Single mum tired of justifying her son’s ‘unusual’ name
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Many parents would agree that, apart from the physical labour of childbirth, one of the most challenging parts of being a new parent is naming your child.
Our name is our identifier, something we carry forever. Makes sense that choosing a name is a lot of pressure.
While most of the time, parents opt for a more common name, the practice of choosing more unique names is becoming much more mainstream. However, not everyone is a fan of this.
Sophia Waterfield, who works as a freelance journalist based in the UK, is here to share the story of how she was met with judging looks and hurtful comments after naming her son a rather unique name.
Sophia is tired of having to justify her son’s name. Credit: news.com.au.
Sophia Waterfield is a 32-year-old single mum from the Yorkshire Wolds and her son’s name is Amyas.
According to Sophia, the name holds a sentimental value to her and it means “loved” in Latin. It’s also the name of a character in an Agatha Christie novel. So obviously this name meant alot to Sophia and holds a ton of sentimental meaning. Very cute right?
When the ultrasound technician told the mum she was having a boy, the name flashed into her mind. “It wasn’t even in my top 10 favourite boy’s name list,” she said.
“From that moment on, he could only ever be Amyas to me.”
The name is pronounced as “Am-ee-us” or “Am-yas”, clarified Sophia.
The constant stream of questions, and even attempts to change her mind about her son’s name, started when Sophia was pregnant.
“I was constantly asked about what I was calling my baby and when I told them, I was met with odd looks.” She recalled other people straight up telling her: “Why would you call him that?”
Sophia said that the unnecessary questions added to her post-childbirth stress. When all she wanted was to cuddle her baby to rest, she was instead justifying to people why she named her son Amyas.
The name Amyas holds sentimental value to Sophia. Credit: news.com.au.
Last year, Sophia received hurtful remarks from people online when she wrote an article about her son’s unusual name. Anonymous commenters have called her “pretentious”, “stupid”, and “one of THOSE parents”.
“To say I felt sick with anger is an understatement,” said the journalist. “I’m never going to be used to the trolling which comes with the job, I have become able to deal with it.”
“But when your child, an innocent infant, becomes the target it changes the game.”
She said that the trolls went as far as to call her son a future “murderer” and “will pursue a career in prison because of the bullying”.
In response, Sophia said: “While this is one of the most extreme responses to my son’s name, it’s not the first and I know it won’t be the last.”
“Disagreeing with my name choice is one thing, but insulting me and my son is out of line.”
“All I want is for people to respect my son’s name without question. I don’t know why people think they have the right to such strong opinions on the matter.”
Sophia expressed that it’s mentally exhausting for her and her kid to be attacked for personal decisions.
“At the end of the day, the reasons why my son is called Amyas are only the business of his parents. Nobody else.”
While we are all entitled to our own opinion, attacking and abusing someone based on a personal choice that is largely harmless is wrong. We wish the best for Sophia and Amyas!
What are your thoughts? What are the most out-there names you’ve come across? Let us know in the comments below.
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