When it comes to choosing baby names, it can be hard to pick just one. But what if you have two babies - and you really love a particular name?
That’s what seems to be the case for one woman who recently had twin boys. Unusually, she gave the two babies the same name, but with a different spelling.
One of the babies is named “Sean”, while the other is “Seen” - both pronounced “Shawn”. The family’s surname is also “Sean”.
After hearing what she named her babies, one of her colleagues branded her decision “idiotic”.
Taking to the Am I The A****** subreddit, the mother’s colleague sought outsider opinions over whether or not their critique was too harsh.
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They explained that after a battle with infertility, their 39-year-old colleague finally welcomed a set of twins. She took the babies to the office to show them off to her team.
But when the new mother shared their names, the Redditor blurted out: “This is the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard, and it’s going to be so confusing”.
The office worker said the reaction in the office was split. Some people laughed, while others “immediately looked away”. Others texted them later to say it’s not their place to comment on a person’s choice of name.
Providing further context, the Redditor said that the kids do not have middle names as she wanted their names to be like “Tom Tom, or Jay Jay”. Apparently this isn’t “the first round of negative feedback” the mom has received.
The top comment with over 23,000 upvotes is from an identical twin. They said: “Matching names is probably the cruellest thing you could do to a person. It’s not just confusing. It would keep the twins from developing identities outside their twin-ness.” They also rinsed the parents for their “creative spelling” of “Seen”. They added that although the original poster could have minced their words, “it needed to be said”.
Another wrote: “Maybe I’m also an AH [a******] but if she can’t handle the backlash for her kids’ names, think about how her boys will feel growing up. Might as well start now because they’re in for a childhood of jabs and jokes! Hopefully she legally changes them after a good night’s sleep in a few months.”
“If they were normal stupid twin names like Harry and Potter or Spider and Man or something I’d say YTA [you’re the a******] and mind your own business. However, I have to say NTA because that really is the most idiotic thing I’ve ever heard,” another remarked.
In an update after it garnered attention on the forum, the original poster said their colleague’s husband, who is also a co-worker, saw the post.
They wrote: “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.”
The parents are now reassessing the names, and are considering a new name for Seen, but they have decided to keep “Sean Sean”.
The Redditor added: “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 [be] an AH [a******], that’s more of an in general thing than tied to this situation’.”
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