Sometimes sibling spats can be silly. That’s just the nature of having a sibling. But someone on Reddit claims that their sister is no longer speaking to them and is now asking for advice. Why? Because the original poster gave her a hard time about the name she chose for her baby.
The OP thinks that the name is a little too similar to something associated with dogs. Even though dogs are a person’s best friend, you may not want to name your baby something dog-related. Now, the person is wondering if maybe staying silent might have been better.
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The OP was honest about the situation.
The person took to the Reddit community AITA, or Am I the A–hole?, to try to solicit advice about what happened when the sister shared her baby’s name.
“My sister had a baby. I’m happy for her. Her baby’s name is Ruff. It’s Ruff,” the OP shared. “It sounds like a dog. I thought she was joking and laughed. I was wrong.”
The sister didn't see what was funny.
“She asked me why I was laughing. I said it sounded like a dog barking. ‘Ruff ruff?’ I thought we were laughing, but she got mad. She was angry,” the person explained. “She said I was being disrespectful and that the name had meaning to her and her husband. They love an obscure video game character. I told her that she can name her child whatever she wants, but people will associate it and it might be hard for him in school.”
Now the sister is refusing to talk about it.
The OP explained that now the sister “won’t return my texts or calls.”
“My mom says I should have kept my mouth shut. Am I the only one seeing this?” the Redditor asked. “I didn’t mean to be a jerk, but ‘Ruff?’! I can’t be the only one who thinks this could backfire. So I told my sister that her baby’s name sounds like a dog’s name. Is she overreacting?”
Many people pointed out that the OP needs to have this kid's back.
“Okay, yeah, you could have handled it better but that’s a ridiculous name for a child. I’m already cringing at the jokes that will be coming once he’s older,” one person wrote.
“Honestly feel bad for kids when their parents give them goofy names, because you know damn well they’re going to be teased about it constantly,” another person shared.
“If she didn’t like how you reacted, imagine how she’ll like having to deal with all the school bullying coming this poor kid’s way. :\ I swear some people just don’t think. Kids are not accessories,” someone else commented.
“NTA – but because you ran your mouth you won’t be asked to babysit now. You would have had so much fun with that kid, teaching Ruff to stay, roll over, sit. The possibilities were endless,” another person joked.
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People understand that a person's name has implications.
“Honestly feel bad for kids when their parents give them goofy names, because you know d— well they’re going to be teased about it constantly,” one person wrote.
Someone else agreed. “It’s a sibling’s job to tell their sib when things have truly gone off the rails. Like this,” the person commented. “That poor child’s life will be hell until he changes it. Which he will. He’s going to go under an alias like Patrick after his first week of preschool.”
“NTA. People like your sister are the reason some countries (like France) have laws in place that allow the government to veto a baby name if it’s deemed too goddam stupid,” another person added.
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
