Naming your child is a big decision for any parent, and in most cases, you're choosing the name that your little one is going to use for the rest of their life - so it's not something that should be taken lightly.
But one dad has split opinion online as he admitted he told his six-year-old daughter that he "never liked" her name after she came home from school in tears because some other kids were teasing her over it.
The dad explained his daughter's name is Mildred and said that while he "fought" against the name when his wife was pregnant, she was determined to give her daughter the moniker so overruled him.
And when his daughter told him that she was being bullied for having a "grandma" name, the dad chose not to comfort his little girl - but instead told her that he also thought her name was "stupid".
In a post on Reddit, he said: "Mildred. That's my 6-year-old daughter's name. I fought so hard to not have her named that, but my wife was dead set on it. Who even names their kid Mildred anymore? Are we in the 19th century or something? And plus I know how kids are.
"Sure enough, I picked up my daughter from school today and usually she's excited when I pick her up, but she was quiet. I kept asking her what was wrong and when we were almost home, she finally confessed and said that someone in her class had said that her name 'sounded like a grandma'. Basically, old.
"She said she didn't like her name anymore, and I tried to sympathize by saying, 'I'm sorry kiddo. Yeah, I never liked your name either. I thought it was a stupid name when I first heard it, but everyone in the family thought it was okay, and I got shot down. But on the bright side, you can change it when you get older.'
"We were in the garage by then and she looked at me in horror and said, 'You don't like my name either?', and she opened the door, crying, and ran inside before I could catch her. She told her mother that I said her name was stupid (somehow she also forgot to mention the kid in her class who started it) and even after I explained the whole situation to my wife, she was mad and wanted me to apologise."
The dad didn't think he needed to apologise as he was telling the truth, and said he couldn't understand why his daughter had started crying. He also claimed his daughter would "forget" the situation in time so wasn't "worried" about needing to apologise to her.
He added: "I refused. I said, 'apologise for what? I don't like the name, I never liked the name, and our daughter doesn't even like the name.' I was mad at the moment, too, so I walked away but later I tried to talk to our daughter and ask why she just started crying like that because I was genuinely confused (still am, to be honest) but all she said was that she wasn't 'happy at me' and that she didn't want to talk to me right at the moment.
"I'm not too worried about my daughter because she's 6, so she'll probably forget it by tomorrow or like a week at most, but my wife is really mad at me right now because she was telling me that I should apologise, and I kept saying no. I think she just feels guilty that she named our daughter Mildred.
"All I did was agree with my daughter when she said she didn't like her name. I still want an explanation about why she just started crying like that."
Commenters were left baffled by the man's post and were quick to criticise him for telling his daughter what he thought of her name, as many people pointed out that at six years old, she doesn't have the ability to separate her dad not liking her name from her dad not liking her as a person.
One person said: "She's 6. The last thing she needed to hear is that her parent doesn't like her name. A 6-year-old is not equipped to separate rejecting her name from rejecting her."
While another added: "Your young daughter now thinks that her dad hates her name and thinks it's stupid. She shouldn't feel that way as a child, ever."
And a third wrote: "Oh yikes, this was a train wreck from start to finish. Regardless of personal feelings, you really needed to be a united front with your wife here, if only to make your child feel safe and loved. Your kid will never forget you saying you didn't like their name."
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