“I Love Her Name But HATE It’s So Common Now”: Mom Asks If She’s Being Unreasonable For Wanting To Change Her 4-Year-Old’s Name
Giving your child their name is a huge responsibility. It will become a part of their identity and it will subtly shape how people will treat them. And like it or not, the sad fact is that some kids’ names can make them more of a target for bullies. In some rare cases, parents might even consider changing the name in order to protect them. However, this is not a story about one of those cases.
Instead, this is a tale about a mom who wanted to change her 4-year-old daughter’s name because it wasn’t as original as she’d wanted it to be. She realized that there’d be a group of girls in her daughter’s nursery class with the same name. Upset that it was ‘so common now,’ she turned to the Mumsnet crowd for advice on whether or not to change her child’s name.
Scroll down to read the mom’s full post, as well as how the internet reacted to it. You can share your thoughts about everything in the comment section, dear Pandas. What advice would you give the mom? Do you think there’s ever a ‘right’ reason to rename a child? Why do you think some parents want their kids’ names to be truly unique? Let us know how you feel.
Bored Panda got in touch with parenting blogger Samantha Scroggin, from ‘Walking Outside in Slippers,’ to hear her thoughts about changing a child’s name. You’ll find what she told us as you scroll down.
As kids grow and develop, they start identifying with their names more and more
Image credits: Nothing Ahead
However, some parents don’t fully understand this. This mom, for instance, wanted to change her 4-year-old’s name because it was ‘too common’
Image credits: Chesternut
Image credits: BBC Creative
“I imagine that many kids identify strongly with their given name from an early age. I personally know that a name being too common would not be sufficient reason for me to change one of my kids’ names years down the road,” parenting blogger Samantha, who runs ‘Walking Outside in Slippers,’ shared her thoughts about the situation with Bored Panda.
“Naming a child should be a carefully considered process before or at least shortly after a child is born. It’s hard to imagine a name suddenly becoming astronomically popular in just a few short years,” she said.
“If you want a unique name for your kid, choose one right out of the gate. But on the flip side, I think too goofy of names don’t serve kids well either. And names with very unusual spellings or that are hard to pronounce will be difficult for kids throughout school and life,” Samantha shared how some names might cause difficulties down the road.
The parenting blogger said that, in her opinion, parents suddenly calling their kid a new name would be very confusing for the child.
“They’ve already come to identify with the name and maybe even learned to write and spell it. Unless there’s a good reason, like divorcing an abusive spouse and changing the child’s last name, I’m hard-pressed to see the value in changing a child’s name. Especially just because the name is too popular.”
According to the OP, who shared her story on Mumsnet, she’d hated being one of five other people with the same name back in school. That’s why she decided her daughter would never go through the same experience ever again. However, many internet users felt like the entire renaming situation was more about how the mom felt than how her daughter did.
Many folks pointed out that the only opinion that really matters is the woman’s daughter’s: does she actually want her name to change? Others noted that you can’t suddenly change someone’s name when they’re already 4 years old. Before considering such a huge decision, you have to think about how this change will affect your child, and whether they will feel more or less secure.
What’s more, you have to consider the fact that your kid will then have to explain why their name changed to all of their friends and family members. It’s a huge can of worms that most parents probably might not want to open.
Dr. Michael Lewis, from the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Institute for the Study of Child Development, told Fatherly that most children can say personal pronouns (e.g. me, mine) by age two. What’s more, they can recognize themselves in the mirror. In short, that means that they begin to self-identify. And they begin to associate themselves with their name.
However, it doesn’t mean that they’ve permanently identified themselves with any particular name. Though the longer you wait, the stronger the connection. “Learning one’s name is pretty easy. You don’t call out to your child ‘hey child.’ We use personal names, and very soon the child comes to recognize that name. A child can do that within the first year of life. If parents want to name somebody after someone, they (can) keep that name but they don’t refer to the child by that name. That doesn’t cause a problem,” Dr. Lewis said.
The OP gave a small update with some additional info
Here’s how people reacted to the mom’s peculiar idea
Oh no. her child's name is not unique on planet Earth. Whatever shall happen to the child. Eek eek dismay dismay *faint*. ... said nobody ever
My daughters name is not common but not unusual and she’s got one kid with the same name in her year. They’re the only two with this name in the school. They both think it’s hilarious and call each other by their full names. I guess they are worried they’ll also get confused about who’s who. Too cute.
