Do you like a name that's already "taken"?

Yes, i have a few I would like to use but they are already taken my kids we know and I'd feel weird using them!

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Yep I agree with this. . .immediate family and very close friends might make it "taken". But anyone else. . .as long as I don't have a bad association with the name, I consider it fair game. The again maybe some family members you wouldn't mind naming a child after. I think its totally subjective.

My best friend did use a name I like (but not my favorite name ever or anything) for her daughter and I would never use it now. . .but luckily (or not) for me, my DH is insisting on unusual and cultural (his heritage) names, so we shouldn't have this issue.

I'm with e(Lisa)beth on this as well, which is why I need to get my 20wk u/s before my sister, who is due ten days after me.

In general, I don't feel like I'd want to name my kid the same thing as another kid in its immediate age range who I think it might spend a lot of time with. For instance, one of my best friends recently had a baby and named him Leon. I wouldn't feel comfortable naming this baby Leon-- it seems too likely that they'd end up playing together a lot and that would be confusing. If her Leon was older/further separated, I might go ahead and do it.

Whether or not you have to ask for "permission" probably depends on the friend or family member. I know my sister would be mad as hell if I named my child after her first daughter, and I'll be crabby if she even picks the same middle name as me for her upcoming baby. On the other hand, I have a local friend who named her new baby boy Elliot and was ecstatic to hear that I like the name too... she's actively trying to convince me to use the name if I have a boy. People are weird about baby names. So I'd evaluate it on a case by case basis.

They don't own the name and names don't have copyrights. Use whatever name you want!

There's a line, but it's fuzzy.

If it's a small child, I would feel weird about it - but older children not a big deal (for my extended family, yk?)

My bff from college was pregnant last year and seriously contemplated the name Maddie - I didn't mind at all. Now, if we were pregnant like at the same time or had them within a year or two of each other, it would be weird, but Maddie is SEVEN, yk?

No big deal. I'm contemplating using one of my cousin's first names as our middle name right now, actually. I don't think anybody will care

Yeah, fine line. If it's a friend, I'd be more inclined to use it, friends can come and go, children grow up and move away, etc. But family is usually there to stay, so naming your child the same as a family member might be a little more iffy. Especially if you think the person will think the baby is being named "after" them, then suddenly other family members are feeling jipped.

I don't think you need to "ask permission", no one owns a name, but it might be worth saying something... For example, a coworker of mine was pregnant with a girl last year and asking for suggestions for baby names. I told her a really great girl's name, and she ended up using it. Not long after her baby was born, I said to her "you know, I like that name so much, I just might use it too, so don't think you have sole dibs on it!" and she laughed and said "of course not!" Now I'm pregnant, don't know if it's a girl or a boy, and I reminded her again that I really like the name and our daughters just might have the same name. (I think hubby and I are planning on using a different name, but still...)

Can you give us more details? What are the names? Who currently has the names? Maybe we can help you find related names that you like just as much

I don't think I would use a name of someone close in the family or a friend's child's name (A friend's name would be fine though). My runner-up name for our girl was Charlotte, we named her Gretchen and this time when I got pregnant I though "hmm now I could use Charlotte if its a girl". That was until last week, when my cousin had a baby and named her Charlotte. We don't even live in the same country but I will probably not use the name now.

Crazy though, my husband's 1/2 brother is named Robert. His brother's dad (also Robert) remarried and had another boy and they named him Robert too. All three Robert's have the same last name too. I think that is a LOT creepy. Like the Dad tried to erase his first son by naming his second son Robert too. "Hi, I'm Robert and this is my son Robert and my other son Robert" I don't get it!

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Yep, I agree completely.

I'm pretty lucky. I'm older and no one in my family or group of friends is pregnant right now. Everyone I know has kids school age but mostly teens and adult children. I pretty much have my pick. The only person I know who is pregnant and due a few weeks before me is my neice who is 23 and I know she and I will not have the chance of choosing similar names. Nope. She tends to choose different or uncommon names and DH and I plan to use a Biblical name for our child.

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I agree with this as well. Lots of school age children have the same name as their classmates, yk?