A mum discovered a beautiful name for her baby boy that translates to ‘brave warrior’ – but cruel bullies have branded the name ‘ugly’ and say they feel sorry for the kid
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Mum sparks uproar after picking unusual baby name for son
Finding a baby name that everyone approves of is virtually impossible, and one woman has found out the hard way.
Lexis Kelly, who is in her 20s, gave birth back in 2022 to a beautiful little boy. Like many parents, she knew as soon as she laid eyes on him what name she was going to choose. The mum, from Wirral, Merseyside, didn’t want to opt for a widely used name and discovered an unusual title that translated to ‘brave warrior’ in Hawaiian. She says it suits him ‘like a glove’ but has received heavy backlash from bullies that have criticised the name and say they ‘feel sorry’ for the kid.
Last year, Lexis took to social media under the username @lexisfletcher to reveal she had named her little boy Koa Henry Langley – but not everybody was welcoming. “I have been told it’s a disgusting name, that I need to remember I’m naming an adult and not a child,” the parent said. “As well as being told that it’s ugly, funny, too girly, too hard to spell, ridiculous, and too hard to pronounce.”
In a TikTok video posted that has gained thousands of likes and comments, Lexis and baby Koa can be seen sitting on the sofa while the proud mum lip-synced to a song. Addressing her followers in the clip, Lexis said: “When I picked an unusual name for my son and everyone constantly asks how it’s spelled or pronounced.”
The name holds a special significance for Lexis, who experienced a difficult pregnancy before welcoming her “happy, healthy boy”. As well as being unable to keep any food and water down, she suffered from anemia and was also administered blood thinner injections to reduce the risk of clotting.
Lexis was induced early, but the procedure didn’t work and she ended up having to endure 43 hours of labour before doctors eventually decided to carry out a c-section due to the young mum’s heart rate “slipping”. She recalled: “Despite everything, he came out really healthy, weighing seven pounds, three ounces. He was so brave throughout, so the name matched perfectly.”
Her recent video sadly sparked further criticism, with one person commenting: “I feel sorry for the children with an unusually spelled name, they have to spell it to others for the rest of their lives.”
Another wrote: “It’s hard for me to imagine meeting a human named Koa, it’s my dog’s name.” A third said: “You’re naming an adult not a kid.”
Others however thought Koa was a perfectly “lovely name”, with a fourth person applauding: “Koa is such a cute name I might name my child that.” A fifth agreed: “I know a baby whose name is spelled ‘Koah’. It’s a lovely name.”
Regardless of what people might think, Lexis chooses not to take mean comments to heart, explaining: “I would much rather have an unusual name for my child than for him to have the same common name as 20 other people in his class when he grows up.
“Everyone is entitled to an opinion and mine is that is it a gorgeous name and it matches him perfectly. It has an amazing, strong meaning to it and he is my son, that is the name I chose for him.”
A version of this story was first published on 21 March, 2023.
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