Whether we like it or not, our names can lead to judgements and preconceived notions. Some parents don’t mind risking this in the name of creativity, and one couple have really pushed the boat out
A mum has shared her child’s classmates’ names and there’s one that people are losing their minds over.
The majority of parents take great care when it comes to choosing a name to give to their baby. Family traditions, beloved friends or relatives and favourite books and films can all be inspiration when it comes to choosing a name.
But for some people, their desire for uniqueness seems to trump all else – which can sometimes result in gorgeous and unusual names, while at other times, it leads to names which are nonsensically spelled or difficult to pronounce.
One set of parents opted to honour the 1995 hit crime thriller Se7en, which starred Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman as a rookie police officer and seasoned pro who pair up to hunt a serial killer using the seven deadly sins as the inspiration for his murders.
The famous conclusion, in which a head is delivered to Brad Pitt’s character, is constantly referenced due to the repeated, anguished cries: “What’s in the box?”
The parents gave their child the name Se7en, including the numerical instead of the ‘v’. The name was shared among a class list assembled for Valentine’s Day cards. A baffled mum posted the list on Reddit to gauge the opinions of strangers.
The mum penned: “The list of the kids in my daughter’s class (my daughter is Susanna). One of these names does not belong”.
Names on the list included Catherine, Ellie, Eleanor, Henry and Valentina among less common choices like Ozzy and Bodhi, but it was Se7en that caught most people’s attention.
Fellow Reddit users shared their thoughts in the comments section, with most commenting on how illogical the ‘7’ digit makes the name to pronounce because it can’t act the same as ‘v’.
One person simply said: “Se-seven-ven” prompting another to reply: “That’s a stup-stupid-pid name”.
A third pondered: “I wonder if the parents were/are fans of the band brokeNCYDE. Se7en was the name of one of the vocalists. It was stupid then, and it’s stupid now”.
Someone else commented: “Not only is it a stupid name, they spelled it wrong making it even stupider.”
Another pointed out: “There is also a film with that name” and another said: “I would yell ‘what’s in the box!?!’ every time this kid opened a present.” One Reddit user agreed: “If I were that kid’s kindergarten teacher I would shout that at them every day.”
And another assumed that was exactly the parents’ intention: “I assumed it was from the Brad Pitt/Morgan Freeman movie?”
While another joked: “The child’s gonna be a se-serial-rial kil-killer-ler.” And someone else added: “That’s how I would pronounce it. Se-seven-en. I have a pet peeve against businesses that put digits in their names. (Clothing store near me called Elem3nts. I always pronounce it Elem-threents.) But I never thought anyone would be stupid enough to name their child that way.”