Internet Supports Mom Who Says Sister ‘Stole’ Her Baby Name

For many mothers-to-be, selecting a baby name is one of the most important parts of the process. So what should be done when someone close to you chooses the very name you have already picked?

One Mumsnet user shared her situation to the popular forum asking for advice after her sister chose a baby name incredibly similar to the one she had previously told her she wanted to use.

“I told my sister a few months back that I really liked the name Judah for a boy. We were both expecting boys but she was dead set on calling her baby boy River so I thought I was on safe ground telling her my choice,” wrote the anonymous mom.

The expectant mom was surprised, though, to find out her sister changed her mind and named her baby Jude after leaving the hospital. “I am completely gobsmacked and quite upset to be honest but i’m not prepared to cause a massive fuss and a fall out over a name.”

“Would you still call your baby Judah if your sister had named their baby Jude? Or do you all think I should just bow out graciously and go with my second choice which is Josiah, or my hubby’s first choice which is Theodore/Theo/Teddy,” she asked.

Stolen baby names are far from rare, with more than half of those answering a Today Show survey in 2016 deciding that baby-name stealing is a real phenomenon and that “if parents-to-be know another couple has plans for a name, they shouldn’t use it.”

Fans of Sex and The City might recall a prominent episode in the show’s first season, that saw Charlotte have her baby name “stolen” by the group’s friend Laney. According to Charlotte, she had the name Shayla designed and planned since 11 years old and was left reeling when Laney announced it at her baby shower.

Samantha famously branded her a “b***h” while Laney didn’t see why it was such a big deal. In the case of this Mumsnet user, however, the general consensus shares the opinion of Samantha.

“Do not change the name you want. Your sister is a b***h. I assume you’ve asked her why she called her son that?” commented one user.

“I know nobody owns a name, but she’s being unreasonable,” added another.

One user wrote: “I’d stick with Judah if it’s your absolute favorite, though the alternatives you mention are nice names. And if your sister has assumed you’d bottle and go for something else, you shouldn’t give her the satisfaction.”

Some rare responses however felt it wasn’t a big deal, noting that many families share names between them: “Some members of our extended family have duplicate names all over the place and no one seems bothered.”

For most though, the true betrayal lied in the fact the name choosing potentially had malice behind it, leaving one popular suggestion to pretend the name Judah was a “red herring”: “If you haven’t bought it up yet then wait until she does. Then tell her that suggesting Judah was a diversion tactic because you didn’t want to tell anyone the actual name you picked.”

The original poster concluded that she’s set to let her sister have the name and choose to focus on her “lovely family” instead. “It’s not really the name so much but the spiteful intent behind it that hurts,” she wrote.