The parent turned to social media for advice after she noticed the problem
A mum has asked for advice after realising her daughter’s initials could spell out a ‘bad’ word. Posting on Reddit, the parent explained she’s expecting a baby girl in early 2026, but she’s unsure if she should go ahead with her favourite name.
Explaining her dilemma in a post on r/BabyNames, the mum said: “My husband and I are trying to agree on names for baby girl due in February. We’re set on the middle name Carmen and thought we might have found a winner last night with Isla for her first name!
“That is until I wrote out what her full name would be this morning and since our last name starts with a K, her full initials would be ICK.” The worried mum said she didn’t want to set up her daughter for ‘a lifetime of teasing’.
Keen to hear different opinions before settling on the name, she asked: “How bad are those initials? And how much do initials really matter? Are we setting her up for a lifetime of teasing?”
She continued: “Are there any alternative spellings of Isla that have the same pronunciation but start with a different letter?”
The post divided viewers, as commenters argued for and against the mum’s choice. On the one hand, several social media users said they didn’t see any problem with the initials.
One such reply said: “My initials have a similar implication. I don’t think it’s been a huge deal to be honest.” A second viewer echoed: “My initials are EW and no-one except me really noticed.” A third Reddit user shared: “Mine too!”
Someone else said: “Honestly no one will care, go for it! Initials don’t come up as often as you think. Even in a monogram, proper monograms are first last middle, IKC so that wouldn’t be an issue. And most people don’t tell everyone their middle name, so if she did sign with her initials she’d probably sign IK. One day when she gets married (or if she really minds the initials) she will have an option to change it!”
However, others urged the mum to reconsider. A viewer advised: “Please don’t use these. If you’re set on the middle name Carmen then choose another first name you love instead of Isla.”
Another shared: “I would definitely not do that and I am pretty lax about initials but that one is too much.” A commenter said: “I grew up as GAG. Never got made fun of, but I personally didn’t like it and ditched the A initial upon marriage.
“But that was going to happen anyway. (In my family, we move our maiden names to the middle name slot and drop our birth middle names).”