A woman shared a screenshot of a conversation she had with her auntie where she shared her brutally honest eight-word response to the name she wanted to give her baby boy
When a family member or friend shares their baby name idea with you, it’s polite to fawn over it, even if you’re not a massive fan of the moniker. It will save any awkwardness, and ultimately, it’s not your decision to make. You’re allowed an opinion, of course; however, you may want to keep it to yourself and those who are closest to you or risk offending your relative or pal.
But when one woman’s auntie shared that she wanted to name her son a pretty classic name with a twist, she had to be truthful with her and sent a brutal eight-word response to the news.
On a Reddit thread for baby names that are rather unconventional, the woman shared the text exchange with her auntie.
Her aunt texted her, saying: “I like how Joxxun and Jaxson spell [sic]. It’s a unique way of spelling Jackson. I’m unsure which one to pick as it’s the same name, but I don’t want these kids to be typical..ugh”.
Rather than saying something along the lines of ‘I prefer Jaxson but I like the original spelling,’ the woman who posted the screenshot shared her brutal response.
She replied: “Why don’t we stick to normal spellings lol…”.
Accompanying the screenshot, she also wrote: “So my mother’s sister (my aunt) is having her second child (which is a boy) and wants to name him weird spellings of Jackson like Jaxson/Joxxun…
“I understand they may seem ‘cool’ and are ‘short’, but are they not tragic? I feel like the kids won’t like it themselves when they grow up. We all have short names in our family, but this one takes the cake”.
In the comments, people pointed out that one of the spellings wouldn’t even be read as Jackson.
They wrote: “Joxxun will never be pronounced Jackson by people reading it, I read it as Jocks-un”.
“My brain can physically not make itself read it as Jackson,” someone added.
Another person wrote: “I don’t get why people expect other users of the English language to inherently understand their particular misuses of it.
“Joxxun is objectively not Jackson, and never will be. You’re damning that kid to a lifetime of having to explain his parents’ intended pronunciation of his name to strangers”.
A Redditor said that they would inevitably “change their name when they were 18 anyway,” so it might be easier just to go along with the unusual spelling.
Someone offered some advice to the woman, saying: “This is what the original poster should tell their relatives. One, you’re consigning the child to a lifetime of correcting people’s spelling.
“Two, people don’t like being corrected. It makes them feel stupid. Three, therefore, you’re consigning the child to make a lifetime of bad first impressions.
“Why not save him all that? If you want to be fancy, use whatever spelling you wish on birthday cards, et cetera. Leave it at that”.
What would you do in this situation? Let us know in the comments…