My husband’s coworker and his wife gave their daughter almost the exact name, first and middle, we would have given our second child if he had been a girl, like literally only one letter off. We laughed so hard when we found out and joked about how fun it would be for them in school together, confusing the teachers. We ended up having a boy tho.
Load More Replies...Does your DD call you "mom"? Or it is a too common noun so you made her call you "Life Giver Supreme"?
Life gives supreme sounds like something from taco bell... order me one with extra sour cream
Load More Replies...Yet somehow all the John's, Jimmy's, Emily's, and Sarah's throughout history have managed well enough.
I changed my name legally as an adult, which is a pain as you also have to change birth certificate, social security, ID, and any other official documents your name is on. It was a personal choice. But at 4 yrs old? Seems to me that would confuse the child, at least in my opinion.
Do you need to have a reason for that in the US? In Germany changing your name is an exceptional process and would need to lay down your reasons during a talk with an official. Saying "my daughter's name is too common" would not be a valid reason here in Germany. Oh and by the way, here it is also highly regulated what you can actually name your kid. German authorities do not allow anything to become a name for a child, as they have the future well-being of the child in mind. As a parent, if you have an unusual name, you will need to prove to the authorities here, that that word is actually used regularly as a name. X Æ A-Ⅻ Musk would NOT be allowed here, and it shouldn't be
Load More Replies...I grew up with a common name where at least one person a school year would share it. Nicknames really helped distinguish between people. Just because the kid has a legal first name doesn't mean she has to be called it all the time.
I wish people would stop using this name so negatively. I'm sorry you're going through this.
Load More Replies...This is stupid. Her daughter will always live in a world where someone else has the same name. Maybe if she has a middle name she can go by intials. But dont change her name from esme
I'm a Cathy. lots of people with the same name I think this mom is overly concerned with being seen as clever and not really concerned with how her child feels
There's too much concern with being "different" and "clever." Look at the website "Baby's Named a Bad Thing," in which the writer gives scathing opinions about the "clever" names and "unique" spellings that some parents indulge in, like "Aeric" for "Eric" or "Aschlea" for "Ashley" What they're doing is dooming their child to a lifetime of having to spell their name for people.
Load More Replies...Big whoop. When we named our son, his name was popular but we had not really heard it in our area. In nursery he was one of 3 with that name. When he was 2 we signed him up to a football camp (just games and activities with a ball). He was one of 4 there. You are being pathetic
There’s Never a ‘right’ reason to rename a child. If the child wants to change their name - go by their middle name, be Tim or Spike or Merilee instead of Timmy or Timothy, that's the child's choice and you should abide by it. But this isn't about YOU. This is about HER and it's HER name, not yours. You don't own it; you gifted it to her; you don't get to take it back..
She named her kid after a Twilight character and is shocked that other kids have the same name. Wow.
My name was (and still is comparatively speaking) quite rare. I was in secondary school before I met someone else with the same name, and since then I've only met another two other people with my name (and one had the alternative spelling), and I'm 42. However, in my primary school class there were two Adams, two Chloes, two Rachels (and one Rachael), two Sarahs, two Matthews. There was also one Daniel (but there were Daniels in the other years, so still not rare), a Susan and a Suzanne. Every one, as far as FB tells me, a functional adult with no issues having had to "share" their name.
My DIL is the same. Her daughter is named Savannah and her birthday is Oct 18. My nephew in another state who does not know her and she does not know had a daughter 9 years before my granddaughter was born had a girl on Oct 18 and named her Savana. My DIL still gets mad that she does not have the only Savannah in the world.
I work in a primary school. What we really hate is when you think it is cool to purposely misspell your child's name or try and make it weird and then get upset when people spell it the right way or get it wrong. We don't care if children have the same name. They are still independent children.
She shouldn't change it, but should just shorten it.... to 'Smee' and make her dress and talk like a pirate - then I'm sure she would achieve the ever so important task of making her entirely unique in her class.
