'I refuse to use my grandson's pretentious name - I call him "the baby" instead'

21 March 2022, 12:20

A woman has revealed that she refuses to use her grandson's 'awful, pretentious' name.

A grandmother has caused a stir after revealing she's refusing to use her grandson's name.

She revealed that she finds the name 'awful' and 'pretentious', so opts to call him 'the baby' or 'little one' instead.

Sharing her story to Mumsnet, she wrote: "My step son and gf have recently called their newborn a really awful pretentious name.

"I know it’s their choice but neither me nor my husband can bring ourselves to say it in a sentence.

"Every time we talk about him we say ‘the baby’ or the ‘little one’.

• 'I regret the name I chose for my baby and people struggle to pronounce it'
• The baby names that are banned in parts of the world - including Nutella and Ikea
• The most unusual baby names of all time - including Almond, Spicy and Man

"We have been very diplomatic and said things like ‘oh that’s unusual’ but they have started to notice we don’t use his name in conversation and it’s becoming tense.

"Any advice on how to move forward?"

As reported by the Mirror, the grandmother later added: "I’ve explained that we just have to try, but it makes us cringe and we feel so uncomfortable. It’s a name that is also a noun so we feel it is so completely out of context.

"When they gave their reasons for this name it made things worse."

People rushed to the comment section to offer advice to the woman, with many stating that she should accept their choice.

Holly Willoughby tears up at emotional Delivering Babies clip

One person wrote: "In the nicest possible way get over yourselves. It's his name, it's not going to change. My Grandma refused to use [my son's] name as she didn't like it. It was ridiculous and changed my opinion of her massively."

Another wrote: "You move forward by saying the baby’s name. The sooner the better, before you damage your relationship with your step son and his girlfriend any further."

Others were more understanding, however, and revealed they'd been in similar situations themselves.

One person said: "I fully understand OP. My DSGS has a terrible name. It's a place name. I was embarrassed when people asked his name. I still cringe now, it's that bad."