Mother told ‘cruel’ baby name will make her son’s life harder

A woman has been lambasted for her unique choice of baby name — and people say it could cause problems for her son as he grows up.

The most popular baby names for 2024 were Olivia, Amelia and Emma for girls, and Noah, Liam and Oliver for boys. But this mother-to-be strayed far from the norm, and didn’t get the response she hoped for when she tested the water in the viral Facebook group, ‘That name isn’t a tragedeigh, it’s a murghdyrr‘.

She shared: ‘I feel like some would say my son’s name belongs here, we’re naming him Rayleigh‘.

Her search for honest opinions elicited strong reactions, with many saying her baby boy would spend his whole life spelling his name for strangers.

One anonymous critic wrote: ‘That is a terrible name regardless, but even worse for a boy. Poor kid. Please don’t.’

Another added: ‘In your attempt to be ‘different’, you’re actually doing something extremely common and cliche, and it’s not even easy to spell, he’s gonna spend his whole life correcting people thousands of times because his name has a stupid spelling.’

Others urged her to reconsider and said it was not too late to change her mind, saying the name is ‘just cruel’. One person even accused the woman of being selfish.

However some were kinder in their responses, offering suggestions about how she could keep the name with a different slant.

One person said: ‘In the kindest way I can say this, it’s not great. I’m not a parent but my observational skills in that regard are good.

‘You have to remember that you’re naming your son who is only going to be a baby for a small percentage of his life. Genuine question: Have you thought about him when he’s a 40-year-old man and his name is Rayleigh?

‘Even if you spaced it out like ‘Ray Lee’, it’s not great, but that’s a million times better so he can pick one or the other for a nickname. Or just have that be his first and middle name. I really mean this in the nicest way, please reconsider.’

Naming trends can be fickle, but the most popular have remained largely the same two years running.

In BabyCenter’s annual ranking of the most popular baby names, released this month, the majority of the top choices from 2023 remained there this time around — including Olivia and Noah, which held their respective number one spots.

Both winners have featured in fifth or above since as far back as 2012, but it’s the second year running that Noah has placed first for boys, while Olivia has claimed the title for girls four times in a row.

Continuing favourites for boys included Liam, Oliver, Elijah, Mateo, Lucas and Levi, with the only new entrant in the top 10 being Asher (previously ranked 11th).

The frontrunners in the girls list remained largely the same too, apart from Ellie, which jumped from 15th to ninth over the course of the year.

Among the names which made BabyCenter history, Walker, Bennett and Adriel for boys and Ember and Oakley for girls all reached the top 100 – based on parents from around the world reporting their chosen baby names to the site – for the very first time.

Meanwhile, others seem to have fallen out of favour, including Kayden, Dominic and Aaron for boys and Eva and Jasmine for girls.

One of the most notable drops was Sarah; despite being a mainstay in the most popular girls names for over 60 years, it’s now plunged to 108th overall.

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