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Expectant parents feel pressure to give their child the perfect name.
For some perfection means something edgy and cool. But while the parent may earn kudos for creativity, the child has to spend the rest of their lives with that name.
It was consideration for an as yet unborn child that spurred a young woman, age 19, to confront their pregnant friend, age 21, over the chosen moniker for their unborn progeny.
Afterward, they turned to the "Am I The A**hole " (AITA) subReddit for moral judgement.
Redditor TaylorSwiftsleftnut asked:
"AITA for telling my pregnant friend her son's name is the most ridiculous thing I've heard?"
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
"Created an account just to post this as I actually can't believe this happened and I am actively losing braincells while trying to recount this, but anyway, about 2 days ago, my friend who is about 7 months pregnant (dad not in picture, we are all in college) told me that she has finally decided on a baby name."
"For context, this girl has been trying to decide a name for the past 7 months and she is the type of person who will name their kids 'makeighleigh' or 'jeydeyn' (she has personally expressed liking names of that sort to me in the past), hence why I was very intrigued to hear what her final decision would be as she is a very, let's say, eccentric and naive midwestern girl."
"She told me that she has decided to name her son 'BLAC' as in the color, but without the K since she said her son is White. I stared at her and asked her to say his full name as her last name is Greene, she did and I was like, are you serious?"
"She said the 'Blac Greene' is intentional, I kid you not, this girl is naming her child Blac Greene."
"So I asked her why she would name her son after colors and she said something along the lines of her liking the uniqueness of the name, no one's gonna have the same name as him, and that if she named him this everyone would think his name is super cool and clever, and that she liked the sultry and mysteriousness of the color black etc..."
"I was dumbfounded and laughed out loud then told her that it was the most ridiculous name I've ever heard; the name Blac itself for a White kid might also be viewed weirdly and that if she liked black so much perhaps she could name her child something less bullying-prone like 'midnight' or something."
"I get the whole wanting to sound cool thing, I once knew a little girl called called Storm Hypelite (spelling vaguely changed for privacy) and that, I guess, is a cool name."
"She got angry at me and called me an a**hole for making her feel stupid and 'being a hater'. I feel kinda bad now."
"Did I go too far?"
The OP added:
"Okay, I know the name midnight isn't better but it was a suggestion off the top of my head at the time since I remembered Blackbear's (the rapper) son being named Midnight. I just don't want the kid to get bullied."
Redditors weighed in by declaring:
- NTA - Not The A**hole
- YTA - You're The A**hole
- NAH - No A**holes Here
- ESH - Everyone Sucks Here
Redditors decided the OP was not the a**hole.
"NTA: it always amuses me when people who can't stand criticism give names to their children that will provoke bullying."
"I mean they have thin skin, they know they hate feeling called out, and yet they choose to give their child a name that will ensure bullying for their whole damn life."
"Until the kid comes of age and changes it." ~ books2246
"This op's friend will be setting her child up to be teased and bullied their entire life. Kids can be cruel." ~ Interesting_Forever2
"Exactly. Kids can be cruel about far less."
"My name is Felicia. Not exactly a common name but not some bullsh*t made up unheard of name."
"Yet still, almost no one can spell it correctly, and a surprising amount of people can't even pronounce it correctly. I was in school when some horse movie called Flicka came out."
"Guess what the a**hole kids called me all year? I get the whole 'bye Felicia' thing from everyone I know and every damn person thinks it's hysterical."
"It is 100% child abuse in my opinion to stick your kid with intentional bully fodder by naming them something like Blac." ~ NeonLemonLime
"These people get pissed off because they're naming the kid so other people will be impressed with them. They don't think about what happens to the kid."
"So dissing the name is a diss on THEM, really. Diss their younique made up name and you're dissing their taste."
"If I name my kid 'John' it's not the most original name, but it says nothing about me really other than that I want my kid to appear inoffensive and conventional." ~ SexyBootlicker
"I mean, if she can't stand criticism of the name now from one person, how does she suppose she would have dealt if everyone else gives her far worse when she posts the birth announcement on Facebook?" ~ HellKat1988
The OP returned with an update.
"I will apologize to her today for the irrational way I reacted. I will also suggest some wonderfully creative names you guys suggested and present it to her."
"Will she change the name though? Stay tuned."
No further updates have been provided yet.