Names are important to get right. They are our first point of reference, can be make or break in terms of making a good first impression, and can be either a lifelong blessing or a curse, depending on what the name is.
Some people are named after late family members, while others may take their monikers from the place their parents met – enter Georgia (as in the US state), Afton (as in Ayrshire’s River Afton) and Troy (the ancient city).
But what if you were named after one of your parents’ former lovers? This is what happened to a woman online recently, who shared her outrage about being named after her dad’s ex-fling on Reddit.
Posting about the forum, she wrote: “I came across an Instagram post recently of an older woman who came across her first real boyfriend from when they were teenagers and when the man introduced his daughter… he had her name.
“The comment section was full of disgust, but also, TONS of stories where people have witnessed things like this. 99 per cent of the time, the mothers of those babies didn’t find out until much later where those name suggestions came from!”
Detailing her own experience, the woman went on: “My middle name is Renee. My mum figured because she fully picked my older brother’s name and my first name, she’d let my dad take a stab at picking my middle name.
“Only later did she find out he got the name from some random lady he thought was super hot on a cruise ship.” Glumly, the poster added: “Thanks, father.”
Although the situation may seem rare, it turns out it might be more common than we think. The comment section on Reddit, for example, was awash with people sharing similar woes.
“This happened with my aunt’s name,” one user explained. “I guess my grandfather came home one day after a business trip and pitched the name ‘Deborah’ to my grandmother. She liked it, it was settled.
“It wasn’t until much later that she found out it was the name of a waitress he met on that trip whom he thought was attractive. They later divorced, he took off, and my grandma raised four young kids as a single working mum.”
A second wrote: “The girl he was head over heels with in high school was [nickname] – short for [that name]. We’d had an issue over her during the start of our relationship so I was very familiar. I could’ve killed him on the spot.” A third was firm: “Personally I really hate people like this.”
Other people gave the man in question the benefit of the doubt, though. One gave their view: “My feel is that men in general give less thought to it. Like, ‘I need a name…. Hmm what names do I know? Ohhh yeah that cool woman I’ve met, that’s a nice name‘.”
Another individual agreed, chiming in: “I think that’s also an interesting theory that crossed my mind as well! Like instead of searching for new names they just cross reference their own memory. I still think they should be forthcoming with their partners about where the name comes from, however, before giving it to a child.”
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