Whenever someone knows another person with my name I always reply "she must be beautiful"
Get over it. If a kid's name is about making you happy, then you are narcissist helicopter parent whose destined to have a kid going to therapy for 40 years due to all the trauma you induced. What's a 4 year old supposed to tell the other 30 kids she knows? "You can't call me my old name because it makes my mom not feel special and that means my only value in life is what others call me. Leave me alone to cope and try to remember my new name while I am forced to forget this entire identity that my mother obviously decided will define my entire life." As long as the kid's name doesn't have a strongly negative stereotype (ie Adolph in the 1940s or Karen now), leave the kid alone.
1) We called our first child James, but everyone, except my Mum, called him Jamie. He always knew his name was James. When he started school we asked him if he wanted to be Jamie or James and he elected for James. 2) James has a daughter (about to start school also) who has the name of a Disney heroine. It's not a common name but when she went to nursery there was another little girl with the same name. Her Mum looked up birth records for England and Wales, and this name was only record recorded 6 times in 2018. What are the chances of 2 of them in the same nursery class? Ask the DD if she wants to change?
Her name is already part of she is and identifies with. A common name doesn't mean she can't be an extraordinary person. My first name is Ana, which used to be a very common name in me country; one year we were 14 Ana in my classroom!
Growing up I would be in classes with 4 people who had the same or similar names. Teacher usually used our last initial at the end of first name to distinguish and we were all fine with that
When i was in my sophomore year of college, I was one of six Karens on the same floor of the dorm. We all survived. Names seem to go in and out of fashion for unknown reasons. I knew a couple who were living overseas in a non-English-speaking country when their daughter was born. They gave her a name that they thought was uncommon. When they returned to the States, they found out that it was THE most popular name for their daughter's age group. Somehow they "caught" the trend, despite being out of contact with American culture.
My name is Susan I was one of 5 Susan’s in the same class thru most of our schooling it never phased me and I don’t think any of them were phased either. Later when I had a daughter of my own I named her after her great grandmother by the time she got to secondary school she was already using a different name one she chose herself, when she was old enough legally I helped her change it officially. By the time she got to her twenties she was using just the first initial H. She’s still my little girl I am immensely proud of the woman she has become. Once you’ve given your child their name, don’t try to change it because you’re not happy with it, it’s not yours anymore. As she grows she will no age her own way in life and with that choose how she wants to be called. Embrace and support her with that is just my take on it.
There were 5 Andrews in my brother's primary school class.They had separate identities through nick names or some particular physical trait,e.g one was obviously taller and thinner than the rest.Children sort themselves out.
omg, of COURSE the name is popular, there are so many Twitards in the world that named their poor children out of that series I cannot even understand how this mother would think no one else would name their kid that. If she really wants to change the kids name, let the kid pick
Have they not heard of Twilight? Of course that name is going to be back in circulation after being used in a huge blockbuster franchise. I hope this post was satire. This lady is a s****y person/mother for contemplating erasing her daughter's identity. Side note: DD and DC are idiotic acronyms. I couldn't even find a reference to DC online, aside from the US city. Is it dear child? Not everything needs to be shortened for digital content.
The wild is 4, meaning she was born roughly around 2018 depending on when this post was made. People having babies in 2018 were about the right age to be obsessed with Twilight when it came out. Thinking Esmee would be an original name is silly as thinking Bella is original.
I hated my name as a kid and not because it was common cause I had no idea, but I wanted a cooler kid's name. In high-school we were many with my name but I never felt depersonalized by it. As a grown up I moved around different countries and turns out my name is cool, and the cool kids names mean weird things in certain languages so mine is better. A name is just that, the person fills it up. Johnny Depp is still one of the best Johnny's ever.
1985 chose Kyle as our son's name not common... unortunatly I had not seen Terminator. He was one of 6 Kyles in his class
That's idiotic. It happened to me too. My parents thought they were being original and damned if I didn't encounter one or more in everyplace I ever went! In one class in high school (we were overcrowded) we sat at tables. There were 3 girls at my table with my name and the other was called Mary. Same thing happened to my second son, whose name was Adam. When he was 9 and playing soccer, someone yelled "Adam!" and 4 boys immediate turned their heads--2 on each team LOL You can't avoid it.
