A woman has sparked a lively debate after revealing the unique name her friend decided to give her son; Readers agree that it sounds like a common smoking accessory.
The woman, from California, US, revealed that her best friend chose the unusual name after reflecting on gender-neutral options for her baby.
On Reddit, the woman, known anonymously as u/Then_Self99, detailed the situation on the r/tragedeigh subreddit in November.
He mailwhich has since accumulated more than 22,000 upvotes and 3,000 comments, includes a screenshot of the awkward exchange that occurred between the couple following the mother-to-be’s announcement.
The woman revealed: ‘Better Friend is having a baby…I googled it and apparently some people have that name…but isn’t it literally the word “ashtray”?
In the screenshot, the text conversation began with the friend encouraging the expectant mother to share the name she ultimately chose.
The friend replied: ‘Only if you promise not to tell! For now I’ll keep it quiet,’ to which the woman replied, ‘Girl, of course.’
Announcing the name, the mother-to-be wrote: ‘Well… We’ve chosen Ashtrae!!!’
A woman has sparked a lively debate after revealing the unique name her friend decided to give her son; readers agree that it sounds like a smoking accessory (file image)
The post includes a screenshot of the awkward exchange that occurred between the couple following the expectant mother’s announcement.
However, the woman struggled to hide her cynicism, as she nudged her friend gently, “Wait, is Ashton off the table?” I won’t lie, I really liked it.
But the mother-to-be expressed that she had made a concrete decision, adding that her partner “really liked” the name Rae, so the couple decided to combine the two names.
She continued: ‘We both wanted something gender neutral and those two were the best picks. Don’t you like it?’
The woman, who apparently continued to pressure her friend to change her mind, responded: ‘I mean, wouldn’t it be hard for people to spell and stuff?’
More than 3,000 people flooded the comments with opinions about the unique name, with many left horrified and condemning the expectant mother, while others insisted their friend was trolling the woman.
One person wrote: “This has to be a joke,” while another said: “Ashtrae is borderline child abuse.”
A third chimed in: ‘I suspect they fell SO in love with this exotic name they created that they just can’t associate “place to put out cigarettes” with their baby!’
Another wrote: “My money says he’s thinking ‘ash-tee-ray’ because of the comment about Ashton so it’s going to sound like someone saying ashtray.”
A second joked: ‘They could call it Nicotine. Nick for short. Somehow I feel like Nicotine is still a better name than Ashtray.
The woman clarified in the comments: ‘Actually, I had chosen very good names so far (Ashton, but I was also considering Parker and Taylor), but this is completely out of line.
“I approached his brother (whom he also told) hoping he was screwing me, but apparently he was told the same thing.”
One person, who referred to herself as Ashley, said: “Okay, as someone who was called Ashtray because my name is ASHLEY and some kids aren’t smart, your friend shouldn’t do this at all.” This election is and will be pronounced like an ashtray.’
Another warned: ‘I feel like it’s a test to see how many people you tell since she asked you not to say anything lol there’s no way she’s naming her son after ashtray (I hope).’