A mum-of-one has revealed that her unique baby name was bagged by Molly-Mae – and claims people constantly think she’s copied the influencer despite her tot being one month older.
When Abby Williams fell pregnant with her son, one, while at university, she had to quickly adapt to her new reality and in a bid to get excited, began thinking about baby names.
The mum, from Dorset, spent months coming up with an “unusual” title for her tot – and thought she had hit the jackpot when she settled on “Bambi”.
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But then, Abby was left disheartened one month later when Love Island star, Molly-Mae, revealed her daughter’s matching name.
Now, the 22-year-old claims people think she’s bagged the influencer’s choice for her own baby – but insists there are “no hard feelings” as it’s nice to see a rise in popularity for the moniker.
“I was shocked to begin with because I’d spent all these months trying to think of the most unique name possible so no one else would have the same,” Abby told NeedToKnow.co.uk.
“Then a month later, Molly-Mae used the same name.
“I couldn’t believe it when she announced that her baby was called Bambi too.
“So many people think I copied the name from Molly-Mae, but they don’t realise my baby is a month older than hers.
“It took me a while to come up with the name Bambi and I always knew I wanted something unusual – but found it really hard to think of something.
“I eventually came up with the name Bambi from the Italian word ‘Bambino’ which means baby, although most people think the name comes from the Disney film Bambi.
“I’ve never actually seen the film, but I think the character is really cute.”
According to research from Ancestry.co.uk, even with an increase in names such as Bambi, Apple or River, Gen Z and young Millennials (18-34) are twice as likely to choose a name with a strong meaning.
Also, 20% of parents admitted to being inspired by family or ancestors’ names, fictional characters and celebrities when choosing a name for their tot.
And while Molly-Mae and Abby, have attracted a new audience for Bambi, there are still people who aren’t the biggest fans of the choice.
The mum, who has also received backlash for her son’s name, says that people need to “get with the times” and accept this new era of unique monikers.
She said: “From what I’ve seen, both through my experience and Molly-Mae’s, not many people are a fan of the name Bambi, so I’m not sure that loads of people are going to be influenced by the name.
“I’ve personally had a lot of hate online and in person about my son’s name, most of the comments saying that ‘he’ll be bullied’ – but I think people need to move with the times.
“People need to understand that unusual names are becoming more and more common and by the time my son is in school, most kids are going to have unusual names.
“No one will think anything of it.”
Abby previously shared her penny-pinching tips and tricks after being unable to find a job while pregnant – and says she’s saving hundreds per month through second-hand websites.
