Has anyone ever heard of this? It is new to me in this world of baby fever and nesting, but over the past few years, as friends have moved on to the family stage of life and as baby name ideas come in to the picture, a slight strike of “dibs” can come about when you least expect it!
As ridiculous as it may sound, I have seen baby name dibs (BND) cause arguments, frustration, and even silent treatment when friends come up with the same name, and because they “called” it first, feel the need to lay a claim on it.
So – what do you all think? Dibs or no dibs? Would love to hear what you all think!
Darling Little Details {blog} 
I havent seen this personally but ive seen it on tv shows and I can understand. If you are thinking about getting pregnant and you say you really like a name and then your friend or family member gets pregnant before you and takes that name….well i would get angry too! Because now you’re not going to use the name because you dont want to name your child the same but I wouldnt say that I would stop talking to someone if they did this to me!
No dibs. I believe in first come first serve.
This isn’t a race to see who gets to sit shotgun in a car. :)
No dibs! That’s ridiculous. People need to stop looking outward and learn to focus more on themselves. If you like a name, USE IT. Other people in the world are going to have that name no matter what. Geez.
Having said all that – I’ve been slightly miffed lately that both the boy and girl names I’ve loved for years have surged in popularity over the past 2-3 years. Oh well! I will get over it….or find something else I love.
Right there with you on the name surge. I blame Friends. I think it all started with Emma and then it was all downhill from there. Time to start over!
Too funny – I was thinking of that episode while I was typing!
I had a name that I had quite the soft spot for, but I’m no where near ready for baby time. So when one of Fi’s friend’s announced he and the Mrs. were expecting baby number two, I was bummed to find out they had chosen the name I liked. But I don’t think you should call dibs on a name, and I certainly am not going to get mad at them for liking the same name I like. If it were a family name however, I would probably feel differently.
I’m game for dibs.
My husband comes from a large family of VERY competitive siblings. Over the years I have seen time and time again (mainly from the younger siblings trying to “keep up”) blatantly steal ideas and use them as their own in an effort to be the first to do it, use it, dream it, whatever. It’s silly, but at the same time I respect my husbands choice to call dibs on certain things.
For instance… he is the oldest boy and his little brother died when he was a baby. Obviously this was a bit traumatizing for a boy who was so excited to finally have a brother, only to lose him. My husband has always said he wanted our first son to take his little brothers name. Now, once this was casually mentioned, we could already see one of the younger siblings wheels spinning, trying to take it as their own idea. A sibling who was only a twinkle at the time the baby died. So yeah… stuff like that which is sentimental and important to someone else… dibs!
Names are important and if you have your heart set on a name, it’s probably for a good reason – keep it, no matter how many of your friends name their children the same name! I say that now but who knows how I’ll feel when it comes time for me to name my babe – I have a name in mind (family name) and would like to think I’ll use it even if it ends up being the most popular name that year. People get so competitive with names and I just feel you should pick a name you believe in:)
I agree with you there, as long as it’s not a direct sibling. That makes it a little harder to swallow and keep as well.
I have called major dibs on every one of my names. A friend of mine is pregs and her husband said “what about brooklyn for a boy” and she replied, “Allison already called it!” so true. I did.
haha i love it!!!
I think this is a personal thing…but if you really want to keep a name to yourself don’t share it at all :)
I’ve heard of friends getting mad at people stealing their baby names and I don’t understand it, I guess I’ll find out when my time comes! Wonder if I should keep my picks a secret? Haha
I love the name I have picked out for my future baby boy and will not tell anyone if I feel like they are about to have a baby soon. If someone told me not to use a name because they had dibs, I would not care what they think and do it anyway. It’s my baby I do what I want! lol. But if a friend took the name I wanted for my son, I might be annoyed. Though, on second thought, I probably would have fun having the two piglets play together! BFFs no? :)
I have mixed feelings. My husband and I had been TTC for nearly 3 years. We had a name that we looooved, but my cousin & his wife got pregnant first and used that name. We were definitely annoyed, but took it with a grain of salt: they kind of have the “monkey-see-monkey-do” complex. From then on out, my husband told everyone we were naming our first born Leviticus, just to see if someone else in my family would take the name!
Now that we’re pregnant and have chosen a name for our daughter, I’d be super pissed if a friend or close family member chose the same name for their daughter, too.
On that same token, my brother-in-law and his fiance are very forward and outspoken on the fact that they absolutely, positively do *not* want children ever-ever-ever, yet FSIL has given me a laundry list of names that she has dibs on. *scratches head*
I think if you don’t plan on having kids, you can’t call dibs on a name. Just sayin’.