I’ll be honest; I usually think parents who get upset that people have named their baby with the same moniker as their child are in the wrong. 

There were about three other Amys in my tiny secondary school year, for instance; I don’t remember that causing much consternation.

A peek at a recent list of the UK’s most common names suggests to me that parents of Olivias, Noahs, Lilys, and Olivers have no right to act precious about their kid’s name, either.

But a post shared to name-based Reddit forum r/namenerds, written by site user u/No_Contribution_6208, has made me question my stance. 

The post author usually sides with me

In their post, the original poster (OP) said that they don’t usually agree with parents “guarding” their kid’s name.

In this case, though, their cousin, who shares OP’s last name, named his daughter using an identical first AND middle name as OP’s child.

“It’s literally the same exact name,” the poster wrote.

“We live in the same area, so I can already imagine how confusing this will be, especially when they start school.” 

What the author finds particularly baffling about this situation is the fact that the offending relative has been through this experience before. 

“When he was born, he had a name (as one does), and then a few years later, our aunt named her kid almost the same thing, just changing one letter,” OP shared. 

That led to lots of confusion in their family at the time.

“You’d think he’d get why this isn’t ideal,” the Redditor continued. 

“It’s not like I own the name, but I would have never expected this. It’s too late now, and I know their baby’s name isn’t about me, but idk... I guess I’m here just to vent.” 

People were conflicted

“Honestly I would just change my daughter’s middle name,” u/Loonathik suggested under the post. 

“I know you shouldn’t have to do it and it’s not fair but I would do it for my child to avoid the confusion. My name was a bit similar to another girl in my class and it was a pain for me.” 

“There is a threshold of name so popular that you aren’t allowed to get mad at anyone for naming their kid the same name as yours, eg Olivia, Ava, Sophia, Amelia, Emma etc,” u/PlaneCulture commented.

But most people agreed with u/lascriptori: “I’m usually firmly in the ‘nobody owns a name’ camp, but yes, giving a child the same first, middle and last name as a relative of a similar age who lives in the area is 100% beyond the pale,” they wrote.

What do you think?