A mum-to-be has said she wants to give her daughter the same name as an iconic character from the film Mean Girls, but people have told her it might not be the best idea
Choosing an appropriate baby name is not an easy process.
We all know some things just shouldn’t be used when it comes to naming babies. We rightfully shy away from names that have negative connotations, and while unique names are becoming increasingly popular, most parents don’t opt for anything that sounds like it could be morphed into something rude.
But it gets more complicated than that when films and TV shows make classic names even more common, leading to some children getting picked on at school for their namesake. Think boys called Harry getting Harry Potter references aimed at them every five minutes, or little girls called Elsa constantly getting told to “let it go”.
One mum is having this exact dilemma with the name she wants to give her daughter, as it happens to be the name of a very famous character from the film Mean Girls. The mum said she wants to name her little girl Regina, but is worried she might be teased at school for the connection to Regina George.
In a post on Reddit, she said: “I’m due with my third daughter in a couple of months and we have chosen the name Regina. I’m curious if you all primarily associate the name with Mean Girls or if it has other affiliations for you. Is this on the same level as naming a girl Elsa? We don’t think so, but inquiring minds, I suppose.”
Regina George is the main antagonist of the 2004 film and was played by Rachel McAdams. She is the leader of the Plastics alongside her friends Gretchen Wieners and Karen Smith, and throughout most of the film, is seen to be the school bully – until the other characters take revenge on her and she eventually has a redemption arc.
Commenters on the post urged the mum not to use the name for her daughter. Many of them said that while children aren’t likely to have even seen the Mean Girls film, their parents will make comments about it. Some even said that the Mean Girls reference is the least of her worries, as children are more likely to connect Regina to “vagina” instead.
One person said: “It’s either going to be Mean Girl references or being called Vagina,” while another added: “Mean Girls will be very out of date for babies born in 2025. It’ll probably be a reference that some kids will get, but not all. As others said, I think Vagina references are the real fear here and are a much worse association than Mean Girls.”
But another commenter said they named their daughter Regina and have had no problems so far with people commenting on the moniker. And if it does come when her child is older, she won’t care.
They said: “My daughter is named Regina. There have been no Mean Girls or vagina references. When it does inevitably happen, I won’t care. People can and will find something stupid and negative to say about any name.”
In a later update to the mum’s post, she said she and her husband are now considering making Regina their daughter’s middle name to avoid any unwanted comments.
She shared: “Originally, Regina was our chosen middle name but it seemed silly to plan a first name around a middle name, so we bumped it to the first name slot. We’re going to take what everyone said into consideration and talk about possibly bumping it back to the middle name slot.”
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