Picking a baby name isn't always easy, and sometimes, you can stumble upon a name that you love only to find out that it has negative associations that you'd rather not have your child compared to for the rest of their life. And one mum has found out the hard way that choosing a name is more complicated than it looks after she settled on a name commonly linked with cats.
The mum explained she wanted to name her impending arrival Felix, but is worried people will make fun of him because of the popular brand of cat food - and the cat featured in the adverts - of the same name. She also said she had already discounted the name Max for her son after friends and family told her they all "knew somebody who had a dog called Max".
Now, the mum isn't sure whether to stick with naming her son Felix, or to choose another name that doesn't have an animal-related connection.
She wrote in a post on Reddit: "I already have a Martha and a Matilda, and for this baby, we were pretty much set on Max - until we came across Felix. We love it, our girls love it.
"The only problem is, when I said the name to a few friends and family members, they said they can't get passed the cat food brand association.
"We had the same with Max at first as everybody knew somebody who had a dog called Max. [But after a while] the name sounded normal. Will the same happen with Felix, or do you just think 'cat' too? I’m hoping the name just becomes him."
Commenters were honest with the mum, with many of them admitting that they do think of the cat food when first seeing or hearing the name - but several said that doesn't stop them from loving it.
One person said: "I do think of Felix the cat and cat food but also that wouldn't put me off. Partially because I'm a cat lover but also a lot of names are also brands, characters and other things. It's a nice name and top 100 in England and Wales (77th) so not unusable by a long way!"
While another wrote: "I absolutely love Felix! I do have a slight association with Felix the cat, the cartoon character, but it makes me adore it even more. I think it’s quite a nice, upbeat-sounding name to me."
And a third said: "I do think cat but I also think it's a cool name and think it would be fine even with that association."
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