Mom Upset Pregnant Niece 'Stole' Her Late Daughter's Family Name for Her Own Baby: 'Utterly Betrayed'

Mar. 15, 2025

Stock image of hospital name tag on newborn bassinet.Photo:Getty

Getty

A bereaved mom wasn’t sure a family tradition should continue after her daughter’s death.

The original poster (OP) explained her situation to Redditors on theAmITheA—— subreddit, noting that both she and her daughter share a name that is a family tradition.

“My young adult daughter died 13 years ago. We share a name as it is a family name,” she began her post, titled, “AITA for being mad my niece stole my dead daughter’s name.”

“The tradition has always been that this is the name given to the first daughter of the first daughter of each generation for over 100 years. My mom, my daughter, and I share this name,” she wrote.

“When my niece became pregnant 6 years ago she asked, if she had a girl, could she use the name. Note that she didn’t ask to use it as a tribute. She’s been jealous of the tradition not including her for as long as she’s known of it,” OP explained, adding she was honest about her feelings.

“I said no. It would break my already broken soul to share her name with another family member. No one was happy that I ‘selfishly’ said no, but since she had a boy, nothing came of it.”

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Stock image of pregnant woman sitting crosslegged, holding her bump.iStockphoto

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“My mom reminded me that it’s her name, too, and she wants to pass it down. First, it’s my name as well. Second, it’s still my daughter’s name even though she’s dead.”

OP also shared concerns that her surviving daughter “will never be able to name her own potential future daughter in honor of her dead sister.”

“I don’t expect my mother, sister, or niece to understand why I feel as I do, as they’ve never lost a child. That said, I don’t think it’s too hard to consider that if a grieving mother says you may not use her daughter’s name, you probably should respect that and choose another name without question and certainly without guilt,” OP reasoned.

Stock image of exasperated woman crying with hands over her face.Getty

“When I came unglued on her yesterday, my mom told me that if my surviving daughter has a daughter in the future, ‘She can use it too! It’s perfectly fine for two kids in one family to have the same name.'”

OP asked if she was wrong in the situation and faced some gentle correction from commenters who said this was out of her hands.

source: people.com