Sister-In-Law Steals Baby Name Out Of Spite, Regrets It After The Couple’s Reaction
The sad truth is that not every relative of yours is a good person: just because someone’s a family member doesn’t automatically make them a saint. These are harsh facts that many people end up learning the hard way. Some internet users open up about their experiences with family drama anonymously, whether to vent, ask for advice, or simply get their own thoughts in order.
One of these people is a dad who goes by the Reddit username u/DadWhoStoodHisGround. He told the story about how his entitled sister-in-law, his wife’s toxic younger sister, stole the name of their baby and then melted down when things turned out very differently than she had planned.
Things then took a very dramatic turn, with threats left, right, and center, flowing from the spiteful woman and those nearest and dearest to her. You can read the full story below, dear Pandas. When you’re all done, let us know in the comments what you think of the entire bizarre situation.
One couple had a clear idea about what they were going to name their baby son. However, things took a dramatic turn
Image credits: Sarah Chai (not the actual photo)
The author of the post’s sister-in-law stole the name for her own child. She had a total meltdown when the couple reacted differently than she expected
Image credits: Sarah Chai (not the actual photo)
The woman escalated the situation and started harassing the happy couple when she realized they didn’t care
The dad, who was over the moon that he and his wife are having a child, was planning to name his son after his Scottish grandfather. However, the couple made the grave error of posting about this on social media. The redditor’s sister-in-law, who was also pregnant, decided to claim the baby’s first and middle name for her own kid. And she was pretty smug about it, too, rubbing the fact into the post author and his wife’s faces.
However, things turned out very differently than the sister-in-law expected. The couple… simply didn’t care about her stealing the name. They were going through with their plan and named their son after the redditor’s grandfather, regardless. After the child’s birth, the entitled sister-in-law had a nuclear-level meltdown that her nephew had the same name as her own son.
That’s when the threats and the harassment started. The sister-in-law and mother-in-law would try and pressure the dad and his wife to change the baby’s name. They even got some of their other relatives to try and change their minds. For instance, the entitled woman’s husband showed up at their house, intent on bullying them into submission. Things turned out differently, of course.
The couple stood their ground, not even entertaining the idea of changing the name of their child. Eventually, the spiteful, vindictive woman got her just desserts: her marriage fell apart, in part due to the entire drama over the name. Finally, the sister-in-law relented and paid to have her kid’s name changed. Though she still had the gall to ask the happy couple to compensate her for getting a new certificate and for the ‘emotional damage’ that she ‘suffered.’ Entitled? That’s putting it lightly.
Choosing your child’s name is a very important thing. You have to be aware that your child may end up being bullied at school for it. And while bullying is never okay, parents should keep in mind that odd names might carry the risk of their child becoming a target for being made fun of.
“Bullying is never acceptable,” Lauren Seager-Smith, the CEO of Kidscape, a charity that aims to protect children from harm and abuse, told Bored Panda earlier. She explained that there is never, ever a ‘good’ reason for someone to bully someone else.
However, children can become victims of bullying for a variety of reasons, whether they have a ‘funny’ name, for their family situation, for wearing glasses (I’ve been there, personally, it’s not fun), for being overweight. Or for absolutely anything at all.
“Never underestimate the impact of bullying, understand what your child needs to feel safe and if the bullying is in school—make sure you let the school know the impact of the situation,” Lauren said that parents must support their children, especially when their identities are under attack.
“Never underestimate the impact of bullying, understand what your child needs to feel safe and if the bullying is in school—make sure you let the school know the impact of the situation,” she told Bored Panda.
“You may also want to seek out opportunities to build your child’s confidence and assertiveness skills so they can feel proud of who they are.”
Here’s what people had to say after reading this rollercoaster ride of a story
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Same. What a toxic environment to be born into. I hope that SIL gets professional help for the sake of the child.
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I would have blocked them long ago so none of the conversations would have happened. Why do people get caught up in this? Just hang up und block them.
Completely agree. The attempt to steal would have ended it for me. I do have a toxic sister and I am only in contact because of the rest of the family wanting to do things as a group but, believe me, I keep it to the minimum and mainly ignore her when she starts up with her nonsense. I do a lot of walking away..! In this instance, as they already knew SIL was no sweetheart I'm surprised they made their plans over the name obvious prior to the birth. Bit naïve. Not the best idea anyway as you end up with the world's opinion about it.
