I’ve received death threats because of my children’s unique names – I still love them
A mother who chose unique names for her children shared the rude comments made by strangers, including death threats.
Crystal Docherty, 34, said she wanted her little ones to stand out with their flashy names.
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The mother of four said she was influenced by her Traveller background when choosing the names.
Crystal explains that she has been trolled online over her children’s names, which include a nod to a designer fashion brand and a double-barreled watch inspired by two locations in the US.
She revealed that her family consists of her nine-year-old son Stinger and her daughters Solitaire-Dior, seven, Shadoramay, six, and Malibu-Alaska, three.
The Scottish woman said strangers have claimed her children will be bullied and she has even received death threats over her unusual name choice.
But Crystal has no regrets. She points out that in modern times, people need to be open to “other names.”
“I get angry and sad when I get harassed because of their names,” said Crystal, who works as a beautician’s assistant.
“You shouldn’t make fun of people’s names.
“There are names that sound strange to others, but it is up to you which names you like and choose.”
She explained that her choices should be considered refreshing, compared to names that have been around for centuries.
“There are so many Marys and other old-fashioned names, so why not just use different ones?” she asked.
Crystal added that she refuses to let haters hurt her or her family.
“But I don’t really care what people say,” she said.
Crystal, who is divorced from the father of her children, named her son Stinger after his great-grandfather, Stinger Loveridge. She called it “an easy choice.”
For her first daughter, she got the idea to play Solitaire from her grandmother, who had recently seen Live And Let Die from the James Bond series, which featured a character of the same name.
“The name also comes from the diamond, and I just added Dior to it because it sounded nice,” Crystal explained.
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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.
She said that in her ‘gypsy culture’ ‘Shadora’ means ‘holy’ and she added ‘May’ to make it more unique.
“I think she’s the only Shadoramay in the world. I’ve seen Shadoras and Mays, but not both at the same time,” Crystal said.
She added that her youngest daughter’s name was inspired by Malibu Beach, an idea from her cousin.
While people harassed her online for her unusual choices, Crystal defends her choices.
“In our gypsy culture, people have no problem with these kinds of names,” she stressed.
“We don’t really interact with people outside our own culture. So when people say my kids will be bullied, that’s not true.
“Our community will not bully them, they are their own people.”
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