I know that a majority of people put a lot of thought into what they’re going to name their child. They have lists and criteria, they whittle them down together, they try to imagine every reason that name would come back to haunt their kiddo, etc etc.
That said, when we hear some people’s choices, we can wonder what on earth they were thinking during the entire process – or if they had a real process at all.
These people are set on giving their kids meaningful but “different” names, despite the fact that one of their families is super Catholic and expecting something more traditional.
They say those “normal” names are fine, they’re just not “them,” and they’ve already decided on the names for their twin boys.
I’m 24f and my fiancé is 27m. We’re currently expecting twin boys after trying for a year. We’ve never been more happy.
My family are non-religious and his are practicing catholics. He is not. I’m 7 months along and his family are asking what we’re thinking of naming them. We’ve already decided on their names. Phoenix Grey and Griffin Dean.
We’ve never been ones for the run of the mill names. My name is out of the ordinary and my fiancé goes by his middle name Cassius. The idea of calling our children, not that these names are wrong or bad, Daniel or Thomas or Samuel doesn’t sit right with us. It isn’t us.
OP’s in-laws are upset, not only because the names aren’t traditional but because they glorify mythological creatures from different religions, etc.
OP argues they’re powerful names and they want their kids to feel powerful.
My in laws are furious. One: because they’re not traditional names, two: do not bare any affiliation to family members; my fiancé is named after his grandfather, his sister is named after his aunt etc, and three: because they’re mythical creatures from other cultures. That is apparently what they dislike the most. But we really love the names.
We already have a girls name picked out too, Valkyrie Lee to pay homage to my Danish grandparents that cared for me when I was a teen. We actually came up with this name before I even got pregnant.
We like that all the names match in that they are powerful beings that can fly. We want to make our children feel powerful too.
Her in-laws made some suggestions for compromises, but OP and her fiancee aren’t really into it.
Is she being too rigid?
My FIL says to use them as middle names and give them family names as first names but we are already in love with the full names we’ve given them. We’ve even started calling them by them and bought embroidered blankets and clothes.
As these are the first babies of both families, my MIL thinks I’m being selfish by not giving them traditional family names and that not doing so will set a bad precedent for the others.
Am I being too stubborn?
Reddit’s going to respond, and they’re going to do their best to remember they’re not here to actually judge the names they’ve chosen, too.
This comment says no, they’re not wrong to stand up to their in-laws…however, they might want to really think about why they’re choosing a name for their child.
Image Credit: Reddit
From someone who has been there, though, having an odd name really isn’t the big deal people seem to think it might be.
Image Credit: Reddit
Others think the names are nice, whatever, and it’s really no one’s business except theirs and the future children.
Image Credit: Reddit
We’re ignoring the fact that the in-laws have their own selfish reasons.
Image Credit: Reddit
Family names are also a super dubious concept in this day and age.
Image Credit: Reddit
I have to agree here that a) the actual names are none of our business and b) the names aren’t that bad or strange. There are kids with all of those names in my kid’s preschool, so they may not be as edgy as OP thinks.
What do you think? Let us know how you feel about different names in the comments!