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"sick of this s**t" yeah, by the end of the post I had the same feeling. Name your child whatever you want and don't answer the phone, easy as f**k.
Another story of "you have no power here". The boys have different last names. May have been more awkward if it was his brother doing the 'game'. My toxic sister is just as nutty. My husband's family have runs on both Steven and William. So family reunions can get crazy with the calling of William or its various nicknames. At least there is a few of them that the females had so the boys have another surname. Could be worst, a local family named all the boys John (4). Confusing at school and report card time.
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There is a bizarre subset of people who can only feel joy if they're stealing it from someone else.
But the way the story is told, it sounds to me they are all cut out of the same cloth.
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They could have saved themselves a huge headache if they would have just blocked some phone numbers and told them to stay out of there lives from the get-go
It sounded like they did, and they were contacted using different numbers
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Thoroughly enjoyed this person's story, handled in a calm and mature manner against the barrage of idiocy from the rest of the family. Kudos to them, they'll make fine parents. Same can't be said for SIL, and MIL obviously did a terrible job to begin with. You both did the right thing, go enjoy your drama-free lives with your much anticipated bundle of joy. Worst in all this is SIL's baby, poor kid has to put up with that mother and grandmother.
Much ado for nothing. My daughter has same name as my niece...so what. It's nice and quite common one. I realy don't get the obsession with "super speciál" names 🤷🏻♀️
He made it 'a nothing' by calmly making it " you have no power here". Especially when it came about that the other father wasn't happy about it either. Have a friend who was dating a married man who's wife was pregnant. A girl was born, he named her Marie Lisa after the mistress. After the divorce , the Mother renamed her Melissa, to reduce the hurt. The sister looked like a s*** when the fallout came. The OP can move forward knowing his son recieved the choosen name without feeling that he was forced to change. Loved the phrase "not my monkeys, not my circus". He never has to own that 'show'.
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3/4 down the article, they introduce the abbreviation "NC" and that lost me
I also dont get it how you can steal a name. it is a name everyone can use it
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Just because someone is family doesn’t mean a thing. If they’re toxic, they’re toxic so put as much distance between you and them as you can. I’ve done it with my own brother and have few regrets.
"Goodness, SIL, you are so sweet. I'm beyond flattered that you would name your son after my son (who, while not yet born, is clearly already named). I had no idea you admired me so much. It's so cute that we're going to have two [names] running around, and I hope they're even better friends than us!"
You do all realise most of these 'supposed happenings' are made up don't you. I mean c'mon, there are never any names photo's etc. Call me cynical if you like but I just don't buy most of these stories.
I think it’s little contact and no contact. I’m not 100% sure and google just keeps saying it’s short for “North Carolina
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Something tells me that if they had announced "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Antidisestablishmentarianism" as the name, the sister would have given the same name to her own kid.
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I like the line "not our monkeys, not our circus", fits for some of my family too.
I would have changed my phone number, the SIL was so invested in starting drama and dragging OP into it
Aaand this is why I always say that blood bonds mean nothing... the most crazy, toxic, horrible people can be your closest relatives and complete strangers can turn into your true friends and family... Cut toxic people out of your life, people, it doesn't matter if they're "family"...
The SIL and MIL seem toxic but still is it a problem to have two kids with the same name? I wouldt care at all. I have two cousins who have the same names AND surnames and sometimes it is confusing to determine which one we are talking about but we are used to add a city of origin to their name to distinguish them. then I have counsins who have the same names but a different surnames. Dont know about the surnames in this story but I would say they at least have different surnames so what is the point here really. Your child has a name which has a significance for you. their child has the same name with zero significance other than to annoy other ppl. if that is what they want to go with I wouldnt care
In my class of 25 ppl at elementary school we had 3 Tomases, 3 Nicolas, 2 Patriks...at high school (30 ppl in a class) we had 2 Michals, 2 Zuzanas, 2 Janas 2 Marias...I am like...do you have a monopoly on the name or what? I dont get it really
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Good lord. Yeah, if someone affects your mental well-being, cut them out of your life; them being family does not matter
WOW. I have 2 toxic AF sisters that I am NC with. They are just really horrible excuses for human beings. They're both younger than me, but the older of the 2 I haven't spoken to in over 20 years. Not only is she toxic, she's bat c**p crazy as well. I had always wanted to name any future daughter I had Jessica, after a dear childhood friend who had passed away. My sister knew this, so OF COURSE she named her daughter Jesica (but it's spelled different!). I did a pretty good job of pretending not to care and after a while I really didn't. It just further proved my stance on keeping her out of my life.
