Dear Random Person Who I Think Can Give Advice

you know like Dear Abby, or Dear Pruddie, or even Miss Manners.

Anyhow, the Dear Pruddie article yesterday had a letter from a Mother of One (soon to be two). In her letter she said she was frustrated because her best friend wanted to name her soon-to-be-born, 50/50-chance-it's-a-girl baby the same name as Mother of One's eldest daughter. And I'm going to go out on a limb, but I gotta say that I just don't see it. Unless you named your kid Xytaghty (pronounced 'Gary'), then I don't think you can really be pissed that your friend wants to name her little baby 'Elizabeth'. Of course you do have to agree on what you'll call the two girls so you don't get them confused, but I'm sure, as adults, you can work it out without resorting to hair pulling, name calling and a bunch of "I saw it first!" type statements.

Though, I guess logically the only time one person would be pissed is if the name is generally considered 'unique'. Take my name for example, my parents went to a movie back when I was in high school and the girl taking their tickets was Catina. When my dad mentioned to her that my name was Katina (but pronounced the same, natch), she got all offended and went on and on about how her dad made up that name and no one else could have it. Come on, I know it's not common, but even I have known at least one other Katina. Yes, she was 70, and yes she was the sweeper down at the McDonald's, but still, her name was Katina and it's different, but hardly unique.

So really, if you truly want to be completely unique and guarantee that your kid will the ONLY one with that particular name, then I suggest you name him/her Xytaghty.