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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Paige Freshwater

'My family are demanding I change son's unique name or he'll be bullied for life'

A mum is facing abuse from her own family after giving her son a "weird'' name - as they say he will be bullied for life.

The 24-year-old woman explained how she has a "super common name" - and doesn't want her son to blend into the background like she does.

But after announcing her son's 'weird and uncommon' name to her family, she was called a b**** for damning him to a lifetime of "bullying".

Explaining her issue on Reddit, she said: "I am nine months pregnant with a boy. After finding out the gender, my husband and I told everybody the name we chose.

"I picked a 'weird" name, according to some of the people on my side of the family who are a lot more traditional. The thing is, I see this name as perfectly normal.

The name ranked in 100th place on nameberry's top 100 baby names in the US for 2021 (Getty Images/Image Source)

"I've seen it in quite a few places and it's in the top 100 boys name chart - but it's not a super common name for a boy like Charles or Jacob."

She went on to explain how she is naming her son Xavier, which ranked in 100th place on nameberry's top 100 baby names in the US for 2021.

"I have a super, super common female name and I've always hated it," she added.

"Going to school with six other girls in the same grade with the same first name, let alone the whole school.

"So growing up, I always knew I wasn't going to pick some common name and be done with it, but I also didn't want to pick a name that was too uncommon or unique.

"When I first told my family the name I got some backlash - comments like 'That's a weird name', 'I'm not going to call him that', or 'Can't you use a name like 'Alex' or 'Isaac?'."

She says she was able to shut down these comments - but things turned even more sour when she visited her grandmother to speak about his name.

She wants him to stand out at school and in the workplace (stock photo) (Getty Images)

She said: "When I saw her, she brought up the name. She really tried to stress to me that I should change his name to something more 'normal'.

"I asked her how she could think about that again so late down the line.

"This has been his name for months. She told me that it wasn't too late to change his name as he hasn't been born yet and the name wasn't on a birth certificate. I told her no.

"She called me selfish for not changing his name to something easier. She told me how he probably wouldn't be able to spell his own name for a while.

"I pointed out that unless it was a really, really simple name, a lot of kids struggle with spelling their own name for a bit. There's nothing wrong with that.

"Then she said other kids would make fun of him for his name and I told her that just because she had never heard of the name, doesn't mean it isn't a well known name in this day and age.

"Sure, it still isn't commonly used as far as I can tell, but it's still a known name.

"I told her no, that his name is final and I'm not changing it no matter what anybody says.

"She called me a b**** and [said] that I'm just causing unnecessary problems. I said she was causing more problems then I was and I left."

But after such a strong conversation, the woman has been left wondering whether she should change her son's name for his best interests.

She asked Reddit users: "After thinking about it, I do kind of see how I might be the a***hole for giving my kid a slightly uncommon name.

"Is he really going to get bullied over it? I mean, I know that kids will bully another kid over anything, but this is something I can control. But I really don't want to change it."

In response, one user said: "I’ll admit I’m usually pretty judgy about ridiculous baby names, but Xavier is a totally normal and pronounceable name. It’s very cute!"

Another user added: " I actually know an Xavier. Most kids can’t spell their name for a while - that’s an awful deterrent. Next time don’t tell anyone the name."

A third user said: "Xavier is a very common name globally. Your family seems a bit out of touch."

Do you have a story to share? Email paige.freshwater@reachplc.com.

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