When I was expecting my first child, we thought of naming male child after his grandfather (FIL) He was full of happiness! But crazy MIL screamed and cursed and threw things and said no "other woman" was naming a child after her husband Thankfully, first child was female. NC with MIL
My daughter decided to go back to her maiden name after her divorce. If she'd done it as part of the divorce proceedings it would have been free, but she had given it a lot of thought and decided she really DID prefer her maiden name. And the change cost her all of $25. I doubt the SIL's story about how much it cost, and she was the cause of her OWN emotional trauma so I wouldn't pay for that, either.
When I was pregnant with my son (we knew it was a boy) we had planned on naming him Jeremiah Michael. My MIL says, "Oh, we can call him Jerry:" She actually had onesies & a little hat made with the name "Jerry" on them. Um, no. We decided on Joshua instead (Michael is my brother's name, but his Dad guilted me into giving him his middle name Allen). So my son is Joshua Allen - but to this day (41 years later) I still think of him as Joshua Michael. As a side note: I had always wanted to name a daughter Jessica. My younger sister had a daughter first, so of COURSE she named her Jessica. Families can be so f*cked.
... This WHOLE... (whatever IT is) was a VACUOUS exercise in "Who the hell CARES"... Jerry Springer material... no wait... it's BENEATH Springer-level vacuousness... this is just wasted time in someone's "life"... if you can even call it that. Reminds me of Junior High School drama... Find some better ways to waste your time here on Earth... Thanks! ✌
Poor babies. No child asked to be called anything in particular. Both parties treated children as a paen in their games to be rude and cruel to each other. This is toxic as fk on both ends. Both should be ashamed and never should of started this bs over names. Sick really. Neither baby boys asked to be born to such a sick toxic family. Shame.
Some people love drama, others are just POS jerks. My cousin and her husband were trying to get pregnant and it just wasn’t happening. They went to in-vitro and spent a fortune they really struggled to make. Turns out my cousins body was having issues with preservatives used in the in-vitro process, the struggle went on for over a year. TBH her husband was a bit of a jerk, refusing to work for another man, so instead he had a paper route (not knocking gainful employment, but he was keeping them in poverty needlessly). He finally started his own business, my cousin supporting his dreams. He hired a woman who he constantly ridiculed and put down behind her back. He was awful. One day were we’re driving somewhere and we’re talking baby names, still hopeful. I told them I loved a particular name and they both agreed it was a good one. Then he dumped my cousin, married his employee and his first born was named that name I had mentioned in the car. He left my cousin devastated.
I mean this sounds like a nightmare sister/in-law generally, and the OP should have cut ties or at the very least drastically reduced any involvement with the problematic party/parties a long time ago. But also some parents-to-be get crazy about owning a name and believe they're the only ones allowed to use it. A friend of mine who didn't have kids/wasn't pregnant casually mentioned she liked the name Henry (I think she also listed a few others). She must've made a similar comment to her other friends/family. A relative of hers had a child about a year later named Henry. Said friend was livid about her 'stealing' her future baby name. I'd love to suggest they check the baby names records and see how many thousands of people have already stolen it :-p
Unrelated kind of but my dad had two daughters when he met my mum. One of whom had the same name as my mum and also my dads surname despite their parents being divorced. So when my mum and dad married we had my mum and my sister with the same first and second name for years until my sister got married 😆
We told my sister the name we were planning on naming our little boy (who is due in 4 weeks!), and she cried because that name was on her list. She has two kids, boy and girl, who are pre teens! I had no idea she was ever considering the name, and if she wanted to use it, she had the opportunity when she named her kids.
Same. What a toxic environment to be born into. I hope that SIL gets professional help for the sake of the child.
Load More Replies... I would have blocked them long ago so none of the conversations would have happened. Why do people get caught up in this? Just hang up und block them.
