Pregnant woman insists the name “Giovanni” is a French name, gets mad at French friend when he corrects her that it’s Italian: “French and Italian names are basically the same anyway”

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Briana Viser • Writer and Editor
May 26, 2025 3:00 PM EDT

There's a stereotype about Americans, and it's that they're not cultured and know nothing about geography, aka they're kind of stupid. As the United States is home to some of the top universities globally, there's quite an U-shaped distribution of intellect. It also really depends on the state, and where in the state. Take California for example – the coastal cities tend to be much more educated, and anywhere north of San Francisco is basically like being in Alabama. The US is wildly diverse, but the stereotypes must be based on something, right? The US is like a bubble in so many ways, whereas the rest of the world has blurred lines about culture, language, and geography. It's true that most Americans won't be able to point to where Bratislava is on a map, or tell you where Amsterdam is located. 

The story below highlights the arrogant ignorance of the American mind and education system. The protagonist is a man whose friend is pregnant. He's French, and she feels inspired by his French culture. You'd think that if she's so inspired that she would actually get it right? But alas, she doesn't, and doesn't even listen when he tries to correct her. 

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  • 01
    "You ruined the moment"
    via pixelshot / Canva

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    I'm French. My wife and I live in Canada now. My close friend, Emma, is Canadian and has always been fascinated by anything French, my accent, culture, even my name.
    via u/Effectiveoldcow
  • 03
    Emma recently had a baby boy. Months before he was born, she told me she picked a French name for him and couldn't wait for me to hear it. Later, her husband privately told me the name, and I mentioned
    via u/Effectiveoldcow
  • 04
    that it wasn't actually French. I also noted that the middle name had a spelling never used in France. He said they'd been arguing about it, and she wouldn't listen.
    via u/Effectiveoldcow
  • 05
    When the baby was born, she proudly announced the name, saying it was inspired by me and my heritage. The name and spelling were printed on a big sign. Her husband told her to stop calling it
    via u/Effectiveoldcow
  • 06
    French, and I backed him up. I told her the first name was actually Italian, and the middle name had an Americanized spelling. She got really upset, insisting it was all
    via u/Effectiveoldcow
  • 07
    Cheezburger Image 10509856512
    via Nikola93 from Getty Images / Canva

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 08
    French and that French and Italian names are basically the same.
    via u/Effectiveoldcow
  • 09
    She accused me of ruining the moment and said I was r de for correcting her. Now she's mad at me and her husband, and people are calling me aj for saying the name isn't French. AITAH?
    via u/Effectiveoldcow
  • 10
    burndmymouth We gotta know the name.
    via u/burndmymouth
  • 11
    Beccag367 She just called France and Italy basically the same but wonders why people don't agree with her...
    via u/Beccag367
  • 12
    Uncomfort_able-teach Asking someone French for their opinion and expecting anything other than brutal honesty is a very French obsessed Canadian person move.
    via u/Uncomfort_able-teach
  • 13
    hissymissy How is it being a j to tell the truth? Some people just don't want to hear it.
    via u/hissymissy
  • 14
    Your story reminds me of a neighbor (F42) who genuinely seems to think China and Japan are the same country. For example, we'd be talking about what to eat and she'd
    via u/hissymissy
  • 15
    say she loves Japanese food at this place called "Imperial" which is actually a Chinese restaurant. She'd go on about how great the Lo Mein and Sesame Chicken are. When I
    via u/hissymissy
  • 16
    pointed out that those are Chinese dishes and that the restaurant serves Chinese food, she'd agree, then go right back to talking about China and Japan like they're interchangeable.
    via u/hissymissy
  • 17
    There's also a younger neighbor (F20s) who's actually from Japan, and even though she's told the older woman
    via u/hissymissy
  • 18
    Cheezburger Image 10509858304
    via Anastasia Collection / Canva

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 19
    several times that she's Japanese, the woman still says, "Yeah, anyway, you're from China..." It's frustrating when people ignore basic facts and expect you to just go along with it.
    via u/hissymissy
  • 20
    IIIIntroduction5142 Given the substantial French population in Canada, you can pretty well guarantee that OP and the husband won't be the
    via u/IIIIntroduction5142
  • 21
    only ones telling both mother and baby that no, the name is not French, no matter how much she wants to delude herself. Definitely NTA
    via u/IIIIntroduction5142
  • 22
    ILikeHornedAnimals This might be a niche tv thing that comes back to embarrass me later, but there was a girl that was on one of the Teen Mom shows that wanted to
    via u/ILikeHornedAnimals
  • 23
    name her baby "Jonbenet" because she thought she was giving her kid a unique French name to match her French heritage and she got REAMED by people who told her it was
    via u/ILikeHornedAnimals
  • 24
    actually purely the name of a child murder victim that the parents named combining her dad's first and middle names together and this is totally giving that vibe lol! TOOOOTALLY NTA
    via u/ILikeHornedAnimals

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drama relationships lol love family ignorant pregnant reddit thread french Reddit funny culture dating
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