My granddaughter has an unusual name, also that of Disney Princess and I'd never heard a child with it before. When she started nursery school there was another little girl with the same name. Her mum checked and only 6 little girls born in 2018 were given the name in England and Wales. Incidentally it suits her down to the ground, she is just like the princess in the movie.
Give your kids more than one first name at birth. I gave my son two first names. Family calls him one, friends another and he is perfectly okay with it.
Although OP is being silly and although changing a four-year-olds name is ludicrous and out of the question, I actually do know the unreasonable feeling OP is experiencing. I have a very unusual name, as in extremely unusual, at least in my country. I’ve met one other person with my name in my entire life - and strangely I absolutely HATED it. Having another person using MY name was awful to a degree I still don’t quite understand. I’m actually hoping to this day to never have to experience it again. However those feelings are and will remain invalid and foolish as well as childish, so I wouldn’t act on them even for myself and most certainly not project them onto a child.
A middle name? Why is that being a common name a problem? Shorten it, let her go by her middle name and get her used to that before she starts getting into social situations.
I went to School, college and for a short while worked with someone with my full name. First and surname. Didn't bother me. Why would it. It's sort of funny. You can also tell what decade a child was born by their name too. Especially if it's a little bit unusual or not traditional. The OP is being irrational and over reacting. We gave our daughter (2yo) a name that was popular many decades ago but fell out of fashion but coming back again. That's what happens. It's no big deal. I'm sure My Daughter will come across someone with her name in time. Your name is your identity. Be proud of it. I know I am.
One of my fourth grade students asked me to start using his middle name because he was a junior and his dad was divorcing his mother to marry his girlfriend. Seemed reasonable to me, so he was that name for the rest of the year. On the first day of school, I always ask about nicknames or shortened versions of a name. I want the kids to be comfortable.
I always loved meeting another Vicki (or Vicky or Vickie). It's not a unique name but it's hardly "common" and I really love "collecting" people with the same name (extra points if their last name is also Brown).
Did you not see or read the Twilight series with the vampires and werewolves? There will be LOTS of girls named Esmeralda!
I have a common name. Every class had at least one other, if not 2 or 3, who shared it. The worst was in high-school I had a social studies class where 12 of 15 girls had that name or some variant of it. It mostly was a laugh except the teacher called us all the same variant, so we never knew who he was calling on.
We had a girl at school in the eighties called Jane. Sad thing: they'd decided her real name, Dimitra, was too hard for a mainstream Australian school. But in year 4 she started the year as Dimitra! We all adapted in no time. Your name is your name, though being called by middle names can be valid.
Ask miss 4 if she'd prefer to use her middle name at school to make it easier for teachers. That's as far as I'd go, but using middle names is valid IF THE KID AGREES. My grandma had the same name as her mother, and was youngest of 5, so was called "baby" until she started school. Then they called her "Mamie" because her middle name was May. My daughter Poppy was getting called "Poopy" by bullies at school (we're in Australia so we don't even use the word poop!!). She has both her grandma's names in the middle so I offered her Alice, Mamie, May but she said she could ignore the bullies!! Champion. W
on the other hand having a popular name can be good. mine is standard in my country but not that popular and definitely not very international. having a pen or a key tag with my name is impossible unless it is custom made. introducing myself to foreigners ( i work for an international company) is harder as they cannot remember or pronounce my name properly. being Ema or Lucy would be easier. still in my village there were two other people with the same name at least. You will never be the only one with that name...and Esme after all the Twilight mania?
There were lots of other Laura's in my class and team. I also hated that there were so many because I would feel overlooked. But, it didn't scar me for life and I wouldn't change my name.
"Common" initials can be a pain as well as names... My brother and I (f) share the same initials, so in elementary and high school when a note came for "X.Y. Smith" to go to the school office, there was some confusion when the other-gender child would show up...
Definitely come to Europe, see how you can't give your child those crazy fantasy American names, come back more humble and give your child a name that was popular in your times. Almost guaranteed all your peers hate those names. They won't be popular now. Give a second name just in case and stop worrying.
I have a super common name, and I was one of 4 kids with my name in one of my years, and that never let up. There was always one other kid in my class with my name up until high-school. I can't say I hated it, as I made best friends with one of them, but it definitely got annoying.
