Would you use a friend's child's middle name?

General Name Discussion
1

See the results of this poll: Would you consider using another child’s middle name?

Respondents: 46 (This poll is closed)

  • Sure, why not!? It’s only their middle name after all. : 42 (91%)
  • No way! It’s taken.: 4 (9%)
2

I think middle names are fair game! [name_m]Even[/name_m] in my family we don’t worry so much about middle names.

3

Why not? My best friends in high school had great middle names ([name_f]Caroline[/name_f] and [name_f]Lorraine[/name_f]) and I would use them in a heartbeat.

4

Hell, I’d use a friend’s child’s first name! No one owns names.

5

This response has made me very happy. Thank you all!

6

it depend, if i had loved the name for ages- eg. i’d loved the name [name_m]Tom[/name_m] because it was my favourite book character’s name or i saw it on nameberry. then friend calls son [name_m]Charles[/name_m] [name_m]Tom[/name_m], i would still use it because i liked it previously from somewhere else. But if i saw [name_m]Charles[/name_m] [name_m]Tom[/name_m]'s birth announcement on facebook and thought [name_m]Tom[/name_m] was a really cool name which i hadn’t considered before i wouldn’t take it because i wouldn’t want to be a name thief.
it also depends on popularity of the name eg. if [name_f]Charle[/name_f]'s middle name was Iskander or something else unusual i would hesitate to use it unless the friend and i both had a reason to use it like honouring someone special. But since [name_m]Tom[/name_m] is pretty common i wouldn’t worry.
it would also depend on how close the friend and i were. If they were a college buddy who lived quite far away and i didn’t se all that often it might be less of a problem than if we were BEST friends.
I would also ask the friend how they felt about me using the name. If they were okay with it then yay!-go ahead but if they told me the name had a lot of significance to them and they would prefer i didn’t use it then i would respect their wishes. I’d put myself in their shoes and see how i would feel about my friend ‘taking’ my baby name. And i would think about what is most important to me- using the name i like or preserving that friendship. I absolutely would not use the name without the friends say so or ‘do it behind their back’

8

I’d tell them I loved the name and ask them if it was okay to use. I imagine the answer will be Yes! If someone wanted to use my daughters middle name I’d be totally thrilled. I can’t imagine anyone having an issue with it.