My pregnant wife is forcing a hippy name onto our baby; I hate them all

"She's now said my descriptions of her suggestions is 'unfair'." Would you choose any of these names?

Eleanor Katelaris

3 min read

March 5, 2024 - 1:56PM

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A soon-to-be dad has detailed his bitter battle with his pregnant wife over their unborn child's name.

It's an age-old problem... one party wants a progressive name, while the other prefers something more traditional.

In this case, his wife wants a unique 'hippy' name whereas he couldn't think of anything worse.

So, he took to an advice forum to air his dirty and hopefully seek some allies...

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The due date is looming and the name is still undecided

The 30-year-old, who is expecting this month with his 28-year-old wife, said he's worried they're not going to come to a decision before their daughter is born.

"We have very different ideas about what the name should be," he dished on the AITA forum. "My wife likes nothing too classic and normal like the names I have suggested."

He then lists some of the 'hundreds' of names he's put forward, including; Elizabeth, Emily, Natasha, Hannah, Katherine, Francesca, Matilda, Annabelle, Isabelle, Vivienne and Sadie.

However, his wife's suggestions look more like this — Skye, Indie, River, Dove, Ocean, Seraphina, Atlas, Clove, Asteria, Lennox, Ember and Wynter.

"I would consider these far more modern as she likes unique names, but I find them very hippy," he explained.

"We have thrown out hundreds if not thousands of names and any time I ask her why she dislikes any of the classic names, she says she either finds them boring or old-leaning and she doesn't like that.

"I told her it would be better for our child to grow up with a name that sounds normal compared to one that's made up to be unique. She told me she would never agree to a name like Elizabeth or Amelia (another name I suggested). I told her I would not agree to a unique or weird hippy name for our daughter."

He then said that his wife said she wouldn't let him "force her into changing her taste" and said his description of her names was "unfair."

With their baby's due date looming over them, he wants advice and to know if he's being an a**hole in this situation.

"The one risking her life should get to pick"

The man didn't receive much sympathy at first, with users telling him he was definitely in the wrong here.

"You're the a**hole just for dismissing the names Asteria and Seraphina as modern hippy names when they are hundreds if not thousands of years old," one person said. "Go pick other reasons to claim to dislike those names."

And a second wrote, "You are so set against any of her ideas you have no spirit of compromise."

"And frankly, if you can't agree, shouldn't the one risking her life to bring the baby into the world get to pick?" they added. "She's doing all the heavy lifting with all the fun hormones... let the woman name the baby."

"You are absolutely fine for having name preferences, but it seems like you've just decided that EVERYTHING your wife suggests is 'modern and hippy' even when it's very clearly not," said a third.

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"You both need to be able to compromise"

However, some saw the man's point.

"Not the a**hole, and please show this to your wife - I'm a middle-aged woman whose parents wanted to give me a 'unique' name in the seventies, something no one had ever heard of," one woman replied.

"I spent most of my childhood telling people my name and having them laugh in my face, mangle the pronunciation, and one teacher even refused to call me such a 'silly name'. You're not just giving a cute name to a baby - you're naming an adult, a person who will have to introduce themselves by whatever name you give them now."

And a different forum user agreed, saying, "Not the a**hole. We are expecting in May and the one thing we 100 per cent agree on is giving the bub a name that is suitable for a baby, toddler, eight-year-old, 16-year-old etc."

"One that sounds okay to call out on the playground but also to put on a job application in 20 years," they added.

Others pointed out that both of them are being difficult, and gave them suggestions on how to come to a solution.

"You both need to be able to compromise. It's okay to have different preferences, but you two are insulting each other," said one.

"It feels like at this point you're both rejecting names for the sake of rejecting them and refusing to let the other 'win'," theorised someone else.

And this person concluded, "I recommend you both drop the subject for at least a week, then come together and figure it out because if you can't work together to pick a damn name for your child then you aren't going to work as parents."