I named my youngest Liam 24 years ago, never heard it before, now it is the most popular boy name for several years, what ever. I got my name when it wasn't super common, roughly 15 years later it became very popular, work with 5 other Jennifer but all are much younger. not about to change my or my son's name. stupid thought
if i read this correctly, the child in question name is esmee. maybe she shouldn't have read twilight and taken to a name that was sure to be copied by others?
My Godson has a very unique name. He started school with his full name and ended up hating it. He changed to a shortened version and didn’t like that either. He now goes by his initials, TJ, and is happy and comfortable with that. He’s 10 years old. Everyone adapted and it’s fine. Let the child decide. It’s not a big deal.
I was one of 9 Seáns in my class in primary school. It wasn't a problem. Everyone was referred to by their surname. None of us cared.
This is so dumb. Her name wouldn’t even legally be changed by the time school starts. I had a few other girls with my name, all spelled different, and I hated it, I hated them cus they were so mean, too. I ended up just going by a shortened version of my name. But look at me now a fully functioning adult with no trauma or issues resulting from having the same name as other humans. People are going to have the same name. It happens. Get over it. I know we all want to think our kid is some special star child but that’s not really the truth now is it?
Should have done your research BEFORE you named your child - google how popular the name is, I am sure it was there. I can't imagine traumatizing a child with a name change because other people share the name. Do something less drastic, like MOVE./s
My name is Camila i live in Venezuela with my husband. My husband was a chronic cheat. He always want to hurt me with other women, including women that are less beautiful than i am. Mind you, he was never like this. He used to be a sweet, loving and caring husband but all of a sudden he changed and i couldn't find any reason why he changed. The disrespect was so much that i almost gave up on my marriage. But i found a solution when i saw different testimonies in a Forum about a man called Dr Okosu. People testified of different good works he has done for them. I decided to give him a trial, i contacted him and he was able to help me. He told me my husband was under a strong force. He was able to break the force and set my husband free. My husband is back to the Loving and caring man he has always been. He now support me in everyway and we now go on vacations. I am so happy. Thank you Sir. Just as i promised, this testimony i will continue to share for the world to know the good thing y
Oh no. her child's name is not unique on planet Earth. Whatever shall happen to the child. Eek eek dismay dismay *faint*. ... said nobody ever
My daughters name is not common but not unusual and she’s got one kid with the same name in her year. They’re the only two with this name in the school. They both think it’s hilarious and call each other by their full names. I guess they are worried they’ll also get confused about who’s who. Too cute.
My husband’s coworker and his wife gave their daughter almost the exact name, first and middle, we would have given our second child if he had been a girl, like literally only one letter off. We laughed so hard when we found out and joked about how fun it would be for them in school together, confusing the teachers. We ended up having a boy tho.
Load More Replies...Does your DD call you "mom"? Or it is a too common noun so you made her call you "Life Giver Supreme"?
Life gives supreme sounds like something from taco bell... order me one with extra sour cream
Load More Replies...Yet somehow all the John's, Jimmy's, Emily's, and Sarah's throughout history have managed well enough.
I changed my name legally as an adult, which is a pain as you also have to change birth certificate, social security, ID, and any other official documents your name is on. It was a personal choice. But at 4 yrs old? Seems to me that would confuse the child, at least in my opinion.
Do you need to have a reason for that in the US? In Germany changing your name is an exceptional process and would need to lay down your reasons during a talk with an official. Saying "my daughter's name is too common" would not be a valid reason here in Germany. Oh and by the way, here it is also highly regulated what you can actually name your kid. German authorities do not allow anything to become a name for a child, as they have the future well-being of the child in mind. As a parent, if you have an unusual name, you will need to prove to the authorities here, that that word is actually used regularly as a name. X Æ A-Ⅻ Musk would NOT be allowed here, and it shouldn't be
Load More Replies...I grew up with a common name where at least one person a school year would share it. Nicknames really helped distinguish between people. Just because the kid has a legal first name doesn't mean she has to be called it all the time.
I wish people would stop using this name so negatively. I'm sorry you're going through this.
