Dad refused to follow his parents' wish about his newborn's name to save him from a lifetime of bullying
People often wish they could have picked their own names at birth due to the unusual or bizarre choices family members and others make. The name chosen for a seemingly adorable baby is the same one to be carried for a lifetime. It holds a crucial place in framing one’s identity. A dad, u/User593768, knew what it felt like to live with a distasteful name and ensured his son didn't have to go through the same embarrassment. The man had a tradition regarding names in his family but chose to opt out of it while naming his son to save him from unending criticism and awkwardness.
As unbelievable as it seems, the man revealed that his name was December. His family had the tradition of keeping baby names after months of the year. “I’ve shortened it to Dec, hoping people will think it’s short for Declan or something normal,” he noted. The dad added that his brothers were called “August” and “July,” while his sisters were “April,” “May,” and ‘June,” respectively. When the time came for the dad to name his child, he and his wife chose the name, “Tobias.” However, they were careful to hide this information until the right moment. “We kept the name a secret until after he was born and we had signed the birth certificate so it couldn’t be changed,” he said.
Since the couple disobeyed the family tradition that had been followed for 5 generations, the man’s family was upset. “Even though my dad has the nice normal name of Alex, he liked the tradition. My sister, June, named her daughter March to keep with the tradition so my parents expected me to do the same,” he explained. His mum suggested the child be called "September," if it was a girl or, “October,” if it was a boy but the parents were not having it. “I never outright said I wasn’t going to because I know what lengths they would go to to make sure my baby would have a month as a name,” the dad said. However, he was relieved to know that his brothers supported his decision.
“My brothers were on board when we told them, understanding growing up with the teasing,” the dad said. Unfortunately, the parents stormed out, stating that he had disrespected a valuable tradition. “I told them I wasn’t going to name my child a ridiculous name because some old, long-dead, crazy man decided months of the year would be good names and just because my mum was stupid enough to join him and his madness. They haven’t spoken to me since,” he wrote. While the man worried he was in the wrong for not following his heritage, many assured him he did the right thing.
u/ReviewOk929 said, “Traditions like this deserve to be broken. Your dead ancestors really do not give two shits what you call your kids and are incapable of any disrespect from you.” u/NeonOwl333 added, “What about the traditions from your wife's family and your dad's of giving babies normal names?” u/NiceStory_ShameitsBS remarked, “You’re saving your kid a lifetime of having to explain why he has a silly name.” u/tired-as-f said, “Your child, your choice. You've saved him from a lifetime of bullying.”