An expectant couple are being strongly urged to ditch a ‘pretty’ girl’s name from their baby list with people revealing the moniker’s true meaning in Canada, where they live
It’s hard enough choosing a name for your own baby – so how would you feel if you were given the task of selecting one for someone else?
One woman has reached out for advice after being asked to pick a name for her non-English speaking family members, who live in Canada and are having a little girl together.
The expectant couple have specified that they want to give their daughter an ‘English name’ and created a shortlist to choose from – but one of their options is raising eyebrows.
As a fellow non-English speaker, the woman took to Reddit to share their choices and ask for help, admitting: “I don’t know if they’re plain weird, or if I’m prejudiced.”
She wrote: “They’ve got a massive list, and apparently because everybody knows I read, I must also know which of the names is best, so I’ve been handed the task of choosing.”
There are a total of 23 options, including; Luxury, Charlotte, Chrysanthe, Accilia, Clover, Adelaide, Artemis, Thea, Alcyone, Sienna, Sage, Ivy, Mei, Saoirse, Savannah, Serenity, Amethyst, Carmen, Dawn, Persephone, Saffron and Indigo.
The final name on the list was Credence. “This is an actual word. Like, I know it sounds pretty, but aren’t names supposed to have a good meaning?” the woman asked.
And one person was quick to urge the couple to steer clear of the name – particularly since they live in Canada. They wrote: “There seems to be no French speakers in this thread so I’ll say it. Credence means backsplash… especially if you live in Canada, please avoid it!”
It seems that French Canadians refer to their countertop extension as a ‘credence’ – something used to prevent water, grease, and other splashes from damaging your walls – perhaps not the best choice for a little girl. “It means what??? Gosh, it was such a pretty word!” the original poster wrote back in response.
Credence does have another meaning, however. According to babynames.com, “Credence is primarily a gender-neutral name of English origin that means Belief In Or Acceptance Of Something As True”. It is from the English word credence, rooted in the Latin word credere “To Believe”.
And as a noun, it means ‘belief as to the truth of something’ or something giving a claim to belief or confidence – for example, a letter of credence.
The baby name drama comes after a soon-to-be-dad revealed he had to have a very difficult conversation with his wife, to try and convince her not to name their daughter after her late mother.
Posting to Reddit, he revealed: “I told her the baby can take my mum’s name as her first name and her mum’s name as a middle name, or have an entirely different name, but I can’t okay ‘Karen’ as a first name in any case.
“She got offended because she just wants to honour her mother and thinks I have a problem with that. I just don’t want to set our daughter up to be bullied throughout her life.
“I told her I’d be fine with whatever first name she picks as long as it doesn’t lead to the baby being picked on later in life, but she’s pretty insistent on Karen.”
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