Load More Replies...This is stupid. Her daughter will always live in a world where someone else has the same name. Maybe if she has a middle name she can go by intials. But dont change her name from esme
I'm a Cathy. lots of people with the same name I think this mom is overly concerned with being seen as clever and not really concerned with how her child feels
There's too much concern with being "different" and "clever." Look at the website "Baby's Named a Bad Thing," in which the writer gives scathing opinions about the "clever" names and "unique" spellings that some parents indulge in, like "Aeric" for "Eric" or "Aschlea" for "Ashley" What they're doing is dooming their child to a lifetime of having to spell their name for people.
Load More Replies...Big whoop. When we named our son, his name was popular but we had not really heard it in our area. In nursery he was one of 3 with that name. When he was 2 we signed him up to a football camp (just games and activities with a ball). He was one of 4 there. You are being pathetic
There’s Never a ‘right’ reason to rename a child. If the child wants to change their name - go by their middle name, be Tim or Spike or Merilee instead of Timmy or Timothy, that's the child's choice and you should abide by it. But this isn't about YOU. This is about HER and it's HER name, not yours. You don't own it; you gifted it to her; you don't get to take it back..
She named her kid after a Twilight character and is shocked that other kids have the same name. Wow.
My name was (and still is comparatively speaking) quite rare. I was in secondary school before I met someone else with the same name, and since then I've only met another two other people with my name (and one had the alternative spelling), and I'm 42. However, in my primary school class there were two Adams, two Chloes, two Rachels (and one Rachael), two Sarahs, two Matthews. There was also one Daniel (but there were Daniels in the other years, so still not rare), a Susan and a Suzanne. Every one, as far as FB tells me, a functional adult with no issues having had to "share" their name.
My DIL is the same. Her daughter is named Savannah and her birthday is Oct 18. My nephew in another state who does not know her and she does not know had a daughter 9 years before my granddaughter was born had a girl on Oct 18 and named her Savana. My DIL still gets mad that she does not have the only Savannah in the world.
I work in a primary school. What we really hate is when you think it is cool to purposely misspell your child's name or try and make it weird and then get upset when people spell it the right way or get it wrong. We don't care if children have the same name. They are still independent children.
She shouldn't change it, but should just shorten it.... to 'Smee' and make her dress and talk like a pirate - then I'm sure she would achieve the ever so important task of making her entirely unique in her class.
Whenever someone knows another person with my name I always reply "she must be beautiful"
Get over it. If a kid's name is about making you happy, then you are narcissist helicopter parent whose destined to have a kid going to therapy for 40 years due to all the trauma you induced. What's a 4 year old supposed to tell the other 30 kids she knows? "You can't call me my old name because it makes my mom not feel special and that means my only value in life is what others call me. Leave me alone to cope and try to remember my new name while I am forced to forget this entire identity that my mother obviously decided will define my entire life." As long as the kid's name doesn't have a strongly negative stereotype (ie Adolph in the 1940s or Karen now), leave the kid alone.
1) We called our first child James, but everyone, except my Mum, called him Jamie. He always knew his name was James. When he started school we asked him if he wanted to be Jamie or James and he elected for James. 2) James has a daughter (about to start school also) who has the name of a Disney heroine. It's not a common name but when she went to nursery there was another little girl with the same name. Her Mum looked up birth records for England and Wales, and this name was only record recorded 6 times in 2018. What are the chances of 2 of them in the same nursery class? Ask the DD if she wants to change?
Her name is already part of she is and identifies with. A common name doesn't mean she can't be an extraordinary person. My first name is Ana, which used to be a very common name in me country; one year we were 14 Ana in my classroom!
Growing up I would be in classes with 4 people who had the same or similar names. Teacher usually used our last initial at the end of first name to distinguish and we were all fine with that
When i was in my sophomore year of college, I was one of six Karens on the same floor of the dorm. We all survived. Names seem to go in and out of fashion for unknown reasons. I knew a couple who were living overseas in a non-English-speaking country when their daughter was born. They gave her a name that they thought was uncommon. When they returned to the States, they found out that it was THE most popular name for their daughter's age group. Somehow they "caught" the trend, despite being out of contact with American culture.
My name is Susan I was one of 5 Susan’s in the same class thru most of our schooling it never phased me and I don’t think any of them were phased either. Later when I had a daughter of my own I named her after her great grandmother by the time she got to secondary school she was already using a different name one she chose herself, when she was old enough legally I helped her change it officially. By the time she got to her twenties she was using just the first initial H. She’s still my little girl I am immensely proud of the woman she has become. Once you’ve given your child their name, don’t try to change it because you’re not happy with it, it’s not yours anymore. As she grows she will no age her own way in life and with that choose how she wants to be called. Embrace and support her with that is just my take on it.
