32-year-old dad-to-be insists on naming his baby after a D&D character, refuses to compromise with wife who likes classic names: 'I don't want to name our child after a fictional character'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Jun 6, 2025 8:00 PM EDT

I understand the appeal of naming a baby after your favorite fictional character. When I was a tween, I was convinced I would name my future baby after one of the non-Cartman characters in South Park. Now that my frontal lobe is fully developed, I understand that explaining to people that my son Stanley is named after Stan Marsh wouldn't be ideal. I know many people who are named after fictional characters and love it. My college roommate, Hallie, was named after Hallie from The Parent Trap, and it fits her perfectly. However, there's a difference between naming your baby Stanley or Hallie and naming it something that's intrinsically tied to a particular piece of media within cultural memory. There is a very good reason people aren't naming their babies "Ebenezer," and haven't been since the mid-1800s. They don't want to make Christmastime (and the other 11 months of the year) a living nightmare. 

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  • 01

    AITA for being unwilling to compromise on a baby name?

    I (31 F) am expecting my first child (gender unknown) with my husband (32 M). We have been discussing (arguing about) a name for the last 8 months and now I'm afraid there is going to be a tug of war at the hospital over the birth certificate.
    via u/Individual_Jaguar354
  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10514445312
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • The soon-to-be parents in this story cannot come up with a compromise on their baby's name. The dad wants something identifiable as fiction, whereas the mom prefers more classic (but not dull) names. As the clock ticks down closer to when the baby is coming, the mom is starting to dread his birth.

  • 03
    Cheezburger Image 10514445568
    via Luma Pimentel

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 04
    Stylistically we want very different things. I like "classic" names. To give a few examples for a boy's name: Martin, Silas, Calvin. My husband prefers more unique names--he suggested both Artemis and Entrari from his favorite work of fiction. I don't
    via u/Individual_Jaguar354
  • 05
    Cheezburger Image 10514445824
    via Tom Hermans

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 06
    want to name our child after a fictional assassin and he doesn't want to name his child after "an old man." Combining one "old. man" name with one "unique name/fictional refernce" seems to create a really wierd sounding combination and we are both arguing over the first name anyway. I would love for this to
    via u/Individual_Jaguar354
  • 07
    be a "one no two yes" situation and for both of us to be happy with the child's name, but he hates every single name I suggest and I really don't care for any of his suggestions. I do feel as though I should have a little more influence over the name, if only because he automatically gets the child's last name, no questions
    via u/Individual_Jaguar354
  • 08
    asked. I told him that the child could have whatever name he picked out, on the condition that they get my maiden last name and he refused (I don't actually expect them to have my last name. I was just trying to express that I understand how important the last name is and I would
    via u/Individual_Jaguar354
  • 09
    accept his first name suggestion if I had the priviledge of automatically assuming the last name). I am getting less and less excited about the arrival of the child, because it is surrounded by disagreement after disagreement. I feel like I'm not getting to name the child something that means a lot to me, names that I have had in my notes app since I was in high school. He said that he
    via u/Individual_Jaguar354
  • 10
    doesn't want to sigh (out of distaste) every time he has to call out this child's name. Am I the ahle for really sticking to my guns when it comes to the child's name? Does anyone have any suggestions for compromise?
    via u/Individual_Jaguar354
  • 11
    kindofanasshole17 Don't let your husband name your kid after a D&D character. Jesus. He needs to grow up. NTA
    via u/kindofanasshole17
  • 12
    brencoop "Children are not billboards for your fandoms."
    via u/brencoop
  • 13
    Suitable_Visit_9990 I love the name Zelda but because I love the legend of Zelda series i literally could not do this to my child maybe a cat one day. ETA: People keep replying to let me know Zelda is a real name. Yes I know, but as a Legend of Zelda fan, it would be unwise of me to use that name for a child as she would have become a "billboard for my fandom" which is the comment I was replying to.
    via u/Suitable_Visit_9990
  • 14
    Silverpaint23 Absolutely this. I'm a pre-K teacher and have had multiple Anakins, Sansas, and even a Renesmee. It's wild.
    via u/Silverpaint23
  • 15
    Greedy-Win-4880 This guy sounds extremely immature. If he wants to get a dog or a fish and name it after a character then go for it but they are naming an actual human being who has to live with this name.
    via u/Greedy-Win-4880
  • 16
    DementedPlatypus I told my wife the name I wanted if we had a boy, she said no. That's how I ended up with a miniature dachshund named Nunzio.
    via u/DementedPlatypus
  • 17
    AroundTheWayJill I'm interviewing ppl for a just-above-entry-level job (lots of 18-25 year old applicants) and roll my eyes at every third resume with some ridiculous name they're saddled with as an adult.
    via u/AroundTheWayJill
  • 18
    DianeJudith At least as an adult they're able to get it changed. OP's child would have 18 years stuck with a tragedeigh name.
    via u/DianeJudith
  • 19
    GerundQueen Suggest an exercise where each of you create a list of baby names you think the other person would like. Emphasize that you get he likes unique names, but he needs to consider your tastes as well. See if you can come up with a list of "cool names" that you think he would like that aren't distasteful to you, and ask that he do the same. Are there characters from books, comics, movies he likes that have more traditional names? Are there "vintage" or "classic" names that are more unique
    via u/GerundQueen
  • 20
    Names I thought of: Xander, Ansel, Asher, Lucas, Levi, Milo, Jude, Felix, Finn, Isaac, Malachai
    via u/GerundQueen
  • 21
    androidfifteen My husband and I were like OP and couldn't agree. I like common names and he likes more unique names (most of which are video game or anime inspired).
    via u/androidfifteen
  • 22
    We did something similar to what you suggested; we looked at a list of 1000 most popular names of the year and picked out the ones we liked separate from one another. I had a good 50+ names I would have been happy with and my husband picked only 5, but one of them happened to also on my list and is now our son's name.
    via u/androidfifteen
  • 23
    sphericalduck This is basically what we did, except we just printed one list and we both crossed names off we disliked until only one name was left.
    via u/sphericalduck
  • 24
    Confident_Ad_6220 My husband and I agreed that if it was a girl, I could pick the first name and he could pick the middle and vice versa for a boy's name, with both of us getting a reasonable number of vetos. We didn't need too many vetos but OP might- try 12 or whatever lawyers use for jury selection. We ended up with our son having a relatively popular
    via u/Confident_Ad_6220
  • 25
    historical name (I won't specify, but he sometimes runs into other boys with that name) and my maiden name as his middle name (a somewhat common practice). We were very happy either way. Our son says he loves his name. I think it helps that it has nickname options so he can choose what people call him.
    via u/Confident_Ad_6220
  • 26
    Freshiiiiii In my opinion it is somewhat selfish of a parent to specifically want anime/video game themed names when they don't know whether their kid will even be interested in those things
    via u/Freshiiiiii

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