A new mum was left shocked after speaking to a nurse on a neonatal ward about the worst names she had ever heard, and one was branded ‘absolutely diabolical’ by the woman
A new mum asked her lactation consultant what the “worst” name she’d ever heard was and “couldn’t believe her ears” after she answered.
Parents have a challenge on their hands when it comes to naming a baby. Names, rightly or wrongly, can inspire judgement and preconceived notions, so it’s important to consider something that suits a new infant just as well as it suits an adult.
Most people put a lot of thought and effort into deciding what to call their children, with the vast majority of parents keen to come up with a name that’s beautiful and that will stand the test of time. Unfortunately, they aren’t always successful and some people end up saddled with names they find embarrassing, while others can even be on the cruel side.
This was the case for a new mum who was appalled after learning the unfortunate name given to one little girl who was born at the same hospital as her son. She’s recently given birth and is on a ward with a lactation consultant, who helps provide assistance to breastfeeding mothers. On Reddit, she explained: “Just delivered my baby boy, Calvin, today. Got curious and asked the boob lady on my floor what was the worst name she ever saw on the job.
“She said hands down it was the little girl named Burden. F***ing Burden. I couldn’t believe my ears. That’s some Puritan 1700s s***.”
Burden, which means a heavy load, isn’t commonly used as a name but according to parenting website Prokerala, it’s typically used for a boy and means “one who lives at the castle”.
Of course, its standard meaning is the one that springs to mind for most people. Fellow Reddit users shared their thoughts in the comments section.
One person said: “Burden is ROUGH. Imagine the poor kid in school. ‘Your mom named you that bc you are one.’” The mum replied: “Absolutely diabolical”.
Another Redditor said: “Burden is straight up awful! No good options for potentially mishearing either because Borden is just as bad!! Poor kid”.
To which, the mum added: “I was wracking my brain trying to think of a similar name or type of name they might have been going for but just didn’t realize how bad Burden was but [I don’t know], I think they were just evil.”
Others suggested the little girl could choose to use ‘Birdie’ for her nickname when she gets a little older, which, according to Nameberry, is a girl’s name of English, Swedish origin meaning “bird”.
Of the name Burden, another Reddit user said: “How is that not considered abuse, seriously. The poor child will understand what her name means eventually.”
And another added: “I wonder if they didn’t know what it meant? You’d think you’d look it up though before inflicting that on a child.”
