Adults complain about parents that give their kids weird names: 'This is a human being that will have to go to school, apply for jobs'

Author image for Ally Perry
Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
May 18, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

No matter what parents choose to name their kids, how they will feel about that when they grow up is one big gamble. What you consider a beautiful, solid name that honors your grandma they might find old-fashioned and unsuited to them. It also can't be denied that you are taking a much bigger risk when you go the creative route in the naming process. When somebody spends their entire childhood correcting pronunciations and facing raised eyebrows, they might not be so flattered that you thought they were special enough for you to get weird with it. 

This has been the subject of a recent thread that complained about those parents who gave their kids extremely unusual names. While some people pushed back on the assertion that this was "super selfish", many were in agreement that it's best not to go wild on babynames.com. Your children are better off standing out in other ways.

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    Sara @saraaaaajean Friday night hot take. Follow Naming your child an extremely unusual or weirdly spelled name is super selfish. This is a human being who will have to go to school, apply to jobs, etc. Not a toy. Quit naming your kids “Brayleighhh” to fulfill your weird fetish for being unique.
    via saraaaaajean
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    Sara @saraaaaajean .3d Replying to @saraaaaajean My dad wasn't even remotely religious but gave me a biblical name cuz "it would never be weird." I hated sharing my name with 3 kids in my class but honestly, I love it now. It's easy and everyone can spell and pronounce it & no one ever looks at me twice cuz I have a weird name.
    via saraaaaajean
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    Sara @saraaaaajean • 3d Replying to @saraaaaajean Obviously, this doesn't apply to cultural names or names that are common in non-white countries. I'm talking about white people who toss a few vowels together and call it a day. 24 1741 883 ılı 30.1K Sara @saraaaaajean • 3d also, give your kids cool nicknames. We've had a girl name picked out for years and I sold Alex on it because we can call her "Bam Bam” (initials will be BAM). My kid will have a normal name for her life but I'm gonna call her
    via saraaaaajean
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    Anna Lee - CRE Leasi... @CRELeasingLawTX Replying to @saraaaaajean Follow I like the Supreme Court Test, which is "if my kid was nominated for the Supreme Court, would their name sound ridiculous?" - leaves room for interesting choices but nothing wild and no extreme alternate spellings of regular names
    via CRELeasingLawTX
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    Sara @saraaaaajean • 2d I like that! I saw someone posted a good method is look at the names in the 100-150 list if you want something that isn't crazy common but won't be unheard of. The name I've had chosen for years used to be in that list but is becoming more common tho so what can you do lol
    via saraaaaajean
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    Taylor E. Darcy ❤ @tayloredarcy Replying to @saraaaaajean Follow I don't know about the whole selfish/ fetish thing, but I will say that my kids have non-crazy and regularly spelled names, and it makes their lives easier—no weird pronunciations or misspellings. Teachers don't have to struggle to say their names, and other kids can't easily make fun of them.
    via tayloredarcy
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    LCB @ProfLCB • 3d Replying to @saraaaaajean One of the funniest threads I've ever read was written by a woman who was bored at her son's long Utah high school graduation ceremony. So she tweeted dozens of the kids' first names that were absurd, like Rykrr or Bryslinn or whatever.
    via ProfLCB
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    Andrew Johnson @JAndrewJ86.2d Replying to @saraaaaajean Yup. My wife and I agreed on "unique, but not weird, and not unusual to spell❞ when we were picking names for our son. We settled on Carter.
    via JAndrewJ86
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    Minomuna @MimimyNL 2d Replying to @saraaaaajean I never agreed with something more in my life And from personal experience: Parents, please agree on the pronunciation of the name before you make it final instead making the child live with two completely different versions
    via MimimyNL
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    kkh @tafftaffk • 2d Replying to @saraaaaajean The irony is, my children both have utterly familiar and traditional names, but they are very unusual in their age group. (Preschool director said in 35 years she had not had a child with my daughter's name.)
    via tafftaffk
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    Jessica Manners @Jessica Manners1 • 2d Replying to @saraaaaajean It's a new world out there though. My daughter is named Leah. Her classmate is named Leigha. Guess which spelling adults always pronounce correctly, and which spelling is frequently mispronounced "LAY-ah"? Classic spellings are the new weird.
    via JessicaManners1
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    Ames Grawert @AmesCG 3d • Replying to @saraaaaajean Some of us like our unique names 22 61 ılı 13.2K Sara @saraaaaajean • 3d You say this but your name isn't Bruxtnynnn
    via AmesCG
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    Ellen Chang @EllenYChang 2d Replying to @saraaaaajean I totally agree. I have spent my entire life spelling my name (I do make a lot of calls) and my name is short. I can't imagine the nightmare other people go through.
    via EllenYChang
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    Sherrod DeGrippo @sherrod_im. 2d Replying to @saraaaaajean Please change your attitude on this. I love my name and would prefer not to have people like you be prejudiced against me because it is unusual. You can change your view of names you aren't used to and expand your acceptance of something that doesn't harm you. 21 ♡77 ılı 9.2K 8 Sara @saraaaaajean · 2d I don't judge you at all. I would kind of judge your parents if your name was Lyxanylynn.
    via sherrod_im
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    William B. F kley @opinonhaver . 1d two axises for names: uniqueness and weirdness. you want high-unique (there aren't going to be like 6 others in their class, etc), low weird (easy to spell, pronounce in whatever main cultural context they're in, not going to be teased for it, etc)
    via opinonhaver
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    constans @constans. 1d People are pretending to be offended about this on behalf of Asian and African immigrants or those of us with long ethnic last names, but they're only doing that to justify their decision to name their kid Trajedeigh
    via constans
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    Robin Typhina Rex @TyphinaRex Follow I firmly believe in consulting the list and picking a name in the 100th to 150th most popular. won't be one of seven Liams in their class, but also won't have to spend their life spelling out Bruhnchleygh there are some sketchy names in this range, but mostly solid choices 100 Gael 0.1975% Allison 0.1510% 101 Austin 0.1898% Aubrey 0.1471% 102 Adam 0.1897% Millie 0.1463% 103 Jameson 0.1896% Melody 0.1462% 104 August 0.1878% Ayla 0.1459% 105 Xavier 0.1864% Sere
    via TyphinaRex
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    Barred and Bearded @RileeDHarrison Follow My name is spelled Rilee. One time a judge said "oh that's a unique spelling". I made a joke that my parents didn't know how to spell. He then said "I'd be careful with the joke, that's how we spelled it for our daughter too". I have not stepped foot in his courtroom since.
    via RileeDHarrison
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    Jessica Ellis @baddestmamajama • 2d My hot take on this as a non and never will be parent is you shouldn't name kids anything til they're like 3, there is no way I am supposed to be a Jessica and if they'd just waited a few years I could've told them.
    via baddestmamajama

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