Recently, a mother was made the butt of internet jokes when she made what appeared to be an unintentional and thoughtful choice that was not what she had in mind.
The Naming of a Child is probably one of the most important decisions a parent can make.
The name is chosen and it is an important decision because the name you choose will stay with a child for the rest of their life, and will shape aspects of a child’s identity, and sometimes lead to unintended consequences.
Naming her twins has caused this mother sadness and regret.
Like many parents, she wanted to give her kids names she loved and found unusual.
Unfortunately, after deciding on names of her newborn twins, she got an unexpected turn.
At first she was pleased with her choice, but was later to find that these names were linked, however unwittingly, with a TV show.
On parenting platform NetMums, her post explained how she named her twins ‘Charlie’ (a boy) and ‘Lola’.
She didn’t know these names were the names of characters from a well known BBC children’s show.
The mother wondered later whether she had made the right decision after a nurse casually pointed out the resemblance.
‘I don’t want to lie, I love both names, but I think I made a bad choice, and I get weird reactions if people ask.’ That was in her now deleted post.
On top of that, she also said that she had been on Tramadol for several days after giving birth and rushed up the decision.
It quickly became the butt of many’s jokes online as others began to add their thoughts.
One reader wrote: ‘This is very sad.’ Some suggested she change the names. Change the names.”
Another cautioned: “Liking a name is not a reason to have your child bullied for life.”
As the deadline for legally registering the names drew near, her anxiousness grew.
The mother was worried other parents and children would react.
“I am worried about them being laughed at because of the program “Charlie and Lola”,” she acknowledged, unsure whether to stick with the original names.
A few NetMums users rushed to help, despite her reservations.
Another reader, however, called Lola more appealing and unique than Lila.
Another person said the same thing, telling her that it wasn’t too late to change if she really wanted to, but that it wasn’t necessary if she didn’t either.
A user said: “Your little girl won’t know that that was even her name and everybody else will be able to get used to it.”
The mother mentioned that she might make a little change, altering her daughter’s name from “Lola” to “Lila,” to avoid misunderstanding while maintaining a similar sound.
But she still felt torn between those who argued her decision was something to be worried about and those who thought it wasn’t.
What about the names that have caused so much fuss?
She named her twins after characters from the popular children’s television series “Charlie and Lola.”
This seemingly simple decision about baby names would eventually turn into a much bigger knot to untangle, the untold stress parents usually go through when picking a name for their child.
It will be interesting to see if she changes the names or not, and if she does, this mother’s experience certainly started a heated debate about how much value we can put on names, and how much of that value, if any, we should let others opinions affect.
