New Mom Refuses to Change Baby Name After Partner’s Sister Asks If She Can Take It

A new mom says she is refusing to change her baby’s name after her partner’s sister requested that she be able to use it instead.

In an anonymous post shared to Reddit, the 32-year-old woman says that she and her partner (identified only as a 34-year-old man) recently “welcomed our son Liam Alexander into the world.”

Her partner’s sister Katie, meanwhile, has two kids, named James and William.

“My partner and I didn’t settle on a name for our son until the day of his birth,” she writes in the post. “I have always loved the name Liam, for its sound and meaning, and was over the moon when my partner finally agreed to one of the names on my list.”

Just one day after Liam was born, the couple’s families came to the hospital to meet him. When the couple announced baby Liam’s name, Katie’s “immediate response was ‘Oh, I’ve always loved the name Liam, but Mike wouldn’t let me use it for our first son! Could you change it? Maybe call him Alexander as his first name? Its sounds nicer!’ ”

“I firmly said I loved the name too, and while I empathize with her, we would not be changing his name, or the order of his names,” the post continues.

While the new mom thought that was the end of the discussion, Katie brought it up again, one week later.

Katie said that she had always wanted to name a child Liam but that her partner didn’t like the name. “I told her that shouldn’t have stopped her from using the name she loved,” the woman writes in the Reddit post, adding: “I also said she could still use the name in future, it’s common in my culture and tends to serve as a bond between the kids.”

The woman adds that she and Katie “have never discussed baby names,” and “have no name pacts.”

Still, the woman adds that she feels bad, because she and Katie “have a good relationship.”

Commenters on Reddit, however, overwhelmingly feel that Katie is “crazy.”

“You shouldn’t encourage her to use Liam,” writes one, adding: “Katie needs to let this name go.”

Others noted that the situation is especially bizarre considering Katie isn’t even pregnant, and isn’t even in need of a baby name.

“If she brings this odd idea of you renaming your child again you need to take her aside and tell her that Liam is your son’s name — you aren’t going to change it,” recommends one commenter. “Tell her you love her but her refusing to let it drop is concerning and making you uncomfortable. Make it clear the topic is no longer open for discussion.”