A father shared his frustration that his wife chose an “overrated” baby name that he “hates” for their new son.
Tom* and Eve* already have a son named Finley and are currently pregnant with a girl.
Eve is determined to name her daughter ‘Emily’, but her husband revealed that he has a visceral reaction to the idea of their daughter being given such a ‘common’ name.
“We’ve had a problem with names,” Tom wrote on Reddit. ‘My wife always wanted an Emily. She has loved that name for years, while I have always really disliked it. I’m not entirely sure why.
He shared that he knew many Emilys and that he “always found the name overrated,” while his wife found it “cute” and “surprising.”
A father shared his frustration that his wife chose an ‘overrated’ baby name
Tom provided more context about the couple’s journey into baby names.
‘My wife defended the name the first time we sat down and discussed our daughter’s names. She got very upset when I said no. She asked me if there was anything that would change my mind and I told her, honestly, that she didn’t think so.
Eve tried to come to terms with the name ‘Amelia’ or ‘Emilia’, but Tom didn’t like them either.
‘I like Amélie. It’s really the only version of these names that I like. But the pronunciation that I and many people around me use (including some French) sounds very different from Emily/Amelia.’
“My wife doesn’t like the spelling and pronunciation problems that would arise with Amélie and I understand that.”
A mother chooses the name ‘Emily’ for her baby, but her husband ‘hates’ it
Eve is still “having a hard time leaving Emily behind” and constantly asks her husband to explain his reasoning.
Tom added: “I spoke without sounding too harsh about the name and she got frustrated and told me it’s popular for a reason.”
“When we discussed it another time just a few days ago, she told me I was being stubborn and unfair because I told her I can’t support the name Emily for our daughter.”
Many weighed in on Tom’s dilemma, claiming he had the right to veto the name.
‘You don’t like the name. Instead of moving on, he becomes obsessed and strange. “There are literally hundreds of thousands of other names out there,” one of them said.
‘Tell him to make a list of five names he loves and you will choose one. You can’t just have a name and expect it to be okay. It’s your baby too,” another suggested.
But others criticized him for being “selfish.”
“She is the one who gives birth, let her choose the name,” said one woman.
“Your wife offered you a compromise to which you said no,” noted another. ‘Emilia is less common and you can’t think of any other reason why you wouldn’t like Emily. I would say it’s a fair compromise because it’s not popular, but your wife still loves it because she is similar to the name Emily.