A mum claims she's come to regret her baby son's name and is now considering renaming him. She says people keep getting the pronunciation wrong, much to her despair, and won't stop referring to him by a nickname she doesn't care for. According to this frustrated mother, her son's name is Danyal, an Arabic name of Turkish origin that means 'God is my judge'. The name is currently ranked 825 out of 4789 names in the UK, and so many Brits will perhaps be more familiar with the Hebrew variation, Daniel.
She's become exasperated by people repeatedly shortening her two-month-old son's name to 'Danny', a moniker she personally doesn't like, and is now considering changing his name to Farris or Zain.
Taking to Mumsnet, where she goes by the username @Mummy652, the fed-up mum wrote: "I named baby boy Danyal but it's not getting pronounced correctly and it's just getting shortened to Danny which I do not like. Should I just change it to Farris or Zain?"
Reaching out to Mumsnet users for recommendations, she added: "Daniel is top 30 names in the UK. Dan, and Danny are both top 400 names. It seems like it's always going to be pronounced Daniel by teachers in school, then short to Danny by friends. Eventually, it will be Dan in his teen years. It does seem like it's going to be too much hassle, wearing four names."
A number of fellow parents warned her that it would be near impossible to control her son's nicknames as he grows up and makes friends of his own, regardless of what name she settles on.
One person commented: "You can't control nicknames. It's like calling your son Patrick and getting cross when people call him Pat, Christopher called Chris, Matthew Matt, etc. Ask your family and friends how they'd nickname the other names you are considering before you change."
Another advised: "It's a pretty common Arabic name and I think you would be justified in politely but firmly correcting incorrect pronunciations.
"You can't control nicknames though, it's not worth changing your child's name for that. Some kids just end up with random nicknames that bear no relation to their name but stick anyway. Just call him what you want at home and if you're lucky he will call himself that when he's older."
Do you have a baby name story to share? Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com