There were 5 Andrews in my brother's primary school class.They had separate identities through nick names or some particular physical trait,e.g one was obviously taller and thinner than the rest.Children sort themselves out.
omg, of COURSE the name is popular, there are so many Twitards in the world that named their poor children out of that series I cannot even understand how this mother would think no one else would name their kid that. If she really wants to change the kids name, let the kid pick
Have they not heard of Twilight? Of course that name is going to be back in circulation after being used in a huge blockbuster franchise. I hope this post was satire. This lady is a s****y person/mother for contemplating erasing her daughter's identity. Side note: DD and DC are idiotic acronyms. I couldn't even find a reference to DC online, aside from the US city. Is it dear child? Not everything needs to be shortened for digital content.
The wild is 4, meaning she was born roughly around 2018 depending on when this post was made. People having babies in 2018 were about the right age to be obsessed with Twilight when it came out. Thinking Esmee would be an original name is silly as thinking Bella is original.
I hated my name as a kid and not because it was common cause I had no idea, but I wanted a cooler kid's name. In high-school we were many with my name but I never felt depersonalized by it. As a grown up I moved around different countries and turns out my name is cool, and the cool kids names mean weird things in certain languages so mine is better. A name is just that, the person fills it up. Johnny Depp is still one of the best Johnny's ever.
1985 chose Kyle as our son's name not common... unortunatly I had not seen Terminator. He was one of 6 Kyles in his class
That's idiotic. It happened to me too. My parents thought they were being original and damned if I didn't encounter one or more in everyplace I ever went! In one class in high school (we were overcrowded) we sat at tables. There were 3 girls at my table with my name and the other was called Mary. Same thing happened to my second son, whose name was Adam. When he was 9 and playing soccer, someone yelled "Adam!" and 4 boys immediate turned their heads--2 on each team LOL You can't avoid it.
My granddaughter has an unusual name, also that of Disney Princess and I'd never heard a child with it before. When she started nursery school there was another little girl with the same name. Her mum checked and only 6 little girls born in 2018 were given the name in England and Wales. Incidentally it suits her down to the ground, she is just like the princess in the movie.
Give your kids more than one first name at birth. I gave my son two first names. Family calls him one, friends another and he is perfectly okay with it.
Although OP is being silly and although changing a four-year-olds name is ludicrous and out of the question, I actually do know the unreasonable feeling OP is experiencing. I have a very unusual name, as in extremely unusual, at least in my country. I’ve met one other person with my name in my entire life - and strangely I absolutely HATED it. Having another person using MY name was awful to a degree I still don’t quite understand. I’m actually hoping to this day to never have to experience it again. However those feelings are and will remain invalid and foolish as well as childish, so I wouldn’t act on them even for myself and most certainly not project them onto a child.
A middle name? Why is that being a common name a problem? Shorten it, let her go by her middle name and get her used to that before she starts getting into social situations.
I went to School, college and for a short while worked with someone with my full name. First and surname. Didn't bother me. Why would it. It's sort of funny. You can also tell what decade a child was born by their name too. Especially if it's a little bit unusual or not traditional. The OP is being irrational and over reacting. We gave our daughter (2yo) a name that was popular many decades ago but fell out of fashion but coming back again. That's what happens. It's no big deal. I'm sure My Daughter will come across someone with her name in time. Your name is your identity. Be proud of it. I know I am.
One of my fourth grade students asked me to start using his middle name because he was a junior and his dad was divorcing his mother to marry his girlfriend. Seemed reasonable to me, so he was that name for the rest of the year. On the first day of school, I always ask about nicknames or shortened versions of a name. I want the kids to be comfortable.
I always loved meeting another Vicki (or Vicky or Vickie). It's not a unique name but it's hardly "common" and I really love "collecting" people with the same name (extra points if their last name is also Brown).
Did you not see or read the Twilight series with the vampires and werewolves? There will be LOTS of girls named Esmeralda!
