This new Mum was devastated to find out that her niece had given her baby the same name as her four week old daughter – but is she being unreasonable?
Posting on the online parent’s forum Mumsnet, one frustrated Mum has told of how she was incredibly hurt to discover that her niece had chosen the same name she had given her daughter for her own baby, just four weeks after giving birth prematurely.
Every Right To Be Upset
The new Mum explained that she feels ‘hurt’ by her niece’s decision, even though she used a shortened version of the name.
“My daughter was born four weeks ago (still in hospital) as she arrived premature. Niece gave birth yesterday morning and named (her daughter) the same name (although I’m putting a longer version on the birth certificate). I’m a bit hurt to be honest – am I being unreasonable?” she wrote on the forum.
While many were quick to jump to the Mum’s defence, “that’s a ridiculous thing to do, I’d be really cross,” some were quick to point out that her niece’s intentions were more than likely not malicious, “if your daughter was prem your niece would probably have used the name before your daughter was born term, and had probably picked it out ages ago.”
Let It Go
One comment on the forum encouraged the Mum to simply ‘let it go.’
“They didn’t know you planned to use the same name; you didn’t know they’d planned to use the name. Are you really going to tell me you’d happily shrug and hit the baby name lists again? Or would you go with the name you had picked out, thought about, practiced saying in your head….? Let it go.”
This is a tricky one. On one hand, we can understand the Mum’s frustration as a name is something you hope your child won’t have to share within their own family.
Unfortunately, particularly in the case of popular names, it becomes increasingly unlikely that they will be unique, and let’s face it, once they go to school they’ll be faced with four Olivia’s, a couple of Jack’s and a handful of Isabella’s…the only way to handle it is to choose to see it as a compliment. After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Do you think the new Mum had the right to be upset or is she overreacting? Tell us in the comments.
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