What’s in a name?
Some will say everything, and others will say nothing.
Names can be changed once people reach a certain age, after all.
But until that age, people have to live with what they’ve been given by their parents or guardians.
That’s why people wish some parents would put serious thought into the process.
Case in point…
Redditor Deadlybutterknife wanted to discuss her experience and get some feedback. So naturally, she came to visit the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit.
She asked:
“AITA for telling a co-worker that her choice(s) of name for her twins is idiotic?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“I cannot believe that there is a spilt opinion for this at my office, but here we go.”
“A co-worker of mine (39 F[emale]) recently had twin boys after a long battle with infertility.”
“She has made her first appearance into the office with her new babies to introduce them to our team.”
“When asked what she had named the boys (as up until this appearance she was undecided), she told me that she was naming them ‘Sean.'”
“When I asked about the other baby, she said, ‘No, they are both Sean, one with an ‘A’ and one with an ‘E’ so Sean and Seen.'”
“This co-worker’s last name is also ‘Sean.'”
“When I pointed this out, she said ‘yes, like Tom Tom or Jay Jay.'”
“I immediately and without thinking said, ‘that is the most idiotic thing I’ve heard, and it’s going to be so confusing.”
“A bunch of people laughed, and a bunch immediately looked away.”
“After she left, I got a few text messages saying it’s not my place to comment on people’s choice of name.”
“Additional information. No, they don’t have middle names, she wanted their names to be like ‘Tom Tom, or Jay Jay.'”
“This is apparently not the first round of negative feedback she has had.”
“We are on good terms, we have worked together across three companies over 12 years, she just said ‘it’ll grow on you.'”
“The names both pronounced ‘Sean’ like ‘Shawn.'”
“Am I the a**hole for saying that that is a terrible naming idea?”
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed some options to the question AITA:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Many Redditors declared OP was NOT the A**hole.
“NTA. This was so ridiculous I questioned if it could actually be true.”
“How can anyone think that that cute or great names?”
“Seriously, wtf is wrong with this person?!?”
“Those kids will hate her when they grow up.”
“Seriously Sean-Sean?!?”
“That’s a bully’s dream!!!” ~ Unusual-Recording-40
“I do not think that having the same last and first name is that bad.”
“I knew a family that named their first sons the same as their last name for generations.”
“It’s a bit weird, but not terrible.”
“The terrible part is that the two boys have the same name! That’s ridiculous!”
“And the fact that the other Sean is spelled Seen, and no one will ever say his name correctly.”
“The twins need to have names that are not the same so they can develop their own identities and personalities.”
“Naming them the ‘same’ name is cruel.”
“Pretending that Seen is pronounced like Sean is also cruel.”
“If the parents cannot see this for themselves, they absolutely need a slap-in-the-face comment to wake them up.”
“Please think of the lifelong consequences the name will have on the child and how they will feel about it.”
“I vote NTA.” ~ Boat-Electrical
“NTA. The chic naming her twins that is the a**hole!” ~ AldrickExGladius
“My dad and his twin were Roy and Troy because my grandma was 16, and it was the 60s and she found out she was having twins as she was pushing out the second baby.”
“They panicked, and so my dad had the most confusing childhood of trying to figure out who the hell’s name was being called and which of them was getting sent to the principles office at school.” ~ carsandtelephones37
“Lol. Yeah YTA, but that doesn’t mean you’re wrong.” ~ PrivateNoLlamaDrama
“NTA at all.”
“The woman is an idiot, not only for naming them the same name but for the even more idiotic spelling.”
“My name is Ksxtjdf–pronounced ‘Steve.'”
“Really, names still have to (for the most part) follow simple phonetic rules.”
“You were right to laugh at her, I hope she feels embarrassed and bad enough to change the poor kid’s name.” ~ ghettoblaster78
“NTA. See, when no one close to them says anything before registering their names?”
“The kids end up getting stupid names. If their relatives didn’t say anything, then who should point it out?”
“It is not an ugly name, it is just idiotic to name your twins Sean and Seen.”
“With the same pronunciations.” ~ Historical-Demand-79
“NTA those poor kids.”
“It’s not fair to play games with kids’ names like it’s an inside joke or entertaining for the parents.”