I have a common name. Every class had at least one other, if not 2 or 3, who shared it. The worst was in high-school I had a social studies class where 12 of 15 girls had that name or some variant of it. It mostly was a laugh except the teacher called us all the same variant, so we never knew who he was calling on.
We had a girl at school in the eighties called Jane. Sad thing: they'd decided her real name, Dimitra, was too hard for a mainstream Australian school. But in year 4 she started the year as Dimitra! We all adapted in no time. Your name is your name, though being called by middle names can be valid.
Ask miss 4 if she'd prefer to use her middle name at school to make it easier for teachers. That's as far as I'd go, but using middle names is valid IF THE KID AGREES. My grandma had the same name as her mother, and was youngest of 5, so was called "baby" until she started school. Then they called her "Mamie" because her middle name was May. My daughter Poppy was getting called "Poopy" by bullies at school (we're in Australia so we don't even use the word poop!!). She has both her grandma's names in the middle so I offered her Alice, Mamie, May but she said she could ignore the bullies!! Champion. W
on the other hand having a popular name can be good. mine is standard in my country but not that popular and definitely not very international. having a pen or a key tag with my name is impossible unless it is custom made. introducing myself to foreigners ( i work for an international company) is harder as they cannot remember or pronounce my name properly. being Ema or Lucy would be easier. still in my village there were two other people with the same name at least. You will never be the only one with that name...and Esme after all the Twilight mania?
There were lots of other Laura's in my class and team. I also hated that there were so many because I would feel overlooked. But, it didn't scar me for life and I wouldn't change my name.
"Common" initials can be a pain as well as names... My brother and I (f) share the same initials, so in elementary and high school when a note came for "X.Y. Smith" to go to the school office, there was some confusion when the other-gender child would show up...
Definitely come to Europe, see how you can't give your child those crazy fantasy American names, come back more humble and give your child a name that was popular in your times. Almost guaranteed all your peers hate those names. They won't be popular now. Give a second name just in case and stop worrying.
I have a super common name, and I was one of 4 kids with my name in one of my years, and that never let up. There was always one other kid in my class with my name up until high-school. I can't say I hated it, as I made best friends with one of them, but it definitely got annoying.
I named my youngest Liam 24 years ago, never heard it before, now it is the most popular boy name for several years, what ever. I got my name when it wasn't super common, roughly 15 years later it became very popular, work with 5 other Jennifer but all are much younger. not about to change my or my son's name. stupid thought
if i read this correctly, the child in question name is esmee. maybe she shouldn't have read twilight and taken to a name that was sure to be copied by others?
My Godson has a very unique name. He started school with his full name and ended up hating it. He changed to a shortened version and didn’t like that either. He now goes by his initials, TJ, and is happy and comfortable with that. He’s 10 years old. Everyone adapted and it’s fine. Let the child decide. It’s not a big deal.
I was one of 9 Seáns in my class in primary school. It wasn't a problem. Everyone was referred to by their surname. None of us cared.
This is so dumb. Her name wouldn’t even legally be changed by the time school starts. I had a few other girls with my name, all spelled different, and I hated it, I hated them cus they were so mean, too. I ended up just going by a shortened version of my name. But look at me now a fully functioning adult with no trauma or issues resulting from having the same name as other humans. People are going to have the same name. It happens. Get over it. I know we all want to think our kid is some special star child but that’s not really the truth now is it?
Should have done your research BEFORE you named your child - google how popular the name is, I am sure it was there. I can't imagine traumatizing a child with a name change because other people share the name. Do something less drastic, like MOVE./s
My name is Camila i live in Venezuela with my husband. My husband was a chronic cheat. He always want to hurt me with other women, including women that are less beautiful than i am. Mind you, he was never like this. He used to be a sweet, loving and caring husband but all of a sudden he changed and i couldn't find any reason why he changed. The disrespect was so much that i almost gave up on my marriage. But i found a solution when i saw different testimonies in a Forum about a man called Dr Okosu. People testified of different good works he has done for them. I decided to give him a trial, i contacted him and he was able to help me. He told me my husband was under a strong force. He was able to break the force and set my husband free. My husband is back to the Loving and caring man he has always been. He now support me in everyway and we now go on vacations. I am so happy. Thank you Sir. Just as i promised, this testimony i will continue to share for the world to know the good thing y
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