Gen Zer Telling Sister Her Baby Name Is 'Completely Unacceptable' Applauded
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A 20-year-old man has described how he felt he was left with little choice but to speak up after his elder sister revealed what she and her husband had decided to name their daughter.
Baby-name choice may be a matter of personal preference, but research has shown how an individual's moniker can influence how they are perceived in social circles.
In a 2011 study published in Social Psychological and Personality Science, researchers concluded that people with names perceived positively by others were more likely to make a positive social impression.
The importance of first impressions was emphasized in the study, with researchers noting that they provide a "strong basis for processing subsequent information about the person."
Given the potential importance placed on a name, it is perhaps understandable that the Reddit user behind the profile u/Odd_Age1378 would have an issue with his sister's choice of name.
The brother's post said she and her husband had been "struggling a lot" to come up with a name. "Even by the time of her baby shower, she didn't seem to be any closer to picking something out," the poster wrote.
With time ticking on, the brother thought he would make light of the situation by sending her a list of joke names. "She's a nurse, and I'm a biology student, so all the names were medications, infections, unpleasant animals, etcetera, that all sound like lovely girls' names out of context," he wrote.
Then, two weeks later, the most-unexpected thing happened: she chose a name from her brother's list. "The baby's name is Malassezia," he said. "The name of a very common fungal infection. One that my sister and I are both genetically predisposed to."
Concerned that it was also nearly impossible to pronounce, the brother urged his sister to reconsider, but she insisted she "really liked the way it sounded."
"She says that it's so obscure that no one will ever think twice about it," he added.
The brother continued to push for a change, though, telling her that it was a completely unacceptable choice of name. She was furious and said he had no business telling her to change the name and was way out of line.
The brother thinks otherwise, though, blaming her name choice on "pregnancy hormones" and warning that she would "regret the decision very soon after her daughter is born."
The Expert's View
Blanka Molnar, a conscious parenting coach, felt that, while a baby name is a matter of personal choice, sometimes a different perspective is needed.
Molnar told Newsweek: "Every parent makes their own choices, and in an ideal world, nobody should criticize them for anything. But—and that's a big 'but'—there are cases when sharing a different point of view, especially from somebody who is not emotionally involved in the situation, might help to influence the parents' choices and decision-making process for the better."
Though Molnar understood the desire among parents to give their child a "unique" name, she felt the practice could "create long-term challenges for a child, ranging from frequent misspellings and mispronunciations to misunderstandings and even identity confusion."
"Some parents think only in the short term and forget to consider that a name is meant to be forever," Molnar said. "A name meant to be the same when the child is a toddler, or attends school—kids can be cruel picking on names; starts their first job; and when they turn 80 years old."
What Reddit Said
Those commenting on Reddit were inclined to agree with this stance. "While your sis is right that it's her parental right, you're not stepping out of line -- you're family and you're cautioning her," one wrote. "That is horrible to name a child that," a second commented.
A third added: "Even without the fact that it's the name of a fungal infection, it's so clunky and with 'a**' smack dab in the middle, there's way too many opportunities for that baby to get teased when they get to school. It's just cruel. Hopefully your sister wakes up before she makes a huge mistake."
Newsweek reached out to u/Odd_Age1378 to verify the details of this case.
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