Real Moms Share: Baby Name Disasters
By Charlotte Hilton Andersen, REDBOOK
Most of the time, baby names elicit little more than a cooing "Oh, how sweet!" Occasionally; however, people either hate the name you carefully chose out for your little one or they love it... too much, as evidenced by these moms' stories!
"When my daughter was born one of the nurses asked what we would be naming her. We said "Azalea". She looked puzzled for a moment, then said "She doesn't look like an azalea". I took it to mean she's not red and green and covered in petals." - Alyssa
"We've pretty much just chosen normal, well-worn names for our kids. And each time we've named then, we've received strange looks and comments such as: "I thought you could be a little more creative than that." - Audrey
Related: 12 Hilarious Tips For Moms-to-Be
"When my mom was pregnant with my brother, she planned on naming him Aaron. Until her cousin named her son Aaron three days before my mom went into labor. Needless to say, my little sister [was named] Erin two years later." - Melissa
"My mom had been planning on naming a little girl (if she had one) Dana. She shared this name with her sister. I now have a cousin Dana who's a year older than me, and I became Jaime." - Jaime
"My mother was told by the in-laws in no uncertain terms that she could not use Wayne (my grandfather's name) as a middle name for my brothers, because that was reserved for my dad's older (and only) brother's son. My uncle had five daughters..." - Debbie
"When we brought home our new puppy last year and announced her name to the world, someone quite close to us became upset because unbeknownst to us, the name we had chosen for our dog was the name they had picked for if and when they ever have a daughter. As we value our relationships more than 'winning' in a name war, and also we feel people take priority over dogs we surrendered the name." - Elizabeth
"The comments that bother me the most are when people think our boys are girls based on their names. Courtland and Marius are not girl names...Marius literally means "male" for Pete's sake!" - Trista
Related: 9 Shortcuts to Total Beauty Happiness
"My brother and sister-in-law decided to name their son Roman Atticus. They'd spent years coming up with the name and it was full of significance to them. Well, they made the mistake of telling people, and a few months before their son was born her cousin stole the name! They couldn't remember where they got the idea and claimed it had just come to them." - Bekky
"My wife's grandmother would come up with her own name for our kids, and even after they were born would-for several months-continue to call them the name SHE had chosen." - Kevin
"I had 5 sisters that were all having babies before me, and all I can say is at least I have nieces & nephews with names I adore! Also, I kept Blythe's name secret from the time I was 14 until I was 32-and only told my husband when we found out we were getting a little girl." - Sara
"My husband's grandmother was extremely pushy. So much so that she named all of his siblings. By the time John was born, she had died, and his mom finally got to name a child herself." - Voni
"My oldest daughter is named Teal. When I tell people that, I am always asked the same question: "Like the color?" At first, I used to smile and say "Yes", then as I got bored with the same routine, I would respond, "No, like the duck." This has stopped more than few people in their tracks." - Melissa
Has anyone ever hated your baby's name? Or love it so much they stole it?
More from REDBOOK:
Permissions:Reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc.
