’s up to them though regardless if you say something or not they still might use it. I used to get upset at people liking my names but now I just think it’s ok now because at least someone would be out there with name I love.