Question about using a name...

StayingFocused

...when someone you know already has a child with that name. My entire life I said if I ever had a daughter I'd name her Emily. At the church we attend, there is a lady in my class that has a girl named Emily. She is probably about 6 years old and we've only known her a couple years but I still feel like I shouldn't use that name if we have a girl. Is this how it goes or since she isn't family, its fair game?

yogahh

Use it. Emily is such a common name.. It's not like her name is Emylee or something like that and you are planning on using the same spelling. Then it would seem like you were "stealing" the name.

Knottie1442268460

Go ahead and use it!

If you don't want to Emlyn is a nice less common option.

penelope4612

I think it's fine.  

lm45678

Use it! It's not as though she's your sister or best friend. Plus as PP said, Emily is super common... It's not as though she chose a unique name and you copied it.

kyraaD

i would use it. she's a lady in your church class, not a close family member. definitely still fair game!

mrsE2015

Use it

holocene

Use it for sure.

MamaWren919

Definitely fine to use it! It would be different if she were a relative or close friend.

klirwin82

...the above and to add the kid is 6. Not like the lady just recently had a baby and gave her that name.

That1didntcount

Use it!

LadyDi711

Definitely use it if you love it. Like other posts have said, the woman is not in your family and doesn't seem to be a close friend either and the girl is 6, its not like they'll be in the same class at school or anything.

StayingFocused

Thanks guys. If we find out we are having a girl I'll probably still talk to her about it but I do love the name.

bbiutmcph

StayingFocused said:

Thanks guys. If we find out we are having a girl I'll probably still talk to her about it but I do love the name.

I think it would be awkward to talk to her about it and don't see a reason to. I mean you just go to the same church and the kids will be 7 years apart?

SherlockedMom

My middle kid is Molly and I know quite a few folks that have a kid (or a dog...lol) named Molly. Doesn't bother me. I loved the name. Case closed.

Miss Lilac

bbiutmcph said:

StayingFocused said:

Thanks guys. If we find out we are having a girl I'll probably still talk to her about it but I do love the name.

I think it would be awkward to talk to her about it and don't see a reason to. I mean you just go to the same church and the kids will be 7 years apart?

I have to agree. I think it would be really weird to bring it up to her. It's honestly such a non-issue that by going and talking to her about it you're kind of making it one. You'd swear the kid was part of your day-to-day life. Just use it and enjoy it.

2-Step

I limit my worries about name duplicates to very close friends and family. For me to not consider a name it would have to be someone I know for sure will be a part of my life on a regular basis for the rest of my life or many many years. Your church acquaintance could move next year and you'd never see her again. If you love it I say go for it.

yogahh

Yeah, why are you going to talk to her about it? Its a name, and a very common one at that. Are you going to talk to every parent of an Emily you know? You want to name your child Emily. You have every right to, and dont need her permission to do so. 

Elsa1984

I would use it, and I wouldn't bother discussing it with her. Emily is #7 on the SSA name list, it is so stinkin' popular. If you feel the need to say something to her, are you going to feel the need to explain it to every parent of the other "Emily's" that your child will be in school with? You wont be seeing her everyday, nor do you guys spend time together outside of church. 

mrstrax

If anything, I only worry about duplicating names with family and within a year. DH loved Isabelle when DD was on her way, but 2 months before she was born our neighbors who also go to our church named their daughter Isabel. We didn't want to duplicate so close together because unless one of our families move, they will be in both Sunday School and eventually actual school classes together until they graduate.
That said, if this baby was a girl, it could definitely be an option again (2 years later). They're also due with a boy within a month of us, so we'll see what happens this time

fwtx5815

bbiutmcph said:

Thanks guys. If we find out we are having a girl I'll probably still talk to her about it but I do love the name.

I think it would be awkward to talk to her about it and don't see a reason to. I mean you just go to the same church and the kids will be 7 years apart?

I agree with others - it would be odd to approach a her about this. 

-Emily is SO common

-You don't sound like you're close with this family

-Multi year age gap between the kids

-You're going to severely limit your name choices if you only consider names that no one else you know has used. 

Seriously this is a non-issue.

emmy236

As an Emily I can tell you there are a billion of us. I had a friend who named her daughter Emily, totally not weird and I never thought she needed to ask me or anything. I'm sure the lady from church will love that someone else loves the name. Now if it was a super meaningful or family name and you used it just because than that's inconsiderate. DS is Reed which has a very strong connection for us. It's my father's name and he was named after the man who saved my grandfather in WWII. A guy I know later named his son that simply because they just like last name as FN trend. That annoyed me.

CaboBride2015

I agree talking to her about it would be weird. Are you really going to give up on the name of she has a negative reaction?

oceanchild

Definitely don't make it some awkward issue by having a discussion about it. If she reacts in some way that you read as unfavorable, you're going to be kicking yourself and resentful of her.
I don't even worry about this with family and friends. My cousin and I had girls 4m apart with the same name, and it's also the same name that my very best friend was going to use for her girl (we agreed neither of us would mind the girls having the same name) - all different (but similar) middle names.

StayingFocused

Thanks for all the replies!