There is an arms race amongst parents these days to choose the most original name for their children possible. While it’s important to instill individuality into a child, studies show that people given unusual names at birth are more likely to suffer setbacks in their social and professional lives.
It can even make it harder for them to find a date.
Knowing that his daughter was setting her child up for a hard life by giving him a very unusual name, a dad staged an intervention—in person and online—to get her to realize what she was doing.
The father, known as MulledMarmite on Reddit, shared his dramatic story on the AITAH forum. He says this daughter’s interest in selecting such an unusual name comes from influencer culture.
“She is obsessed with this influencing thing, everything being about the numbers. Her husband has been evicted to the attic, because he ‘ruins her aesthetic’ that is for the videos. He isn’t allowed to bring his items or clothes outside of it, and whenever he as much as forgets a cup on the table, she will scream,” the father wrote.
“And now she is pregnant, which means it isn’t just her and my son in law’s problem, it is also a problem for my grandson,” he continued. “She wants no toys in the house for similar reasons, and has banned us from buying any. She doesn’t want colourful baby clothes, because the baby will stand out on her videos too much. And then… Then there is the name. Rawbhynne Marveigh Lynter.”
He later explained that Rawbhynne is pronounced “robin,” like the bird and the two middle names were composed of the names of both grandparents. He didn’t disclose the surname. She added that she wanted the non-traditional spelling for Robin because he won’t be a “sidekick” like the Boy Wonder in the Batman comics.
In another post, the father admitted that if his daughter was having a girl, she’d be named Jewleighaynnah, pronounced like “Juliana.”
“She doesn’t care that he will get bullied, that his name will be mispronounced, misspelled, and a nightmare on any official capacity. That he will grow to be an adult with the name, instead of staying as a baby,” the father added.
The daughter’s reluctance to change her son’s name and obsessive commitment to being an influencer caused the dad to stage an intervention involving “everyone we both know.” He also showed her his Reddit posts to let her know what the general public thinks about the name.
The commenters on Reddit were explicit that Rawbhynne Marveigh Lynter was a lousy choice for a name.
“Her kids are PEOPLE. They’re going to apply for college and jobs and official documentation with those names. She’s treating them like props or dolls for her amusement,” biwaterbender wrote. “It’s not about the NAME being unique, it’s about the PERSON. If she cares about how easily her kids navigate through life, then she should at least try to spell it more normally, even if it’s a weird bastard amalgamation name.”
The good news is that the father’s online and in-person interventions were successful and the daughter decided to choose a name from her husband’s culture. “One of my sons suggested the name Adler, as well as Arne, Arvid and Ari from my SIL’s culture. And she agreed to one of them,” the dad wrote.
The daughter and her husband also had a special Valentine’s Day ceremony where they recommitted to one another and she decided to return to therapy. She has also chosen to put her influencer career on the sidelines and focus on creating art.