Asking permission
My daughter is named Freya and we live in the US, where the name is very rare. My coworker recently told me that her daughter is pregnant, and she is thinking of naming her child Freya if it's a girl. My coworker's reaction was something like "No, you can't do that! Someone I work with has a daugher named Freya!" When I told her that it's a pretty name and we've gotten almost entirely positive reactions to it, she said "Well, if you're okay with it then it's fine."
Is this as weird as I think it is? I'd be really offended if my mother told me that she had to get permission from someone at work in order for me to use a name for my child. I'm not that close to the coworker and I've never even met her daughter. We live in the same city but we're in different school districts and the two Freyas wouldn't be in the same grade so they might not even meet each other. Even if I did care, the name Freya has been around for over 1,000 years so it's not like I made it up and copyrighted it.
Sat, 07/21/2012 - 11:50pm
Replies
That is pretty weird. From her reaction, it seems like maybe your coworker thought/thinks Freya is a name you made up, so it's more "yours" than the average name?
Yes, that seems a bit much given that you are not super close with this woman or her family, and your daughters may never even meet each other. Perhaps because the name is so unusual there's more of an urge to keep it a one-person name than if the name in question was Isabella. But, I agree with you that the daughter should not change her name choice because of her mom's coworker.
I've had personal friends ask permission to use my kids' names, but that's a stretch. I can see her feeling awkward about telling you her daughter had chosen the name, so maybe it was just a way to diffuse that.
I love the name?
Intended a period... I do love the name.
Very weird indeed. I always get annoyed when people "claim" names. While I admit I would be a little disappointed if someone close to me in my life chose the same name as my child, it is something that could very well happen and I accept that. And someone I'm NOT close with? Jeez, I shouldn't even cross their mind. =)
I do think it is strange that she is asking permission for her granddaughter's name. I mean, what would happen if you said "No way!" Does she really have the ability to change her daughter's mind about what the baby will be named?
I must admit, though I think this is bizarre, I do understand the impulse. When my husband & I selected a name for our daughter, it was the same name as one of my co-worker's daughters (big age difference, though - her daughter graduated from college the same year my daughter was born). I certainly didn't ask her permission, but I did feel compelled to give her a heads-up about it.