A woman has confessed that her name has caused her so much ‘grief and frustration’ over the years that she wants to change it but is worried about her parents will react as it holds a lot of sentimental value
When considering possible names for a new baby, some parents look to family members for inspiration. However, a woman has revealed how her mum and dad took not one but “a bunch” and “smashed” them all together to create her unique moniker.
Confessing that she’d always hated it and now wants to legally change it, she took to a ‘name shaming’ forum to ask for advice on how to handle her parents. She wrote: “I have a name that my parents made up by smashing together a bunch of family member’s names. It’s caused me so much grief and frustration throughout my life that I’m finally fed up and want to change it.
“I live every day in fear that someone will see my name in the wild and post about it on here (only slightly joking about this). I’ve thought about just changing it professionally and socially but my company won’t update my contact information unless I legally change it as well so now I’m really considering it.
“My question is, to those who have changed your name legally, have you told your parents? How did they react? My parents adore my name and I’m sure that they’d see it as almost a betrayal since they chose it to honor their relatives.
“I think my mother will take it very personally because part of my name is her deceased mother’s name… They’re usually great at respecting my autonomy but they’re also very attached to the “meaning” behind my name.
“I’m aware that I don’t have to like and accept this gift that they’ve given me, but I am close to them and really don’t want to upset them. I don’t currently have a name picked out for myself and I won’t be sharing my current name as it will immediately identify me since I’m the only one *lucky* enough to have it.”
She added: “I do plan on changing my first name to my middle name just to keep it around. I don’t hate my name, I just don’t want it to be my first name. It wouldn’t bug me if people kept calling me my old name once I changed it, but it will be a huge relief to not have to introduce myself as that name anymore to new people.”
After people started to try to guess her name, she responded: “I hate to break hearts, but my name is not Renesmee. I’m in my thirties and remember reading Breaking Dawn for the first time and thinking, my mom and Stephanie Meyer must have read the same naming blog.”
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People in the comments section of the Reddit post loved the candid and jokey story and rushed to offer their advice. One person supplied: “Eventually you just have to decide whose life you’re living. Both my kids opted to change their surnames. They were worried about offending their dad, but I reminded them that even if he didn’t like their decision, there was no way on earth it could make him love them even a tiny bit less.”
And someone else added: “I waited until I had officially changed my name and changed all my bills and government stuff over to my new name to tell my mother. She does not like that I changed my name and refuses to use it. We have agreed to disagree at this point. I accept that she will never use my new name, and she accepts that I’ve changed it.”
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