Completely agree. The attempt to steal would have ended it for me. I do have a toxic sister and I am only in contact because of the rest of the family wanting to do things as a group but, believe me, I keep it to the minimum and mainly ignore her when she starts up with her nonsense. I do a lot of walking away..! In this instance, as they already knew SIL was no sweetheart I'm surprised they made their plans over the name obvious prior to the birth. Bit naïve. Not the best idea anyway as you end up with the world's opinion about it.
Load More Replies... "sick of this s**t" yeah, by the end of the post I had the same feeling. Name your child whatever you want and don't answer the phone, easy as f**k.
Another story of "you have no power here". The boys have different last names. May have been more awkward if it was his brother doing the 'game'. My toxic sister is just as nutty. My husband's family have runs on both Steven and William. So family reunions can get crazy with the calling of William or its various nicknames. At least there is a few of them that the females had so the boys have another surname. Could be worst, a local family named all the boys John (4). Confusing at school and report card time.
Load More Replies... There is a bizarre subset of people who can only feel joy if they're stealing it from someone else.
But the way the story is told, it sounds to me they are all cut out of the same cloth.
Load More Replies... They could have saved themselves a huge headache if they would have just blocked some phone numbers and told them to stay out of there lives from the get-go
It sounded like they did, and they were contacted using different numbers
Load More Replies... Thoroughly enjoyed this person's story, handled in a calm and mature manner against the barrage of idiocy from the rest of the family. Kudos to them, they'll make fine parents. Same can't be said for SIL, and MIL obviously did a terrible job to begin with. You both did the right thing, go enjoy your drama-free lives with your much anticipated bundle of joy. Worst in all this is SIL's baby, poor kid has to put up with that mother and grandmother.
Much ado for nothing. My daughter has same name as my niece...so what. It's nice and quite common one. I realy don't get the obsession with "super speciál" names 🤷🏻♀️
He made it 'a nothing' by calmly making it " you have no power here". Especially when it came about that the other father wasn't happy about it either. Have a friend who was dating a married man who's wife was pregnant. A girl was born, he named her Marie Lisa after the mistress. After the divorce , the Mother renamed her Melissa, to reduce the hurt. The sister looked like a s*** when the fallout came. The OP can move forward knowing his son recieved the choosen name without feeling that he was forced to change. Loved the phrase "not my monkeys, not my circus". He never has to own that 'show'.
Load More Replies... 3/4 down the article, they introduce the abbreviation "NC" and that lost me
I also dont get it how you can steal a name. it is a name everyone can use it
Load More Replies... Just because someone is family doesn’t mean a thing. If they’re toxic, they’re toxic so put as much distance between you and them as you can. I’ve done it with my own brother and have few regrets.
"Goodness, SIL, you are so sweet. I'm beyond flattered that you would name your son after my son (who, while not yet born, is clearly already named). I had no idea you admired me so much. It's so cute that we're going to have two [names] running around, and I hope they're even better friends than us!"
You do all realise most of these 'supposed happenings' are made up don't you. I mean c'mon, there are never any names photo's etc. Call me cynical if you like but I just don't buy most of these stories.
I think it’s little contact and no contact. I’m not 100% sure and google just keeps saying it’s short for “North Carolina
Load More Replies... Something tells me that if they had announced "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Antidisestablishmentarianism" as the name, the sister would have given the same name to her own kid.
Load More Replies... I like the line "not our monkeys, not our circus", fits for some of my family too.
I would have changed my phone number, the SIL was so invested in starting drama and dragging OP into it
Aaand this is why I always say that blood bonds mean nothing... the most crazy, toxic, horrible people can be your closest relatives and complete strangers can turn into your true friends and family... Cut toxic people out of your life, people, it doesn't matter if they're "family"...
