A mum has faced harsh criticism online after announcing the unusual name she's picked for her son, with trolls blasting her choice as "disgusting". Lexis Kelly, 20, gave birth in December and knew she didn't want to plump for a widely used name.
The full-time university student, from Wirral, Merseyside, named her little boy Koa Henry Langley, after discovering that this first name translates as "brave warrior" in Hawaiian. She thinks it suits him "Like a glove".
After sharing the name on TikTok, where she goes by the username @lexisfletcher, Lexis soon found herself fuelling cruel comments from nasty trolls, who told her they "feel sorry" for the child.
According to Lexis: "I have been told it's a disgusting name, that I need to remember I'm naming an adult and not a child. As well as being told that it's ugly, funny, too girly, too hard to spell, ridiculous, and too hard to pronounce."
In a TikTok video that has gained more than 647,000 views, 24,000 likes, and thousands of comments, Lexis and baby Koa could be seen sitting on the sofa while the proud mum lip-synced to a song.
Addressing her followers in the clip, Lexis said: "When I picked an unusual name for my son and everyone constantly asks how it's spelled or pronounced."
The name holds a special significance for Lexis, who experienced a difficult pregnancy before welcoming her "happy, healthy boy". As well as being unable to keep any food and water down, she suffered from anemia and was also administered blood thinner injections to reduce the risk of clotting.
Lexis was induced early, but the procedure didn't work and she ended up having to endure 43 hours of labour before doctors eventually decided to carry out a c-section due to the young mum's heart rate "slipping".
She recalled: "Despite everything, he came out really healthy, weighing seven pounds, three ounces. He was so brave throughout, so the name matched perfectly."
Her recent video sadly sparked further criticism, with one person commenting: "I feel sorry for the children with an unusually spelled name, they have to spell it to others for the rest of their lives."
Another wrote: "It's hard for me to imagine meeting a human named Koa, it's my dog's name."
A third said: "You're naming an adult not a kid."
Others however thought Koa was a perfectly "lovely name", with a fourth person applauding: "Koa is such a cute name I might name my child that."
A fifth agreed: "I know a baby whose name is spelled 'Koah'. It's a lovely name."
Regardless of what people might think, Lexis chooses not to take mean comments to heart, explaining: "I would much rather have an unusual name for my child than for him to have the same common name as 20 other people in his class when he grows up.
"Everyone is entitled to an opinion and mine is that is it a gorgeous name and it matches him perfectly. It has an amazing, strong meaning to it and he is my son, that is the name I chose for him."
Do you have a baby name story to share? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