“The kids could very well hate each other, and the one named Seen will be ridiculed so much they will have a hard time.”
“My heart goes out to kids who feel ashamed or confused by their names because it’s so integral to who they are.”
“They shouldn’t feel any negative emotions or confusion when someone wants to call them by name.” ~ BellaBlue06
“What does she plan to do once she has to start addressing them to get their attention??”
“Sean come downstairs! Oh, sorry not you I meant Seen.’”
“Maybe it’s not your place to comment so forwardly on someone else’s naming decisions for their children but you’re right.”
“It’s really stupid.”
“I really wonder if her husband was like oh yeah, babe that’s a great idea.”
“Can 2 people be that dumb??? NTA.” ~ spare_human
“NTA, but I may just be biased because I wholeheartedly agree with you.”
“For one, they are already twins… I’m sure they would like to be differentiated in some type of way to form their own identity.”
“But also, who spells Shawn like seen???”
“That alone would get a kid made fun of.”
“Every teacher will pronounce that wrong. If the names are sticking, I feel like she could at least go Sean and Shawn.”
“LOL. One last point, this sounds like a nightmare to try to get one of their attention.”
“‘Sean! no no the other one’ nightmare.” ~ justaverage0313
“I’m going to say NTA, although using the word idiotic may have been a bit much.”
“What I want to know is how is she going to call one kid or the other?”
“I if both names are spelled the same, are the kids going to mind read which ‘Shawn’ she wants?”
“No one, in ‘Seen’s’ life is ever going to pronounce that as Sean.”
“You can’t just change pronunciation to suit your whims.” ~ Ellejaek
EDIT AND UPDATE…
“My co-worker’s husband (who is also a co-worker) saw the post last night.”
“They had a good chuckle and ended up agreeing with the replies that the naming process wasn’t ideal.”
“And maybe the overwhelming process of having two newborns left them too tired to think straight.”
“Despite the fact they had already sent off the paperwork to birth deaths and marriages office (the place you lodge births for in Australia), they called up the Brisbane office, and the paperwork had only been provisionally processed (due to Xmas time), and they have used this time to reassess.”
“They have withdrawn the paperwork (FOR SEEN ONLY) and will think of a new name, but they are keeping Sean Sean as they like it.”
“I have also been reported to H[uman] R[esourcces] for making this Reddit post (not by the parents, they think it’s hilarious) so well well, if it’s isn’t the consequences of my actions.”
“They also want everyone to know that ‘calling her an idiot isn’t the worst thing I’ve said to her this year, and while I’ll definitely an AH, that’s more of an in general thing than tied to this situation.'”
Reddit continued…
“NTA. Someone had to say it.”
“Everyone should be saying it.”
“Isn’t there evidence that even dressing your twins the same can leave them struggling with establishing their own identity?”
“It would be bad enough having the same first and last name, but sharing the same phonetic name with your twin is even worse.”
“I fear for the future of these children with someone who thinks this is a good idea as a parent. Yikes.” ~ hannahkelli
“NTA. Thank you for standing up for Shawn Shawn, who in the future will change his name to John or Josh.”
“And the other brother will do the same with a different basic and plain name.”
“Coworker is stupid AF.” ~ Spiritual-Check5579
Final update:
“A lot of people wanted an update post my meeting with HR for whatever reason, so here it is, but as expected it was underwhelming.”
“Met with HR yesterday (10th), meeting was pretty brief and definitely a waste of everyone’s time.”
“They asked if I were aware of the company’s social media policy.”
“I said I was, and I am fairly confident that I have not breached it.”
“They agreed I hadn’t, and asked me ‘to be more considerate of co-workers feelings and to ‘not put this meeting all over the internet.'”
“I said, ‘I’ll definitely be doing an update’ and that ‘I’ll be sure to not call the next person naming their child Seen Sean an idiotic.'”
“Again, I work in banking, and while there is a long way to go with fixing the culture across every banking organization I think H[uman] R[esources] was just doing their thing and making sure I’m on notice in case I.”
“I dunno take a photo of me stealing candy from a baby while wearing the company logo or something.”
OP, Reddit is with you.
It seems like the parents forgave you, so it’s not really anyone else’s business.
Hopefully, work will put this to rest.
Good luck to the parents on coming up with a second name.