Picking baby names is usually a major discussion between soon-to-be parents. Some people have strong opinions about what they want. And it may be hard to sway them, even if you know that their choice may not be the best one. When it comes to picking a name for your child, you have to be prepared to fight.
One dad-to-be is trying to get advice on alternative baby names to his wife’s choices for the twins. She has a specific idea of what she wants. However, he’s worried that people may take them the wrong way.
His wife is a big fan of William Shakespeare.
Posting in the Reddit Name Nerds community, the man explained his baby naming dilemma. His wife is pregnant with twins, and is also a big fan of Shakespeare. According to the man, his Bard-loving wife “loves the idea of naming the twins Romeo and Juliet.”
Naturally, the man isn’t on board with the idea. “I can’t get over the idea of naming our kids after a fictional couple who die,” he said. However, he does like the name Juliet. “I even suggested that if we go with Juliet, maybe we could name our son Tybalt after Juliet’s cousin. She insists that if we use Juliet, we have to use Romeo.”
He’s been wracking his brain and Shakespeare’s plays for alternatives.
According to the struggling dad, Romeo & Juliet is one of the few Shakespeare plays he knows. “But I’ve tried to look online for some other Shakespearean sibling names we could use, like Ophelia and Laertes from Hamlet or Claudio and Isabella from Much Ado About Nothing,” he explained.
His wife claims those names don’t work for her. In her mind, “either their source isn’t serious enough or the names aren’t recognizable/famous as Shakespearean.”
The dad is committed to finding a better Shakespearean option.
The man explained his wife is “really stuck on this.” And while he doesn’t mind Romeo and Juliet individually, he just can’t name his twins that.
“I’m not sure if I’m overthinking the meaning behind the names and being weird about it, but I can’t talk with anyone about this because she wants the twins’ names to be a surprise,” he wrote, asking for suggestions.
People confirmed his fears.
Many comments affirmed the dad’s belief that R&J just don’t quite work for twins.
“YOUR KIDS WILL NEVER EVER EVER FORGIVE YOU EVER ,ITS STUPID,” one person commanded.
“Twins are individual people and future adults, not your accessories,” another person noted. “Please have her speak to actual adult twins.”
“This is just a cruel idea!” another person shared. “It’s one of the few literary references where essentially 100% of people will know that they’re love interests who kill themselves. That’s be so awkward for them.”
Many people suggested a better idea.
Dozens of comments rolled in offering the dad other options from the Shakespeare lexicon. But there was one pair of names that got an overwhelming amount of love: Viola and Sebastian from the Shakespeare play Twelfth Night.
What’s even better is the characters are actually male/female twins. “I love those two names and the fact that they are twins might sway my wife,” the man said, thanking the commenter.
Hopefully, he’s able to get other names on the table.
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.
