Parents want what’s best for their kids, including the name they give their baby. But sometimes it happens that the pursuit of a creative and meaningful name takes it a step too far.

Like it happened for this 23-year-old woman, Hailey, who is pregnant with a baby girl. While Hailey is positive she has her two runner-up names chosen, her older brother is not so convinced. In fact, he fears his sister’s choice of names will make life hard for his niece.

So he confronted Hailey and shared how the situation unfolded in this AITA post.

A woman who’s pregnant with her first baby girl picked two unusual names that raised her brother’s eyebrows

Image credits: Aditya Romansa (not the actual photo)

So her brother confronted her and said that these names will make her niece’s life miserable, which insulted the soon-to-be-mom

So the author felt obliged to warn his sister about the damage these names could do to his niece

Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)

The OP’s sister got upset and shared their private messages with the whole family

The OP later added a couple of edits to the original post to make things clearer

Image credits: two-piece-tea

Rare names may take a while for people to comprehend, which can lead to confusion, an expert says

“More and more parents are giving their children names that are rare or very unusual, which is not always the same as difficult,” Pamela Redmond, a baby name expert and the creator of Nameberry, known as the world’s leading expert on baby names, told Bored Panda in an interview via email.

Redmond explained that rare names are by definition more likely to be unfamiliar to others, so it may take a while for people to comprehend, pronounce, and spell the name correctly. “These problems may be compounded when the name has a spelling or pronunciation that’s different from that in the other person’s language or culture,” the name expert explained.

Redmond gave an example: “An Irish name like Siobhan, for instance, might be difficult for an English speaker who doesn’t see Sio as equalling Shi or know that bh is pronounced in Irish as a v in English.”

Image credits: IrynaKhabliuk (not the actual photo)

A child with a rare name may be forced to respell and repronounce their name to others over and over again

Moreover, Redmond continued, besides cultural differences, many very unusual or rare names are invented names or new spellings of more popular names, so that can cause confusion too.

“If you hear Maddalynn, which was given to only six baby girls, you may guess it’s the same as Madeline. But then what about Madeleine or Madelyn? It can get very confusing and force you and your child to respell and repronounce the name again and again.”

On the other hand, “a unique name can instantly make people see you as a unique person”

Having said that, Redmond explained that “many people who have unusual or rare names report that once other people learn the name and its spelling and pronunciation, they often remember it BETTER than they do a more popular name like Emma or Jack.”

She added that “a unique name can instantly make people see you as a unique person, a one-of-a-kind individual, which may be why you or your parents chose the unique name to begin with!” Find out more about unique names here on the Nameberry website.

Image credits: Picsea (not the actual photo)

When asked about namer’s remorse, Redmond said that she indeed has heard of it and that it’s a fairly common issue.

“More and more parents are experiencing it as the number of available names increases along with the pressure to make a perfect choice. We recently ran a story on parents who felt baby name regret and changed their baby’s name, as did Kylie Jenner,” the name expert concluded.

The OP also clarified that the father of the baby is not in the picture

Many people showed their support for the author who confronted his sister about her choice of names

Others thought that everyone is to blame here

Some people thought that the author was wrong in this situation

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