A woman has asked people for advice on whether or not it’s acceptable to tell her cousin that her chosen baby name is ‘absolutely atrocious’ before it’s too late
A woman has sought advice after her efforts to dissuade her cousin from choosing an ‘atrocious’ baby name were in vain. In a bid to convince her cousin to rethink the unconventional spelling of her soon-to-be-born daughter’s name, she’s turned to Reddit for help.
She shared her dilemma on the Tragedeigh forum, a space dedicated to discussing names that are “deliberately misspelled or completely made up to appear more unique than it actually is.”
Her cousin is set on the name Phoebe but wants to add a ‘unique’ spin by spelling it Feabe.
She explained: “I’ve tried to convince her that people won’t understand how to say it, and the traditional spelling looks a lot prettier, but she has her mind set.
“She says nobody will read it differently, and uses the names Lia and Lea as examples. I just don’t think it’s the same thing. But tell me, is it a tragedeigh like I think it is? Will the kid get bullied?”, she asked.
With the baby’s arrival imminent, the worried woman is frantically trying to persuade her cousin to stick with the original spelling, fearing the child’s future could be affected. She added: “I’m struggling here on trying to find ways to convince her to change it. I texted her about the Phineas and Ferb reference the kid is going to get, and she just said that she loved the show as a kid.
“My cousin and I are super close, like sisters, so any suggestions? It also doesn’t help that her middle name will be spelt Feiey, like Fae for Fairy. So Feabe Feiey.”
One person replied to her post: “Wouldn’t Fea be a feminine form of feo, Spanish for ugly? Even if not, any chance you can convince your cousin of that?”.
Another chimed in with their take: “I would pronounce Feabe as Feeb. Maybe Fabe as a distant second guess.”
A third cautioned: “Any elementary teacher will tell you that Phoebe spelled as Feabe is going to get teased as Flea be and when she’s older? Even worse, Fee is for sale to the highest bidder. Kids are Cruel. Girls are crueler.”
Someone else weighed in: “It is more than a tragedy. The poor kid will be called Feeble or Febreeze, and even well-intentioned people will say it incorrectly.
“It also entirely hides its Greek meaning of ‘bright’ or ‘shining’ (as in Phoebus Apollo), and it disconnects it from any of the characters in mythology, or the woman in the Bible, who have the name Phoebe.”