Influencer Liana Jade has shared her emotional response to fellow YouTubers who recently made fun of uncommon baby names.
Jade and her partner, Connor Darlington, have more than two million subscribers on YouTube, where they frequently post videos about their relationship and family. In July, the pair announced the arrival of their son, Koazy, whose name is pronounced like “Cosy”.
In a recent video posted to her TikTok, Jade addressed some of the backlash that she’s faced over he son’s name, and called out YouTubers Matt and Abby for a recent episode of The Unplanned Podcast, where they discussed baby names.
“No hate but you might have seen that the couple Matt and Abby,” she said, with tears in her eyes. “They were talking about people naming their kids new, original names…They were saying how ridiculous some of these new, unique names were.”
While the couple didn’t specifically mention the name Koazy, Abby did claim in their video that some of the baby names “that are out there nowadays” kind of “bug her,” which Matt agreed with. Abby also claimed that giving a child a name that hasn’t been used before “might not be the flex that [people] think it is” and could be “a red flag”.
In her TikTok video, Jade went on tearfully address how her child’s name came to be.
“Basically, our baby is called Koazy, and I know it’s not everybody’s cup of tea,” Jade explained. “But people have kind of pulled our context that we called him Koazy because he was cosy in the womb. No, it was a name we already had.”
The influencer acknowledged that the name felt even more fitting during her pregnancy, explaining: “As I was getting so hefty pregnant, people were saying: ‘Oh he’s cosy in your belly.’ And it kind of confirmed to us that’s what we should name him. Because we already had that name and people were saying it.”
After noting that it felt like her son’s name was “meant to be,” she also acknowledged that she “wasn’t trying to name him anything for a flex”. She then shared that when viewers in the comments of Matt and Abby’s video “ripped at” her baby’s name, it “really upset” her.
“I knew everyone wasn’t going to love the name so I am not going to sit here defending it,” Jade added. “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. But it’s just different when there’s this comment section open on such a big influencer’s video of people, fully grown adults, just sat there slandering my baby’s name.”
She concluded her video by highlighted what she’d considered if she ever posted her take on baby names.
“I think it’s quite cruel,” the influencer added. “And if I posted that video personally and I was going to express that opinion that I had, I think I would be very mindful of who was being named and how that could have an effect on other people.”
Matt and Abby have now disabled the comments of their podcast’s TikTok video, in which they discussed how “Baby names have gotten out of control in 2023”.
As of 14 March, Jade’s video has more than six million views, with TikTok users in the comments showing their support for her and praising her son’s name.
“Hey Liana, Koazy is such a cute name don’t worry about it, the cl fam probably love the name, much love to you, Conor and Koazy,” one person wrote.
“All that matters is that you and your partner love the name,” added Love Island star Molly-Mae Hague, who recently gave her newborn daughter an uncommon name: Bambi.
A third wrote: “I taught someone called Koazy and everyone absolutely loved it! I think it’s super unique.”
Other viewers went on to slam critics who made any rude comments on Liana’s baby name choice.
“You just said fully grown adults. If they can’t be an adult and respect the name of your child they’re not worth the attention!!” one wrote.
“I honestly don’t know how people can attack babies!! I LOVE unusual names and I think Koazy is such an adorable name!!” another added.
The Independent has contacted Jade and Matt and Abby for comment.
