Giving your kid a name is a difficult choice with long-term ramifications, so think about all the meanings the name has, how it may be abbreviated, what nicknames it has, who else has that name, and so on. In this story a husband and wife have a conflict over deciding their child’s name. Read the story and let us know what are your thoughts about this.
Source: Reddit
Hello all! This has caused quite a stir on both sides of the family, and my niece suggested I post this here so as to garner unbiased opinions. Unfortunately, as it is relevant to the story, I will have to keep much personal information uncensored in this story. As such, this is a throwaway account.
My (35F) husband (37M) and I are pregnant with our first child. We are overjoyed, as we have struggled with perceived infertility and miscarriages for the last decade. We want the gender to be a surprise, but may have to find out to settle this; I’m currently at the tail end of my second trimester.
Now, my husband absolutely idolized his grandpa, who, unfortunately, passed away last week. My husband is devastated, especially about the notion that his children will never meet their great grandpa who their father adored so much. As such, my husband has suggested that we name the baby after grandpa; Theodore if it’s a boy, Theodora if it’s a girl. Either way, we will either call them Teddy, or Theo/Thea respectively. It’s not that I mind the name, the issue is that our last name is Bounde; pronounced bun-dee.
I asked my husband, do you really see no issue in naming our kid Teddy Bounde? You don’t think that would raise any questions? He says no, he’s just honoring his grandpa; I told him he needs to think about how we will be perceived, how our child will be treated, and the implications that that name inherently carries. I literally had to spell out why that would be a horrible idea, and he still thinks I just hate his grandpa.
I told him no, grandpa was named in 1930 when the name Teddy Bounde wouldn’t have been a problem. However, since certain events in the 70s & 80s, there’s no feasible way we can give this name to our kid and not cause issues. He kept pushing and pushing until I blew up and told him to stop with the idiotic suggestion, and that’s what it is; idiotic at best, sociopathic at worst. He got extremely upset and told his family and my parents, who are divided.
His family is obviously on his side and wants to honor grandpa via naming the baby after him. My parents are torn but on my side, as they understand the social pariah we would make our child by giving them such a similar name to the person who did such abhorrent and downright evil things to so many women. I mean, personally I don’t think anyone is just going to assume that we are honoring a passed loved one; they’re just going to think of Ted Bundy. Am I being unreasonable?
Here are a few comments on the story where it was originally posted:
