When parents find out that they’re expecting, one of the first things they want to do is think about baby names. Sometimes, choosing a name comes easily to parents. Other times, they think long and hard about what they want to name their child. A name is something that is important to a person, it’s essentially part of our identity. So sometimes, choosing a name can be hard work.
When we choose our baby’s name, not everyone immediately falls in love with it.
Especially if we want to go with a name that is unique and special, sometimes, people may not agree with the name, no matter how nice it sounds.
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One Reddit user recently went through this with his own parents, saying that his mother made his wife cry over their baby name choice.
Reddit user Devin Kaley wrote into the subreddit, “Am I The Asshole?” to ask if he was in the wrong for not talking to his parents after they made his wife cry about their choice in baby name.
The husband said that the name came from his love of philosophy and mythology.
“I want to preface this by saying that I have always had an interest in philosophy and mythology. I am literally a name nerd. Since my wife and I are currently in the process of adopting, we have been talking about this a lot. When we broke the news to my parents, they were so happy for us. But last weekend, they asked if we have a name in mind… This is where the trouble began,” he wrote.
He said that he knew that when he first heard the name, he knew it would be the name of his first child. However, his mother did not agree.
“When I first read the name Nikiforos 1 1/2 years ago, I knew it would be that of my future child.
My mother freaked out and said she might name a horse that, but not a child. We were very upset by this comparison. Mother doesn’t even own a horse, so we felt she just said that to hurt our feelings. Then she said hold up… Are you adopting a girl… Or a boy… And we said a boy.
But she said that other kids would think our son is a girl. She asked if we ever thought about being out in public and having to call for him. ‘Nikiforos! You forgot your lunchbox!’ Then she tried to imitate horse sounds and stomped up and down the stairs.
My father was suspiciously quiet while my mother was ridiculing our personal choices,” he said.
They also decided to change the spelling and make it completely “unique.”
“Now, my wife loves French culture (she has been to the Louvre twice and won’t shut up about it and taught herself how to speak a little French). She fell in love with the French spelling – Nicephore. It’s not pronounced ‘nice’ as in ‘very nice.’
The French way of saying it sounds like ‘niece four’. We brought this up, hoping the reaction would be better… Mother then asked if the entire discussion was just a prank. My wife started crying at this point,” he added.
The husband just couldn’t understand why his mother didn’t like the name, or why she had such a huge problem with it.
“My mother seemed annoyed and asked to see the rest of our name list. She said none of them fit our last name. But because I got pretty close to studying archeology in college, I think I know a little bit more about these things than most people do and am somewhat entitled to pick a big name with a lot of history for my child.
My name is not so common, either (Devin) and people keep mishearing it. I have to correct that a lot and I honestly don’t mind at all! So I really don’t think my kid will care about this.
Funnily, my mother doesn’t remember all the times I was called Kevin or Steven by others. Either way, America is such a diverse country that I really don’t think this is an issue,” he said.
Eventually, after having a terrible discussion with his parents, he decided to leave with his wife and is no longer speaking to them at the moment.
“My second favorite name (could also be a middle name!) is Didaskalos. It means teacher. This would honor my lovely wife, who is an elementary school teacher.
This is when my father burst out into laughter and claimed it sounded like Adidas. Then he noted that we could go with ‘Nike’ for a nickname, should we name the kid Nikiforos or Nicephore.
I grabbed my jacket and my wife and left. We felt so ridiculed, we didn’t even want to eat dinner that night and went straight to bed. We still haven’t spoken to them since,” he wrote.
He asked the Reddit community if he was an asshole for not speaking to them since the conversation went down and who was really in the wrong.
A vast majority of people agreed that yes, he and his wife were total assholes.
“As an elementary school teacher, your wife should especially know how brutal kids are to each other. With a name like Nikiforos, you’re pretty much signing your kid up for constant teasing throughout school.
Sure, it wasn’t nice for your parents to mock you guys if you’re serious about the name, because like you said, you’re entitled to pick the name of your child. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t an asshole if you give them a name that they will definitely get made fun of for,” one person wrote.
And, one person said they even had a ‘Greek mythological’ name themselves.
“I had a Greek mythological name from my classical parents and guess what was the ONLY thing I wanted for my 18th birthday? That’s right — a little visit in front of a judge. Who btw smiled and rolled her eyes when she granted it,” they said.
It seems that these names just didn’t hit home with the Reddit community. What do you think?
