A Woman Is Devastated She Had To Name Her Baby Chad

Oh, the things we do for — and to — the people we love. It can be extremely difficult when parents can’t agree on a baby name and even more difficult when you lose the baby name battle and have to live life with an option you don’t love.

In this recent tale from Reddit’s True Off My Chest forum, a mom is on the struggle bus big time after acquiescing to her partner’s baby name request for their little boy.

“I’m not sure if I’m overreacting, I am wondering if this is a hill worth dying on,” the woman begins, just looking to vent.

The 28-year-old woman and her 30-year-old boyfriend, Emmett, were “overjoyed” to welcome a new life into this world together, but naming that new life has been a huge point of contention since they found out they were expecting.

“Once I began talking about family, he immediately bombarded me with names that he would name our BOY, I too had ideas which he quickly shut down (he had no preference for girls),” she explained. “He begin to list names that belonged to grandpa and great-grandpa, Oliver and Chad (Names are different just in case he comes across this). I HATE the name Chad, we know a couple of Chads, they are not great people. I also don’t love the name Oliver but I’d rather that than Chad.”

Okay, so the name isn’t “Chad” exactly, but it’s a Chad-like name, and everyone understands what that means. Probably Brad? Perhaps Thad?

“He was adamant on the name Chad because it belonged to his dad’s grandpa, whom his dad has never met due to the war,” she explained. “I asked him to compromise and make Chad the middle name cause I'd rather Oliver. He say maybe but with a ‘no’ tone.”

We all know the tone of that “maybe.”

“The entire 8.5 months I was anxious and wished that it was a girl,” she went on. “Even though having a girl wasn't what I wanted, I felt more assured that I can be happy with her name. We didn't want to find out the gender because he wanted to be a surprised and I am not sure how I would feel if I let ‘Chad’ marinate my thoughts.”

Finally, the big day comes and it’s a boy, of course.

“After 13 hours of labour our baby boy came into the world,” she said. “We waited till I was relaxed and situated before we sign his birth certificate. And when we did I saw his name ‘Chad Beau Smith’ I have no say in that name whatsoever. Emmett saw me bare-down and drugged up and gone through the hardest experience in my life and I have no say.”

Not even running it past her in the delivery room? Rude.

“I ended up fighting with Emmett for an hour or so and then just gave up. ‘FINE YOU WIN…’” She said. “He smirked as he handed his birth certificate in. I was just too tired to fight anymore, I felt like, I just need to focus on taking care of my baby.”

A month has passed, but the mom still can’t get over her baby’s name.

“I’ve been avoiding saying his name, I’d call him ‘baby Beau,’ ‘Boo,’ ‘baby,’” she said. “I can’t bring myself to calling him Chad. I also didn’t post anything on SM because I just hate the name. I also felt like I’m disconnecting from this relationship because after all that Emmett has watched me go through I felt that I don’t matter.”

“Sorry to all the Chads,” she signed off.

Down in the comments, people were not kind to the partner who wouldn’t even compromise.

“Your boyfriend is a bully and he sucks,” one person wrote. “Names are a two yes one no situation.”

“He took advantage of you by doing this right after birth.”

“I can smell the custody battle from here,” someone else said.

“The issue your boyfriend doesn’t appreciate is that now the name has become a thing of revulsion for you because it symbolizes a time when you were vulnerable and he used it as an opportunity to steam roller over your wishes,” another wrote thoughtfully. “Change the name, consider changing your boyfriend if he isn’t open to therapy. You do not want your son growing up thinking it is okay to treat your partner like this.”

Good advice.

There are thousands and thousands of baby names. If you and your partner can’t seem to find one that works for both of you, someone in the relationship is not being reasonable. And in this relationship, that person’s grandfather was named Chad.