NEED TO KNOW
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A couple kept their baby’s name secret, until the man’s sister-in-law mysteriously discovered it and used it for her own son first
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The sister-in-law claimed she wanted the cousins to have “matching names,” since the brothers have similar names themselves
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To avoid confusion and drama, the original parents secretly changed their baby’s name and waited months before revealing it
A man is turning to the Reddit community for advice after family baby naming drama left him questioning his own actions.
He and his wife welcomed their son four months ago, having chosen a name early in the pregnancy and keeping it “to ourselves,” he writes. But things took a turn when his sister-in-law somehow discovered their secret.
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Stock photo of a couple with their newborn
“She never said how. She just told us she loved the name, congrats and she couldn’t wait to meet him,” he writes in his post, describing his suspicion that his sister-in-law snooped for the name. The man even mentioned the situation to his brother, who admitted that his wife “does like to browse through people’s things like it was no biggie.”
The real shock came when his nephew was born, and his brother and sister-in-law announced the baby’s name — which was identical to the one he and his wife had chosen, “First, middle and last name,” he says.
The brother called immediately after the announcement, asking him to “keep quiet because his wife had a rough birth and she didn’t need drama and he knew we might not like it but she really wanted the name.”
The sister-in-law’s reasoning was that since the two brothers have “matching twin-like names,” she wanted their sons to share the same name as well, so “they were each other’s namesake,” the poster writes. He and his wife were stunned, he adds, but ultimately decided to “pick a different name.”
“We’d pretend to keep the original name until there was zero risk of SIL changing my nephew’s name (6 months after a birth is harder to make a change in our state),” he explains, revealing the couple’s careful plan.
Only recently did they start telling people the baby’s real name, and their parents, sisters, friends and in-laws all seemed to understand their decision.
However, the brother was upset and confronted him, saying, “you upset his wife by silently doing this s— and taking away her choice to match the boys. He told me it was a d— move.” But, the poster stood his ground, telling his brother, “his wife using the full name we chose was a d— move.”
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Stock photo of boy names list
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Feeling frustrated and misunderstood, the man turned to Reddit for perspective. “I think he’s cray. So does my wife,” he admits, wondering if they are “weird for thinking of this kind of stuff.”
“What about the fact that she took away your choice to have an individual name? By invading your privacy? He’s fine with that I assume?” asks one commenter.
Adds another, “Skip the brother. Tell SIL she is creepy and she’s not allowed around your son until she gets her behavior under control. It’s creepy in my opinion.”
Read the original article on People
