Many people struggle with picking out the perfect name for their newborn. A name is something that is very important — it stays with you for the rest of your life. It’s what people notice about you on the first meeting, it can set the tone for what people think about you and how they view you right off the bat.
Many people think long and hard about what they want to name their kids. While a name may sound cute for a baby or a child, it may not age well as that child grows into adulthood. Of course, you don’t want to give your child a name that is hard to pronounce or spell, either — setting them up for a long life of struggles and correcting.
Despite this, people go wild with baby names
Although names follow a baby for the rest of their lives, parents sometimes still go a bit crazy and unique with their names. They don’t think about the long-term impacts of a name, nor do they really care oftentimes. What seems cute and different at that moment wins over something that will grow and be easier for them in the long run.
Recently, one woman took to Reddit to explain her cousin’s baby name choice
Writing into the subreddit called tragedeigh, the Reddit user explained that her cousin is having a baby and she’s due very, very soon. She really likes the name “Phoebe” but wants to be unique and change the way it is spelled. However, the way she has chosen really leaves a lot to the imagination – maybe too much.
It’s definitely nothing close to the original
Instead of the generic way of “Phoebe,” the pregnant mom wants to use the spelling “Feabe.”
“I’ve tried to convince her that people won’t understand how to say it, and the traditional spelling looks a lot prettier, but she has her mind set,” said the Reddit user. “She says nobody will read it differently, and uses the names Lia and Lea as examples. I just don’t think it’s the same thing.”
To make matters even more difficult…
In addition to a complicated first name spelling, the Reddit user shared that her middle name will also be spelt quite differently, too. “Feiey” is the planned middle name, however, it will be pronounced as “Fea” like a fairy. “So Feabe Feiey,” the Reddit user concluded.
She asked if it was a truly wrong for her cousin to name her daughter that.
Many people said yes
“It is more than a tragedeigh; it is child abuse. The poor kid will be called Feeble or Febreeze, and even well-intentioned people will say it incorrectly. It also entirely hides its Greek meaning of “bright” or “shining” (as in Phoebus Apollo), and it disconnects it from any of the characters in mythology, or the woman in the Bible, who has the name ‘Phoebe,'” wrote GreenWhiteBlue86.
Other users had to agree
“Whats the point in picking a beautiful, historical name like Phoebe and butchering the spelling? The original spelled name is special because its been around for centuries, that’s way more incredible than some dumb spelling that the kid will hate.
Don’t even get me started on the middle name, that’s just next level dumb. I wish there was a baby name lesson parents-to-be in prenatal and labor prep classes,” said Helpful_Character167.
Others said it can be misinterpreted
“I would not know how to pronounce Feabe and I would probably avoid saying her name until she said it to me at all costs as someone who works with kids often. If she wants her kid to be called Phoebe naming her Phoebe will be so much easier. If she’s naming her Feabe she’s going to be called ‘bud,’ ‘friend,’ ‘little miss,’ etc. until she/her peers are old enough to tell me her name or until I meet her mom and she says her name (an unlikely situation for someone like me who only fills in in classes part time),” shared GjonsTearsFan.
One teacher even said that they had a student with the same spelling
“OMG I’m an elementary teacher and I had a student once named Phoebe, spelled just like Feabe!
Everyone butchered her name. Fabe, rhymes with gabe, or Feeb, rhymes with weed. She struggled to learn how to spell it! She got teased SO MUCH by her peers in like 4th-5th grade! She started going by her middle name, Kate, because she was so sick of the bullying and adults not understanding how to pronounce/spell her name. Her dad insisted that it was the superior spelling even with all the confusion,” said Belle0516.
Yet, some pointed out that their adult life can suffer, too
As a child grows up, they enter the workforce and have to network, go on interviews, and work amongst others. Introducing themselves with a challenging name can be a detriment to their work.
“Regardless of all the different ways people here have read the name even if everyone somehow always got it right, getting a job is statistically more difficult for people with uncommon names or uncommon spellings,” wrote ChromaticPalette.
However, some had some decent advice
“Tell her to sit and repeat, ad nauseam, what her child’s name is and how it spelled and pronounced. She is going to have to do this until the child becomes an adult. She should also be aware that in the professional world, people who do this to their children and adults with these types of names, are looked at as a bit less mature and trustworthy as someone with a more mainstream name,” explained brassovaries.
Do you think that this baby name is really out of line?
H/T Reddit
