UPDATE: 31-year-old Mom of 3 and 4-year-old insists on naming newborn baby girl a "verb": 'My sister burst out laughing'

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Feb 1, 2026 11:00 AM EST

This new Mom was surprised at the strong reactions to her new baby's name. 

When you're wrong about something, it's not always easy to hear. We all want to be right all the time, but that's just not realistic. And that's why it's good to surround yourself not with yes-men, but with friends and family members who truly care about you. 

They say when it comes to naming your baby, there have to be 2 "yes" answers. Both parents need to really love the name, and if either one of them doesn't like it, they should pick a different name for their child. Maybe a small addendum could be made here, too — you might want to run the name past a few of your friends and family members, too. 

This new Mom found herself in a humiliating situation, the kind that happens usually in a bad dream, not in real life. She revealed her baby's name to her family members, and they did not react well. The "unique" name they chose for the baby was perhaps unique for a reason. I understand where the parents are coming from by picking a name that would "convey that our daughter's both loving and open to change." What a strange thing to think about your freshly born daughter! You don't even know her at that point. She might have those qualities, or not, but to impose them upon her from a young age is awfully strange. 

In addition, the name they chose isn't just a "verb," but it's a suggestion to everyone who meets her. It would be like naming your kid "Handshake," and then wondering why everyone who meets her gives her a strange look. 

If anything, I think that maybe this could've been a beautiful middle name, since those are mainly just used on legal forms. But still… the relief you'll feel when you check the update is palpable. The parents reconsidered the baby name after reading the absolute tidal wave of comments ranging from kind redirection to harsh, but matter-of-fact, scolding. And who knows, maybe in 20 years, the baby will read this post and give us her reflections on the name she was almost given. 

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  • 01
    Mom and Dad hold baby between them and smile at baby
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • 02
    I (31) have two sons, Jesse (4) and Lukas (3), and just had my third child a few days ago, and it's a girl. I love all of my children equally, but we've always wanted a daughter, so we decided to choose a meaningful name for her. Some names we considered were Amara, Esme, Selene, and Rosalie, but we wanted something more unique, so I suggested Embrace because I think it's a lovely name and also unique because it'd convey that
    via u/OddCandy0302
  • 03
    our daughter's both loving and open to change. My husband loved the idea, and we settled on naming our baby girl Embrace. Yesterday, I went over to my parents' place so they could meet her for the first time. My older sister and younger brothers (30 and 25) were also there, and my sister asked if I had decided on what to name her. Me and my
    via u/OddCandy0302
  • 04
    husband told them that we were going to name her Embrace, and my sister burst out laughing. She said that my daughter's going to be bu ied and her name's going to be punned the h I out of if I name her a verb, but I argued that it has a beautiful meaning and is more unique than a lot of names that convey similar meaning. One of my brothers (30) and dad said that my sister had a point, my youngest brother
    via u/OddCandy0302
  • 05
    said that he didn't want any involvement in this conflict, and my mom told my sister not to be so negative and defended my decision. This resulted in a huge argument and I ended up leaving with my husband in tears. I asked a few close friends for their opinions, and some say that both sides are understandable while others are telling me that my sister is right
    via u/OddCandy0302
  • 06
    and the name won't age well. So Reddit, AITA for naming my daughter a "verb?"
    via u/OddCandy0302
  • 07

    Commenters collectively took a breath and screamed "NO!" at the tops of their lungs

    S... You CAN name your child anything you'd like. That doesn't mean you SHOULD. Think about teenage boys and a girl named "Embrace." That should give you plenty of reasons not to do this to her. I'm all in favor of "you
    via u/Speckle-Fried-Pickle
  • 08
    do you" but this is a bridge too far. Maybe translate it into an obscure language? YWBTA if you go through with this. (Edited to add judgment.)
    via u/Speckle-Fried-Pickle
  • 09
    Sajem YTA for the reasons others have said. Also! it'd convey that our daughter's both loving and open to change
    via u/Sajem
  • 10
    Your daughters what - a few days old? - how the living h I do you know how she's going to be, she could turn out to be a narcissistic
    via u/Sajem
  • 11
    TravisBlink YTA. You have every right to name your kid something dumb though.
    via u/TravisBlink
  • 12
    cachalker Well, you can name your daughter whatever you want. The meaning behind it won't change the way kids are going to react to it. Because the other kids don't give a flip that it has this meaning for you.
    via u/cachalker
  • 13
    I'd lay down good odds that she's going to adopt a nickname by the time she's 10. Something common and unobtrusive. Something like Emmy. I speak from experience here. I have an unusual name. One that had meaning for my parents. One that I was teased about so much, I actually begged my parents to change it. One that
    via u/cachalker
  • 14
    invited some off color jokes during my teen years. I hated my name throughout my childhood. Adulthood brought acceptance. But I made sure not to saddle either of my kids with quirky names.
    via u/cachalker
  • 15
    Silly_Cheetah_706 I am sorry that I have to say please don't name your baby Embrace. It will be a name she hates and gets ridiculed for. YTA
    via u/Silly_Cheetah_706
  • 16
    cthulularoo YTA, while not as bad as some of the bad names out there, this is still pretty cringe. Parents who do this give off a lot of main character energy.
    via u/cthulularoo
  • 17

    'Update: AITA for naming my daughter a “verb?”'

    So two weeks ago I made a post asking if I was TA for wanting to name my newborn daughter Embrace, a name implying love, because my sister, father, one of my brothers, and a few close friends said that the name could be embarrassing for my daughter in the future and wasn't a good idea.
    via u/OddCandy0302
  • 18
    I discussed things with my husband a few days ago and showed him the post + comments, and we both agreed that it might not be a good idea to name her something so unusual (some of the YTA comments were harsh but I needed the reality check, thanks). After that I arranged to meet with my sister the next day, and we both apologized to each other for the argument.
    via u/OddCandy0302
  • 19
    Anyways, after some discussion and advice from my immediate family and some friends, we decided to name our baby girl Amara instead. Everyone seems to love the name (including us ofc) so that's good and we're set on Amara, but if we decide to choose something else we still have until August because my daughter was born on June 13th and our country gives you 60 days to register the baby after its birth.
    via u/OddCandy0302
  • 20
    Thank you to everyone who provided their help by reading my original post and commenting their opinion, it was great help. :)
    via u/OddCandy0302
  • 21
    Mom holds baby while Dad hugs her from behind and smiles at baby
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

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