CHOOSING a name for your baby can be a daunting task, especially when you have to take other people’s opinions into account.
A mother was left “in tears” after telling her father her name and he told her he thought it was “horrible”.
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Go to Reddit, The mother shared her grief and asked people how they would deal with the situation.
She wrote: “I am mainly looking for some support and am curious about the experiences of others who have been through something similar.
“I’m 27 weeks pregnant and I had a really lighthearted and sweet conversation with my dad on the phone last night.
“I said we had a new name for the baby that we liked and then told him the name.”
The mother said she plans to name her child Bennett if it is a boy, and will use the nickname Ben.
However, her father was not happy about it.
The pregnant woman continued: ‘He immediately reacted negatively and said, ‘Oh my god, that’s horrible! ‘
“And then I replied ‘Dad! We like it..’ and he continued in the same shocked and upset voice ‘that’s a horrible name, I’m sorry.’
“I immediately burst into tears.
“He tried to backtrack and apologize. He said it was up to us what we wanted.
“But it felt like the moment was ruined.
“I’m not sure if it’s just hormonal, but this interaction hurt my heart more than I expected.”
She asked if other parents had experienced someone rejecting their name and how they dealt with it.
The mother said, “I know in the end it doesn’t matter if we like the name, but OUCH.”
Someone replied to her: “My father reacted the same way when we told him the name when he was in the hospital.
“Suggested another name, even after I said that all the paperwork was already done and submitted, so there was no way to change it anyway.
“I was really angry, but we had a talk and I told him that he named two children and that his opinion in my son’s name means absolutely nothing to me.
“Eventually he apologized.”
Are Unique Baby Names Worth It?
Fabulous’ deputy editor-in-chief talks about the problems she had with her name as a child.
As a child, I wanted nothing more than a personalized keychain with my name on it.
But it wasn’t. The closest I could get were Rosie, Joseph (not so nice for such a little girl) and Joanne.
Josie is short for Josephine, a French first name, and I’ve been in my twenties without ever meeting anyone with the same first name.
When I try to introduce myself to people I get called all sorts of random names like Tracey and Stacey and it can be quite annoying.
Although I’ve met a few Josies in the past year (there are a few around my age), it’s still a much rarer name than most of my friends’ names.
Overall I don’t mind it, at least it’s not crude or spelled weird.
And that means I can get away with ‘doing a Cheryl’ and just calling myself Josie.
I’m getting married this year and some friends are shocked that I’m changing my last name. It’s not considered cool or feminist these days. I explain to them that I’m not that attached to Griffiths because I always just say ‘Hi, I’m Josie’ when I call a friend.
I like being unique and I will definitely try to achieve this when naming my own children.
You have to watch out for the crude names, so after nine years as a lifestyle journalist I will definitely avoid them.
Another added: “We don’t reveal our name at all.
“We don’t need opinions. If we like something, we don’t change it because someone doesn’t like it.”
A third said: “Yes, that happened to me too, and I have to admit, I ended up changing my name.
“I really loved this name and told my mom and sister about it one afternoon. My mom pulled a face and said, ‘That’s really disgusting’. I was so surprised!”
The pregnant mother responded, “Thank you for sharing this, and I’m sorry you had a similar reaction. It helps to know we’re not alone.”
