A mum has sought advice after being told by her friend that her sons' traditional Scottish names are "naughty boy names".
The woman was left "really hurt" after her friend made the "supposedly" light-hearted remark. Her husband is from Scotland, and so the couple agreed to honour his heritage with their children's names.
Their kids are called Arran and Lewis, both named after the Scottish isles. However, she was taken aback when her pregnant friend told her the names are "associated with being naughty".
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The mum then took to Mumsnet to seek help on how to handle the situation. She wrote: "A friend made a light hearted comment (supposedly) about my two children’s names last week and I am convinced she’s a Mumsnet member seeing as she used to the term ‘naughty boy name’.
"My husband has got Scottish roots and before we TTC (tried to conceive) the plan was always that we would honour his history. He used to live in Scotland but moved to England to settle down with me and as all his family are still in Scotland we felt Scottish names would be a nod to them.
"We had a son first and called him Arran (pronounced Arun) after one of the Isles and we joked that if our second child was a girl we would call her Skye. Second child turned out to be another gorgeous boy so we called him Lewis, after one of the other Scottish Isles."
She continued: "My friend is pregnant which is why we were taking about names and that’s when she said (with a giggle) that it was really brave of me to give both my sons names that are associated with being naughty. She laughed it off but it really hurt.
"I’ve since come on here (we have been thinking about TTC number 3) and I have seen Lewis be labelled as a ‘naughty boy’s name. I know a child’s name doesn’t define them but I feel so guilty that I may have given both my boys a name that has negative associations.
"Has anyone else been in a similar boat and how did you move on from it?"
Before long, the post had received dozens of replies from fellow Mumsnet users. The overwhelming majority agreed that the woman's friend was being "ridiculous".
One said: "This is nuts and not something I've heard before, on here or elsewhere. They're lovely names and your friend was being b****y."
"What a nasty woman," wrote a second, while a third echoed: "Ridiculous."
A fourth argued: "What an unkind nasty thing to say. You have had an insight into her character now though."
"Would never think Arran and Lewis were naughty boy names," shared a fifth.
Another commented: "’Naughty boy’ names = nonsense and just barely concealed snobbery. Ignore it. I’m always aghast when you get teachers on MN using this phrase.
"I work in education and my experience has been that there is absolutely no such thing, it’s a way to put down working class people… and anyone who judges children (or anyone!) by the name their parents gave them is a massive t**t."
Meanwhile, a seventh posted: "Both lovely, strong names with a connection to their heritage. Ignore silly friend."
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