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"Unique - yes. But that's just going to make that little girl suffer and she will probably be bullied for that spelling," said the woman, who sparked a debate over "f--ked up spelling" of children's names in the process.
A woman has taken to the internet to ask if she's the a-hole after she was labeled a "bad friend" for telling her bestie she was making a huge mistake with the spelling of her newborn daughter's name.
The tale, posted to an anonymous forum, got an overwhelming response from readers on Reddit, who in great numbers voiced support for the original poster (a.k.a. "OP").
Read on for the whole tale, which sparked a debate about unique or unusual spellings for children's names in the replies.
The Original Reddit Post
The OP first explained she and her friend have been "really close" for 17 years. The friend recently welcomed her first child with her husband and the name they chose drove a wedge between the now-former besties.
"They decided to name their daughter Ghiuliyette (pronounced Juliet) and her middle name is Mahriya. I thought the spelling was a joke, until she told me they are serious," wrote OP. "I told her, that with that spelling of a simple but beautiful name is just going to ruin that little girls life. She got mad and told me to stop 'ruining' her mood and that I'm being mean."
"Unique-yes. But that's just going to make that little girl suffer and she will probably be bullied for that spelling."
"I'm completely honest. The spelling is just bad. Nothing else can explain it. Why ruin such a beautiful name by including letters that don't belong there?" asked the OP.
The woman didn't stop there, though, admitting that she doubled down in a text the next day -- telling the new mom that "the little girl will try to change her name or at least go by her middle name since it's normal." At that point, the friend told OP to "stop texting her, that I'm a bad friend and that I'm being the a-hole for making fun of the name."
OP insisted she wasn't making fun of the name, but felt "the spelling is just bad" -- something which made the friend go "crazy."
"She told me that I'm the worst friend ever and that I would never be able to see her daughter again," wrote OP. "After that, her husband sent me an email, telling me to stop being so disrespectful. He thinks the spelling is cute and it just makes her unique."
While OP acknowledged the spelling was certainly "unique," she theorized the spelling would also "make that little girl suffer and she will probably be bullied" for it. "So, am I the a--hole for telling my friend that the name she gave her daughter is bad and will ruin her life?"
Certified NTA (Not The A--hole)
The post was flooded with replies, garnering more than 4.5K comments at last glance and an official branding of Not the A-hole by Reddit.
One of the most upvoted replies came from a high school teacher who said OP was 100% "right."
"Kids with f--ked up spellings of their names are miserable about 3/4 of the time. It's difficult to spell, people mispronounce them, and official documents? Fuggedaboutit," they wrote. "And we definitely judge parents. We don't think their kids' names, looking like they just picked 10 random scrabble tiles out of the box, are cute and unique; we think their parents are stupid and immature ... It's one of the ways we clock parents as potentially difficult."
"I keep in touch with 3 students who changed their names from their parents' spelling to the actual conventional spelling the minute they turned 18," they added. "That kid will be 'Juliet Maria' as soon as she possibly can."
Another echoed that sentiment, writing, "She will spend literally the rest of her life listen to people struggle to pronounce it and she will either have to get used to explaining 'it sounds just like Juliet' or she will legally change it."
"Holy mother of god, have you considered calling child protective services?!"
Another poster said the name was "borderline abuse," adding that "at least one intelligent adult should care for the little girl & her future." They added, "I get it, it's considered 'rude' to push your opinion, but when it's about a helpless child then I'd say push as much & as far as you can, even when it's not your own child."
"Holy mother of god, have you considered calling child protective services?!" joked another, who said they were fully prepared to label OP an a--hole until seeing the spelling of the name.
Though most of the responses sided with the OP, there were clearly enough people also criticizing some of OP's behavior that she added an update to her post.
"Update: Alright, I get it. I'm an a--hole for going after the Name more than once. Sorry for that lmao," wrote OP. "I just send her an apology text for doing it, yet I did write how she should try to look at it from another perspective. I also send a few screenshots of the comments just for her to see what other people think of it."
The kicker, she added: "FYI I'm supposed to be the godmother, which is why I was extra worried lmao my bad."
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