Dear Sasha, I'm really worked up about this issue. There was a neighbor of ours, (aka Sybil) that moved away about a year ago. Sybil and her husband have a little girl. We have an older daughter who has a unique name. Basically, we made it up from a Greek Isle we liked. Sybil came back to our area yesterday and visited with her new little baby, named the same name as our daughter. I didn't see Sybil but a friend of mine did. My friend broke the news to me that Sybil used our daughter's unique name. I'm hurt that Sybil would do such a thing without contacting my husband and me to explain why or even ask to use the name (which I would have said yes). We were friends when Sybil and her husband lived in the neighborhood and she would complement us on our daughter. However, I'm still hurt and angry. Is Sybil so lazy should couldn't come up with a unique name for her daughter? How do you get over these types of feelings?
Over at Laineygossip.com there’s been a week long email chain about all the unique kids names out there; everything from Tennessee to Winnie Poon has been dissected, ridiculed, and lampooned. No one though is more obsessed with this topic than Duana. She’s like Rain Man when it comes to this subject matter. (Lainey: TRUE STORY) For proof read this or this...
See?
While I’m in awe of Duana’s breadth of knowledge when it comes to the baby name game, I could give two f-cks. Listen, as long as you’re not in charge of naming my child, feel free to name your fetus whatever you want.
Now L, this is where your problem comes in. I know a lot of time and thought went into picking your daughter’s very awesome and unique name. It’s special, it sets her apart and it's close to your heart. I get that. I do.
But here’s the deal: when you give someone a name it's no longer a secret. It’s written down on every school paper, it’s cheered out loud on the sidelines, and it’s screamed across the supermarket when they’ve gone missing. Point is, it’s out there for other people to hear and for other people to like. Whether it’s Olive or Apple or whatever mainstream fruit you want to pick, someone is gonna klepto it. It sucks, but thems the breaks.
So L, while I wish your neighbor wasn’t a name thief, what’s done is done. There’s no use in being mad about it because it’s not like you can ask her to stuff her child back in and re-name it, you know? All you can do at this point is suck it up, move on and feel flattered that she loves the name. In fact, she named her child after your very own - some people might call it an honor.
Hope this helps! xx
(Lainey: Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin apparently jacked Apple’s name off of someone else too. I don’t know if this is consolation to you but maybe there’s some glory over being original, even more original than GOOP?)
