Woman applauded for warning sister about her daughter’s name

‘That’s a child that is going to pay to legally change their name when they turn 18,’ one Reddit commenter wrote

The now pre-teen daughter no longer wants to be addressed by her birth name (Getty Images)

When it comes to naming a child there is always the chance that some people won’t like the name, and one woman made sure to point it out to her sister that this could have consequences.

In a recent Reddit post shared to the popular “Am I The A**hole?” subreddit, she explained that some years ago, her younger sister, Ramona, made the decision to name her daughter Egwene. “Now I love my younger sister, and we’ve always gotten along pretty well, however she has always been into nerdy pop culture stuff, she plays D&D weekly, loves Marvel movies and is obsessed with fantasy novels. Her favorite as you may have guessed is The Wheel of Time series,” she clarified.

Although her niece’s full name is Egwene al’Vere, the family was confused and not in favor of the name, but it was left to big sis to let Ramona know it might not be a good idea.

“I tried to approach the subject calmly. I even gave her the ‘You’re naming a human being’ speech, but she said she knew best,” she detailed in the post. “After a brief back and forth I flat out told her, her daughter was going to get bullied. She blew up at me and I didn’t push the issue any further because I could see that she wouldn’t budge.”

Her niece is now 11 years old and prefers to be called Gwen. She has also increasingly expressed how she doesn’t like her own name because teachers can never pronounce it correctly, while classmates also make fun of her for it. Despite her preference for Gwen or even just Egwene, Ramona still calls her by her full name.

“Ramona has tried venting that Egwene won’t shut up about her name and she doesn’t know what she’s gonna do about her,” the Reddit post continued. “I kind of sarcastically said if only someone had warned you. She asked what I meant. I said she named her daughter something stupid and now she’s facing the consequences.”

The argument resulted in Ramona making the decision that Egwene is no longer allowed to come over to her aunt’s house because she is “putting bad thoughts into her head.”

AITAH for telling my sister I told you so because her daughter hates her name?
byu/New-Fail849 inAITAH

“She’s also roped in our mother who agreed with me about the name, but said it was a low blow to bring up that I had warned her, and that I should just suck it up and apologize. I don’t think I need to apologize, but thought I should get an outside opinion,” the post concluded.

Many people responded in the comments section, explaining that they think the poster is justified in her concern and should possibly look into starting a “name-change” fund for her niece so she can legally change her name once she turns 18.

“That’s a child that is going to pay to legally change their name when they turn 18. If you want to be a good aunt, I’d look into, get all the info and paperwork, and the money for it for her 18th birthday,” one comment read.

“Nope she had it coming,” another commenter agreed. “I understand liking a name from a fantasy book/movie or whatever else but she failed to acknowledge how it’ll affect her daughter in the future. I bet she will change her name when she turns 18.”

A third commenter pointed out, “Regardless of what you’ve legally named your child, if they seriously want to be called something else, then you should respect that.”

“A name is a huge aspect to identity and one’s self. If the daughter wants to go by Gwen or even a middle name then the parents should respect that. A child is a human with thoughts and feelings, not a living doll to be dressed and paraded.”