Honestly, I understand how people feel, but voicing it is sort of pointless. Usually all it does is make the other person want the off-limits name more. Silly - in most circumstances.
I give that qualifier because I myself am somewhat guilty of this. I have a name that I've wanted to use for a future son since I was 12. Never wavered. When I told my husband, he melted and said he'd always wanted that name for a son as well.
My brother and his wife are TTC, and I knew I would be absolutely heartbroken if they used the name that we'd always wanted... because I could not have identically-named cousins in our family. We had an instance of that in our generation (actually, the TTC brother and one of our cousins), and it was endlessly annoying. So I emailed him and said that I wasn't calling dibs or asking him to do anything differently, but I did want to let him know our future name plans in case it would have any impact on theirs. Thankfully, they already have name plans and ours is nowhere on their list. He said he would never want to use a name if it would hurt me to do so, and he also was against the identically-named cousins thing
ETA: On the flip-side, a friend announced her baby name at 8 weeks and it happened to be my (at the time) first choice for a girl. Gosh I was bummed about that (and it did ruin the name for me, mentally - oh well), but I didn't say a word. Because she's just a friend, and what do I care if a friend's kid has the same name as my kid? It's different from having the same name in the family.
Anyway, I'm just saying that I do understand the gut reaction to a loved name being in jeopardy - because I do understand the feeling of a name being "ruined." If you spend a lot of time with these friends, I also somewhat understand the impulse to "call" a name, because for many people (like me) it is so easy for a name to be "ruined." That doesn't mean it's mature or reasonable to actually go ahead and voice these feelings - but having them is human, and it is understandable.
Some people (you) just aren't as protective over these things as others (your friends).
I give that qualifier because I myself am somewhat guilty of this. I have a name that I've wanted to use for a future son since I was 12. Never wavered. When I told my husband, he melted and said he'd always wanted that name for a son as well.
My brother and his wife are TTC, and I knew I would be absolutely heartbroken if they used the name that we'd always wanted... because I could not have identically-named cousins in our family. We had an instance of that in our generation (actually, the TTC brother and one of our cousins), and it was endlessly annoying. So I emailed him and said that I wasn't calling dibs or asking him to do anything differently, but I did want to let him know our future name plans in case it would have any impact on theirs. Thankfully, they already have name plans and ours is nowhere on their list. He said he would never want to use a name if it would hurt me to do so, and he also was against the identically-named cousins thing
ETA: On the flip-side, a friend announced her baby name at 8 weeks and it happened to be my (at the time) first choice for a girl. Gosh I was bummed about that (and it did ruin the name for me, mentally - oh well), but I didn't say a word. Because she's just a friend, and what do I care if a friend's kid has the same name as my kid? It's different from having the same name in the family.
Anyway, I'm just saying that I do understand the gut reaction to a loved name being in jeopardy - because I do understand the feeling of a name being "ruined." If you spend a lot of time with these friends, I also somewhat understand the impulse to "call" a name, because for many people (like me) it is so easy for a name to be "ruined." That doesn't mean it's mature or reasonable to actually go ahead and voice these feelings - but having them is human, and it is understandable.
Some people (you) just aren't as protective over these things as others (your friends).