Mum unwittingly gives baby the same name as her partner's ex

Picking a baby name for an actual human is a tricky business.

Too popular, too unusual, too weird.

And then there’s the association of other people who already have the same name, like say, an ex girlfriend.

That’s exactly the problem one mum has after discovering she’d unwittingly decided to name her baby after her partner’s old flame.

Taking to parenting site Mumsnet, the mum explained she hadn’t known about the naming clash.

“We had decided on Sophie for a name and my OH has just told me it is an ex girlfriends name,” she wrote.

She went on to say that her other half had tried to explain the choice by downplaying his relationship.

“He tried to justify it saying it was a daft under 16 relationship but I’m still raging,” she added.

She later shared a second post revealing that her other half had initially made a big issue about it, before trying to back track.

“I just wish he didn’t tell me! I’m hormonal and had my heart set on Sophie,” she wrote.

And other parents were quick to step in to offer their opinions on the thorny topic.

Many users couldn’t understand why the mum was so upset

“What exactly are you angry about?” one user wrote. “Sophie is an extremely popular name of course you were bound to come across a few it just so happens your DP went out with one as a teenager which is completely normal and he shouldn’t be made to feel bad about things that happened way before you two met.”

“But if it’s that much of a deal breaker than pick another name there’s plenty out there,” she added.

“My cousin had this issue with the name Claire. She didn’t use it and 15 years later feels a bit silly!” another added.

“Sophie is the most popular name in the world. You can use it without it being an issue. Would be different if it was a super rare name,” a third added.

Other parents shared examples of similar naming debates they’d experienced.

“My DH vetoed every name he had a ‘relationship’ with,” one woman wrote.

“I didn’t care, and thought he was being ridiculous – it’s not like you’re going to look at your daughter and think of Dorris from 2003 who was a firecracker.”

Some parents could totally see where the original poster was coming from.

“I’m in the minority here I think but I totally agree with OP, even though it was a teenage relationship, I would never name my child after an ex of my husbands or suggest that any of my exs names, that’s really weird and he should have let it be known immediately so you didn’t get attached to it,” one user wrote.

“I feel your pain. I wouldn’t be furious as such but I understand why you’re upset you now can’t use the name.”

This isn’t the only baby moniker debate that has been raging of late.

Earlier this month a mum-to-be turned to the Internet for some advice on whether or not it would be ok to use the same baby name as her sister.

And earlier this year another mum kickstarted a furious row after asking if hyphenated baby names are ‘common.’

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