A new dad has found himself at odds with his sister after picking a baby name she herself had set her heart on. She's now pleaded with him to reconsider, and their mother has taken her side. The 27-year-old father has just welcomed his first child to the world with his wife of two years, a little boy they've named Mason.
The couple, who've been together since they were 16-years-old, announced their son's name shortly after his birth, and initially, all seemed well, with family members appearing to react with nothing less than sheer joy. Then the sister, who is single and not currently expecting any children of her own, pulled him into the hallway for a private chat.
Taking to Reddit, where he goes by the username u/Throwawayacc_0983, the dad recalled: "When we were in private, she blew up at me saying I was betraying her by naming my child Mason.
"She said his name was on a list of 'potential baby names' if she had a boy. I had not known about this list beforehand so that was a surprise. She asked me to change my son’s name because apparently, Mason was one of two names she chose for a boy. My father sided with me but my mother sided with my sister."
He's now wondering whether he's done anything wrong by sticking to his baby name of choice, regardless of his sister's apparent attachment to it, and has turned to fellow Reddit users for advice.
One person remarked: "If this was so important to her she could have come up to you during the pregnancy, preferably before you even knew whether it was a boy or a girl. And even then it would have been in your rights to choose it. Asking you to change it now? That's the definition of entitled."
Another commented: "If she didn’t make it known that she wanted to name a son Mason someday, then you didn’t betray her. That’s just not what betrayal is; it requires intent and malice, and you were possessed of neither. Even so, she doesn’t get to trademark names when she’s not pregnant.
"And again, even so, if you want dibs on a name, you speak up. The notion that her desire to maybe someday have a son named Mason is somehow more important than your desire to definitely have a son named Mason right now is frankly ridiculous."
Do you have a baby name story to share? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
