# Do you feel that people who get proprietary over baby names have a point? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 14, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853 "2025-07-14T15:20:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/41 "2025-07-14T18:46:19Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > A non-trivial number of Americans are born every year with uncertain or wholly unknown paternity. I read the public notices in our local newspaper. There was one last week for a petition to terminate parental rights. It was directed to “Zoom, LNU, and any other potential father.” I’m guessing the mother didn’t know the father’s real _first name_ either. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/42 "2025-07-14T18:50:37Z")
Username checks out. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/43 "2025-07-14T18:50:56Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If I call on Grace to answer a question, who answers? I’d assume it would be Grace. My son’s scout troop has 5 Dans ~ 10% of the whole troop. 3 adults and 2 kids, with the 2 kids named after their fathers. I have a grand niece (Nephew’s daughter) whose first and middle names are the same as, respectively, my brother’s dog (deceased) and another one of my nephews (not deceased, same family as the dog). And we’re all close enough that my first thought at hearing the names was to turn to my wife and say “that’s S’s dog and son!” ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/44 "2025-07-14T18:52:04Z")
Why am I thinking of One Hundred Years Of Solitude right now? ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/45 "2025-07-14T20:11:05Z")
Baby names, nope I have no interest. But I’m naming my cat Janet, and nobody better take that name if you want to stay safe and happy. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/46 "2025-07-14T20:21:08Z")
Dammit, Janet! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/47 "2025-07-14T20:29:31Z")
First come, first served. Want the name you choose? Get the baby. Any latecomers named the name are after thoughts. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/48 "2025-07-14T20:29:47Z")
It is important that new parents can keep the name that they chose exclusive to their child. That is why only one baby girl was named Jennifer in the entire '80s. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/49 "2025-07-14T20:51:35Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > That is why only one baby girl was named Jennifer in the entire '80s. Yeah, but that kid was EVERYWHERE! ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/50 "2025-07-14T21:20:31Z")
The Princes Reuss would like a word with you. > **[Imperial County of Reuss | Numbering of the Heinrichs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_County_of_Reuss#Numbering_of_the_Heinrichs)** > > All the males of the House of Reuss are named Heinrich (Henry) plus a number. > In the elder line the numbering covers all male children of the elder House, and the numbers increase until 100 is reached and then start again at 1. > In the younger line the system is similar but the numbers increase until the end of the century before starting again at 1. > This odd regulation was formulated as a Family Law in 1688, but the tradition of the uniformity of name was in practice as early as 1200. It was ... ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/51 "2025-07-14T21:41:54Z")
I’ve mentioned this before but there are 7-10 people in my husband’s family with his exact same first and last name. And there are girls with the same conundrum. Yes it’s cultural, his family is large and Italian and the rule is the first-born son is named after the grandfather and the firstborn daughter the grandmother. And middle names after the father/mother. It is absolute chaos to walk into a family gathering for the first time and meet ten Marias, but that’s just how they do things. I’m used to it by now. And you know it’s confusing to outsiders but once you’re in it, you get used to it. People at family gatherings address my husband as Firstname Middlename, and all the other cousins in the same way, so as to distinguish them. All of which is to say I think possessiveness over baby names is a bit ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/52 "2025-07-14T21:51:20Z")
When my mother announced her intention to name me Frank [not the real name], my father’s cousin was very put out and said that **she** wanted to use that name. My mom said, “go ahead, you have a different last name and live three thousand miles away from us.” Cousin, miffed, nevertheless named the kid Chad [absolutely the real name]. I don’t like the name, so I never used it as an adult, and I in fact have a maternal cousin with that same first name, who is older than me. Anyway, Chad and I have never even met. Our parents, the cousins, last spoke in 1986, at someone’s funeral. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/53 "2025-07-14T22:38:39Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Yes it’s cultural, his family is large and Italian and the rule is the first-born son is named after the grandfather and the firstborn daughter the grandmother. And middle names after the father/mother. The baby’s grandparents or the parents’ grandparents? If it’s the baby’s grandparents (patrilineally for me and matrilineally for Mrs. H), then our son would have been Mark Aaron and our daughter Judy Leslie. I actually wanted to name our son Mark Aaron [LastName]. My father was Mark Allyn, and I think Mark Aaron just rolls off the tongue. Judy Leslie does not. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/54 "2025-07-14T22:41:36Z")
> [@Mighty\_Mouse](#): > > My sister insisted that as her son was the first born male of the fourth generation, she had dibs on Grandpa’s names. She has dibs on being the only member of that generation who could commemorate an (recent/beloved) ancestor? That’s a worry. I have family who named their 4th son after their paternal grand father because their 1st son, also named after their paternal grand father, was predeceased. That’s pragmatic. My maternal grandfather and his brother are both named William because their paternal grandfather and maternal grandfather from whom, by tradition they took their names were both named William. And were always known by their second name. When our daughter was born she was given a crafted name with a distinctive spelling as a homage to two ancestors. But there are several family friends who by coincidence used a similar sounding name with different spellings. Our little lady calls herself, and all her friends know her, as something else entirely. 🤷‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/55 "2025-07-14T22:46:09Z")
It’s the baby’s [grandparents](http://www.grandvoyageitaly.com/culture/italian-naming-conventions-and-traditions-explained) - for those who followed the custom completely , after you have four sons/four daughters you get to choose from other relatives’ names. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/56 "2025-07-14T23:06:34Z")
Well, yes, I thought that was inferred. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/57 "2025-07-14T23:17:18Z")
I could see a situation where one family names their daughter some favored name (let’s call her Jessica), baby Jessica dies (stillbirth, tragic accident, childhood leukemia, whatever), and another family member then names their child Jessica. If the family members are close enough to see each other regularly, then having it rubbed in your face, so to speak, that MY Jessica is alive and well and yours isn’t could be really bad, especially if the grieving parent(s) are still in the raw stages of grief. Absent something unfortunate like that, no, I don’t really understand the hysteria. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/58 "2025-07-14T23:22:21Z")
Every name in the world has some one who died with that name. If you start down that road its the true way to insanity. Name the kid what you want. Simple, don’t ask Aunt Sue or Cousin Joe. The guy at the quick stop. Or even your Mother. When it’s done and on the Birth certificate, It’s legal and everyone else can pound sand. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/59 "2025-07-14T23:31:09Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > It’s the baby’s [grandparents](http://www.grandvoyageitaly.com/culture/italian-naming-conventions-and-traditions-explained) - for those who followed the custom completely , after you have four sons/four daughters you get to choose from other relatives’ names. And woe betide anyone who deviates from the custom. That’s a paddlin’. When my husband’s sister was adopted she was named partly from her mother’s side and partly from her birth mother’s name and her grandmother would not _deign_ to call her by her given name. She was just, “the baby.” They lightened up a lot with the grandkids’ kids. We named our son after a space opera series protagonist and a famous humanitarian. Never heard a word about it. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853/60 "2025-07-14T23:36:33Z")
When I was in first grade there were 4 Roberts in the class. (on topic - a cousin of mine has the same first name as my brother; they are only a few months apart in age. I don’t recall any controversy about the name duplication when they were born, but admittedly I was pretty young then. But if there was any controversy, it must have gone away quickly, because all through my childhood we got together with my cousin’s family pretty often). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-feel-that-people-who-get-proprietary-over-baby-names-have-a-point/1020853.md?page=4)