These New Parents Were Left "Stunned" By Their Family's Response To Their Baby's Name

It should be common knowledge at this point, but just in case you hadn’t heard: It’s not polite to comment on a baby’s name. Parents who have just had a baby are physically drained, overwhelmed with emotion, and typically pretty fragile mentally. The last thing they need is someone giving them grief about their choice of name for their baby, especially since the art of doing so can be a deeply personal experience.

Unfortunately, there are still people (aka in-laws) out there who feel entitled to share their unsolicited opinions, and in the case of one mom and dad, it’s left them totally aghast.

“I just had a baby this week,” the mom wrote in her Reddit post in the /rNameNerds subreddit. “We were still in the hospital when we announced her name and got a slew of the usual responses that normal, sane people say when hearing about the name of a baby (‘what a lovely name!’). Because saying anything different is insane, right?”

She then explained that her husband texted his side of the family, announcing the birth of the baby and her name. His family proceeded to give other suggestions for a name since they did not like the one the parents picked... for their own child. Here’s the kicker: The name is Rosa.

“My husband texts his family group chat. His mother responds ‘no, I don’t really like that name. I much prefer Violet, what do you think about that?’ We were stunned. I simply cannot imagine being a family member who’s being INFORMED of a newborn’s name, and thinking you should have input,” she wrote.

“My poor husband was crushed. We LOVE our daughter’s name, and did not want to have our first moments with our daughter marred by this comment, so we ignored her text. SHE PROCEEDS TO CALL SEVERAL TIMES. We ignore the calls.”

The next day, her husband’s sister jumps on the train and also sends texts with “several alternatives” of names that she prefers over the name they picked.

Her mother-in-law laughed out loud when they informed her that the rest of the family loves the name Rosa and said, “They must not have good taste- nobody here likes it. Nobody.”

“We are sleep deprived. Coming down for an emotional high, during which our daughter was in NICU and I almost needed a blood transfusion because of how much blood I lost. My husband, so stoic and assured, is f**king crushed. I’m FUMING. I will NEVER forget how they made my husband feel during one of the most vulnerable and special times in his life,” she concluded.

Now, after you pick your jaw up off the floor at this mother-in-law’s absolutey abhorrent behavior, know you’re not alone in feeling for this new mom and dad. Several Reddit users also shared their sympathies for the uncalled for reaction to their baby’s name. Others could not understand how people could have such a visceral reaction to a quite lovely name.

One user wrote, “What on earth is wrong with Rosa???? It’s a beautiful name!! Tell your mother-in-law she is ridiculous and she can shut up immediately, if not sooner.”

“The name is ROSA? I thought from reading this that it was at least going to be a controversial name. Rosa is beautiful. Even if it’s not your cup of tea, it’s hard to find anything wrong with it. OP should take this as the sign it is and reevaluate their individual relationships with that side of the family,” another said.

That’s not a bad idea. It would take a lot in me to not cut things off completely with people who treated me this way during those overwhelming first days of postpartum life.

“The way I’d go no contact so fast. You can’t ‘bring yourself’ to say your granddaughters name? Ok, I’ll make it easy for you, you won’t have to say her name,” another pointed out.

Well said!