Mum unknowingly gives baby X-rated name by trying to honour her grandparents

The 20-year-old signed all of the official documents... before her family let her in on the meaning behind the old-fashioned word.

Eleanor Katelaris

2 min read

February 21, 2024 - 1:13PM

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A new mum has left her family completely shocked after sharing the X-rated name she unknowingly gave her newborn baby.

The 20-year-old gave birth in January and wanted to keep the name a secret until she had signed all the official documents.

It wasn't until afterwards that her family were able to let her in on the real meaning behind the name.

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Image: IStock

She named the baby WHAT?!

She wanted the name to be a sweet nod to her grandparents, Harvey and Charlotte, so she decided to blend the two names together to form 'Harlotte'.

She had never heard of the word 'harlot' before, which is an old-fashioned word for a sex worker or someone who has multiple sexual partners.

Taking to a baby name forum on Reddit, the mum's cousin detailed the moment her family found out.

"My mum burst out, "YOU NAMED THE BABY WHORE???" and my cousin started screaming. We are a loud family but holy hell," she said.

"That poor child. Harlotte. HARLOTTE. It's so horrific I can't even call the baby it."

The cousin then admits that she's had to come up with a nickname for the baby.

"She came out very pink and has a puggy nose, so I'm calling her Piglet for now."

"Ruining a baby's life"

Straight off the bat, people pointed out that there was an obvious alternative to naming the child Harlotte.

"Why didn't she call her Charley? Yes, it's a unique spelling, but still a hat tip to the grandparents," the top comment read. "Even spelling it normally, like 'Charlie', would be fine."

And someone else pointed out, "How do you have the opportunity to blend two names to form Charlie and still get it wrong?"

Then a third chimed in, asking: "Why do people, who have unlimited access to information at their fingertips, refuse to use it for a simple search before ruining a baby’s life?"

And teachers weighed in and shared how they'd address this situation when little Harlotte is of school age.

"I would think it was a typo at first, then I would insist the child goes by their nickname," one wrote. "If she doesn't have one, pick one."

"That kid is getting called by their last name," said another.

How to not give your kid a sh*t name

Meanwhile, others shared their suggestions on how to avoid this problem from happening in the first place.

"When you are deciding on a baby name, there are certain things you need to consider," said one. "Do you know anyone with that name that was a jerk? Does it rhyme with anything that could get the kid made fun of? When the name stands alone, does it invite ridicule?"

Then another said they'd "get a focus group of kids together and give them a list of names to see what f**kery they come up with so I know which names to avoid."