So my neighbor is pregnant with a boy and she recently asked me if Steve and I would be mad if they named him Clyde. My response was" Clyde is a good name" and said nothing else. She then asked again a couple days later she asked again and I said "as long as you are comfortable knowing our Clyde is the real one." Her asking me evoked a feeling of possessiveness. I wanted to say no I would not feel comfortable with you guys naming your son Clyde please find another name. So I ask you readers how do you feel about it? Do you think I am being silly? Before you answer that please read my reasons why I did not grant her permission. Also if you do want to name your child a name thats already been used by someone you frequently interact with what is protocol? Do you ask for permission? If who you ask says they aren't that happy with it, do you then respect their wishes? Well I am going to answer those questions I have posed and feel free to agree and/or disagree with me.
1. Here is some background on me. My name is Jill. I enjoyed growing up having a well known name that no one else ever had so there sparked my desire to do the same for my own Children.
2. For me when someone I know uses a name I automatically take if off my list for use. So I find it odd when people do not do the same.
3. I have a sister named Julie I also have a first cousin named Julie. Growing up it just never sat right with me.
Okay so not far into this obnoxious rant I realized something, I am possessive of the name June and Clyde. When I was pregnant with June before we knew the sex I had a dream I was having a girl and that her name was to be June. It felt (silly as it might seem) like a spiritual experience, something divine bestowed a name on my Baby Girl. With Clyde, the same thing only Steve wanted to name Clara, Clyde only she was a dainty girl. So when I was pregnant with Clyde I knew it was a boy (but not sure I wanted to name him Clyde) I had a dream one night there was a little blond haired boy running around the house and I was calling him Clyde. So there it is If you want to name your daughter Clara go ahead I chose her name from a baby book in the hospital. If you want to name your daughter June or your son Clyde and we are good friends. Just let me know ahead of time. I will be able to come to terms with it. I know I am not the inventor of those names, just a neurotic mom with a lot of bigger issues I prefer to avoid and instead focus on the unimportant ones. Thanks for your time.
9 comments:
jill i TOTALLY understand this. when i named tristan there weren't a lot of tristans around and then they all started comming out of the wood works. someone in the brea 3rd ward asked if it was ok for them to name their son tristan. the only reason i didn't care was because we lived in the same appt. complex and i knew that eventually we wouldn't be in the same ward because who lives in an appt. forever?
jenna is GREAT for me, i have only ever met one other jenna.
tatum was great cause no one in california had heard of it and they thought it was different and fun...then i moved to AZ where everyone knows a tatum/has one in their family. so much for being original.
and then sweet little addie. she was named after my grandma (adelaide) EVERYONE here has an addison and they are called addie. so naturaly people say, "oh is that short for addison"? i HATE that.
i understand you completely, i would be bugged, especialy because you are neighbors and there is no sign of either of you going anywhere. it's just a little weird. :)
sorry, i didn't mean to put a whole blog post on your blog. :)
in my favorite baby names book, "the baby name wizard," it's says first come first served. so there you go. no calling dibs on names, but once you've used it, it's yours.
ps. kinda funny- we almost named wendy june, but we didn't know any wendys & june was taken.
Hmmmm. I had a cousin name her baby Gavin. But she lives in Utah and we don't really know each other. I had another cousin name her baby Sydney only months after another cousin had named HER baby Sydney. Oh the talk. I personally was appalled and hope neither cousin knows you or reads your blog. Especially your comments. But it's true. The whispering that was tittering around the family was this- Oh the nerve! Can you believe her? She said she was naming the baby Faith.
So I guess that's my answer.
Did they like the name Clyde because of your Clyde or was it one they always had in mind? Because that always stinks when you love a name and someone gets to it first. Happened with Whitley. She would have been a Halle. But sister got to it first. But you notice I DID pick another name,.
There are tons of boy names. Why choose your neighbors? That's my question.
Oh, confession, Gavin got his name from a little boy I used to teach swimming lessons to, actually it was his little brother, Gavin was the little brother to my student Mac, another adorable boy name, and I saw Gavin pee in his bushes once during one of Macs swim lessons and he was totally naked and I thought if I ever have a boy I hope he will roam naked in the yard and pee in bushes and I shall name him Gavin after that precious little elf. So I did. And my Gavin did run around naked and pee, and occasionally poop, in bushes too. When he was little. So I was a name stealer. But the original Gavin lives in Fresno, I cant remember his last name, couldn't pick him out of crowd and he's probably like 20 by now. It's more like I named him after him. That's exceptable. Right? Maybe they want to name Clyde after Clyde. Is that pushing it?
Yeah. At least a ten year age difference?
Truth is- I would be bummed. I would probably move. To maybe Norco or something. Maybe around the Demke's who would never dream of stealing a baby name.
That was awfully long. Sorry.
Hi Jill, I can understand your reasons:) I think wait and see if the kid is cute before you get bothered if he's a nightmare kid then you'll be bummed if he is super cute like Clyde you might think it's ok that way she won't slander Clydes name and everyone knows you had the first Clyde. Also keep in mind you and your family are so cute and stylish she probably admires you and thinks Clyde is too cute. I know I act and think a little crazy when I'm prego I am embarrassed later for some things I do and say-yikes! So give her the benefit of the doubt I say.
I didn't name steal from anyone but alot of people have asked to use JJ's name and I feel honored because they used it because of how sweet and cute she is. Now if your neighbor is a crazy freakish woman like Hedie from single white female -MOVE LOL Take care
-Tammy
The Jill and Steve Berrett family are trendsetters. Because you're stylish, and all of your kids are so cute, she probably thinks that she will automatically turn stylish and have cute trendsetting kids too (if she steals the name). If they weren't cute, nobody would want to steal his name. so i guess its sort of a compliment..but its still annoying and i think you should stand your ground.
I understand your frustration. We gave our baby a very quirky, made up first name, and now it seems like everyone I talk to knows someone who knows someone with his name. ugh
I definitely agree with you! Right after Jaxon was born, a woman in my ward found out she was having a boy. She told me she loved the name and the spelling. I told her I love that no one I know has it. She asked if she could name her son Jaxton. I just said,"Whatever" in a rude way hoping she would catch my anger. Well, her son is born and his name is Jaxon. Exact same as my Jaxon. I get so angry everytime I think of it I want to spit. Honest. Matt says I need to calm down, but I can't. Really? YOu can't find another name to use? Is she not creative enough? Every time I look at her blog, I want to leave an comment saying that her Jaxon is not the real Jaxon. I know I didn't come u p with the name, but no one else around that we knew had it. Sorry for the long comment.
I do whatever I want all the time. Ruth and I like the same girl name and I am still going to use it because I liked it before I knew she like it.
With Jack's name, I feel really possessive over it because my dad's name is Jack, his dad's name is Jack and his dad's name is Jack. So I feel like I have rights to that name. I used it because there was major family background and not because I thought it was cute.
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