The SIL and MIL seem toxic but still is it a problem to have two kids with the same name? I wouldt care at all. I have two cousins who have the same names AND surnames and sometimes it is confusing to determine which one we are talking about but we are used to add a city of origin to their name to distinguish them. then I have counsins who have the same names but a different surnames. Dont know about the surnames in this story but I would say they at least have different surnames so what is the point here really. Your child has a name which has a significance for you. their child has the same name with zero significance other than to annoy other ppl. if that is what they want to go with I wouldnt care
In my class of 25 ppl at elementary school we had 3 Tomases, 3 Nicolas, 2 Patriks...at high school (30 ppl in a class) we had 2 Michals, 2 Zuzanas, 2 Janas 2 Marias...I am like...do you have a monopoly on the name or what? I dont get it really
Load More Replies... Good lord. Yeah, if someone affects your mental well-being, cut them out of your life; them being family does not matter
WOW. I have 2 toxic AF sisters that I am NC with. They are just really horrible excuses for human beings. They're both younger than me, but the older of the 2 I haven't spoken to in over 20 years. Not only is she toxic, she's bat c**p crazy as well. I had always wanted to name any future daughter I had Jessica, after a dear childhood friend who had passed away. My sister knew this, so OF COURSE she named her daughter Jesica (but it's spelled different!). I did a pretty good job of pretending not to care and after a while I really didn't. It just further proved my stance on keeping her out of my life.
When I was expecting my first child, we thought of naming male child after his grandfather (FIL) He was full of happiness! But crazy MIL screamed and cursed and threw things and said no "other woman" was naming a child after her husband Thankfully, first child was female. NC with MIL
My daughter decided to go back to her maiden name after her divorce. If she'd done it as part of the divorce proceedings it would have been free, but she had given it a lot of thought and decided she really DID prefer her maiden name. And the change cost her all of $25. I doubt the SIL's story about how much it cost, and she was the cause of her OWN emotional trauma so I wouldn't pay for that, either.
When I was pregnant with my son (we knew it was a boy) we had planned on naming him Jeremiah Michael. My MIL says, "Oh, we can call him Jerry:" She actually had onesies & a little hat made with the name "Jerry" on them. Um, no. We decided on Joshua instead (Michael is my brother's name, but his Dad guilted me into giving him his middle name Allen). So my son is Joshua Allen - but to this day (41 years later) I still think of him as Joshua Michael. As a side note: I had always wanted to name a daughter Jessica. My younger sister had a daughter first, so of COURSE she named her Jessica. Families can be so f*cked.
... This WHOLE... (whatever IT is) was a VACUOUS exercise in "Who the hell CARES"... Jerry Springer material... no wait... it's BENEATH Springer-level vacuousness... this is just wasted time in someone's "life"... if you can even call it that. Reminds me of Junior High School drama... Find some better ways to waste your time here on Earth... Thanks! ✌
Poor babies. No child asked to be called anything in particular. Both parties treated children as a paen in their games to be rude and cruel to each other. This is toxic as fk on both ends. Both should be ashamed and never should of started this bs over names. Sick really. Neither baby boys asked to be born to such a sick toxic family. Shame.
Some people love drama, others are just POS jerks. My cousin and her husband were trying to get pregnant and it just wasn’t happening. They went to in-vitro and spent a fortune they really struggled to make. Turns out my cousins body was having issues with preservatives used in the in-vitro process, the struggle went on for over a year. TBH her husband was a bit of a jerk, refusing to work for another man, so instead he had a paper route (not knocking gainful employment, but he was keeping them in poverty needlessly). He finally started his own business, my cousin supporting his dreams. He hired a woman who he constantly ridiculed and put down behind her back. He was awful. One day were we’re driving somewhere and we’re talking baby names, still hopeful. I told them I loved a particular name and they both agreed it was a good one. Then he dumped my cousin, married his employee and his first born was named that name I had mentioned in the car. He left my cousin devastated.
I mean this sounds like a nightmare sister/in-law generally, and the OP should have cut ties or at the very least drastically reduced any involvement with the problematic party/parties a long time ago. But also some parents-to-be get crazy about owning a name and believe they're the only ones allowed to use it. A friend of mine who didn't have kids/wasn't pregnant casually mentioned she liked the name Henry (I think she also listed a few others). She must've made a similar comment to her other friends/family. A relative of hers had a child about a year later named Henry. Said friend was livid about her 'stealing' her future baby name. I'd love to suggest they check the baby names records and see how many thousands of people have already stolen it :-p
Unrelated kind of but my dad had two daughters when he met my mum. One of whom had the same name as my mum and also my dads surname despite their parents being divorced. So when my mum and dad married we had my mum and my sister with the same first and second name for years until my sister got married 😆
We told my sister the name we were planning on naming our little boy (who is due in 4 weeks!), and she cried because that name was on her list. She has two kids, boy and girl, who are pre teens! I had no idea she was ever considering the name, and if she wanted to use it, she had the opportunity when she named her kids.
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