Most people try to withhold judgment when they hear an unusual baby name. At least, they don’t typically shoot it down right to the parent’s face. Because as one woman on Reddit recently learned, it will definitely not go over well if you tell the new mom or dad that their baby’s name is … well, kind of terrible. (Or, in her exact words, totally “idiotic.”)
The anonymous poster first shared their story in 2021
The post attracted tons of comments from people all over the internet, who seem to remain split on how all of this was handled.
In the post, the writer explains that a 39-year-old female coworker recently gave birth to twin boys after what they described as a “long battle with infertility.”
Naturally, the twins' birth was major news around the office
So, when the new mom returned for the first time to introduce her babies to the team, there was a lot of buzz around the visit.
When the twins finally arrived, the woman’s coworkers oooed and awwwed. Then, a few natural questions came up — like what she’d decided to name them.
But that's when Reddit poster was apparently thrown for a loop
“She told me that she was naming them ‘Sean,'” they explained in the post.
That’s right — both of them.
“When I asked about the other baby, she said ‘No, they are both Sean, one with an ‘A’ and one with an ‘E’ so Sean and Seen,” the new mom explained.
Needless to say, the poster was confused
But not just because their coworker had decided to name her twins nearly identical names. There was another factor that made the name choice even more peculiar.
“This co-workers last name is also ‘Sean,'” the Redditor shared.
In other words, the brothers’ first names wouldn’t just sound the same — they would also sound exactly like their last name.
At this point, the Reddit poster couldn't help but state the obvious
Things only got more tense from there
“I immediately and without thinking said, ‘That is the most idiotic thing I’ve heard, and it’s going to be so confusing,'” the poster recalled.
If the whole thing wasn’t super uncomfortable before, it sure was now.
“A bunch of people laughed and a bunch immediately looked away,” the poster wrote. “After she left, I got a few text messages saying it’s not my place to comment on people’s choice of name.”
Now, the Reddit poster is hoping to get some unbiased opinions
“Am I the a–hole for saying that that is a terrible naming idea?” she asked, before providing a few extra details for background info.
Apparently, neither of the kids have a middle name to balance out the identical first and last names, and this isn’t the first round of “negative feedback” the mom has gotten. She also added that normally, the two are on good terms at work — which is presumably why she thought she could give the woman her honest opinion.
But in response, the new mom simply told her, “It’ll grow on you.”
The poster might have expected to get dragged in the comments …
… but to her (pleasant) surprise, she wasn’t.
In fact, a lot of people agreed with her that the new mom’s choice of baby names was seriously weird.
“Matching names is probably the cruelest thing you could do to a person,” wrote one commenter, who identified themselves as an identical twin. “It’s not just confusing. It would keep the twins from developing identities outside their twin-ness. You know what happens to twins that can’t establish independent identities? At best they need years of family therapy to work through their relationship problems. At worst they hate each other. Twins have it hard enough working through what it means to be a twin. Why make that harder?”
Others pointed out that the identical names are bound to get her kids teased
“It’s almost like those parents have an urge to be unique or whatever, while in fact the names are so cringey and NEVER pronounced right,” one person wrote. “The name ‘Seen’ will get her kid bullied. And worst thing about it is Seen isn’t just an indepedent s—– name — it’s a more stupid variant of his twin’s name. He’ll always be remembered as an offshoot of his twin, and not in a good way.”
Another person said they “can’t wrap my mind around” why a parent would do this to their children.
“I wouldn’t do that to fish!” they added.
“How cruel of the mother,” wrote someone else.
All in all, people couldn't hold back their disdain for the names
And while they may have disagreed with the poster’s choice of “idiotic,” they definitely felt she needed to hear the truth.
“Seen is a deeply stupid spelling,” one person commented. “I certainly won’t argue against that.”
“Makes you think the strictness of Denmark isn’t a bad thing,” said someone else. “There is a national register of approved names that you’re allowed to use. You can apply for permission for something not on the list, but approval isn’t given too often.”
Most of all, though, Redditors just couldn’t get over why any parent in their right mind would intentionally do this to their child.
“You can be creative with names without dooming your child to 18 years of [harassment], because I promise there will be kids who hear about the twins Sean and Seen and will bully them relentlessly over it,” one person said.
Here’s hoping the mom changes her mind soon. (Otherwise, those kids will definitely be applying for a name change the second they turn 18.)
