Most kids want to do what their parents say. But in a story posted to Reddit’s “AITA” forum, a 16-year-old named Sunny is questioning whether he’s wrong for defying his parents, who want him to change his name against his wishes. Basically, they have baby name regret all these years later and are hoping he’ll change his name.
In the post, he explained that as the youngest in his family, he was given a name his parents liked, rather than a family name like his siblings. Thus the baby name regret.
“My parents started to regret my name when I was maybe 10? I don’t remember exactly when but I can remember being about 10 and my parents started sometimes calling me by my middle name and only stopping when I told them it was weird and I liked my first name. When I was 13 they asked me if I ever went by a nickname and I said no,” Sunny wrote, adding that as he got old, his parents also started dropping hints about how “some kids” change their names before graduating because they want a “more grown up” moniker.
He continued, “Six months ago my parents said I look like a James nicknamed Jamie. I asked them why they thought that and they said I just had that look. They asked what I thought of the name and I said I like Jamie but prefer Sunny. Then they asked if I liked the name Luke and I said no.”
Finally, Sunny’s parents stopped beating around the bush and asked him outright to change his name.
“They said their feelings had changed and they felt like the name being cute and light and full of hope wasn’t great for going into my adult years. They said they deeply regretted it,” he wrote.
But Sunny disagreed.
“I told them I was glad they made the choice they did and they shouldn’t stress it,” he said.
That wasn’t the end of the story.
“Last week they got the paperwork for a legal name change and presented me with like three name choices and asked me to pick,” Sunny wrote. “They said they really didn’t want to live with the guilt. I told them I’m not changing my name because of their name regret. I told them how I feel about my name is more important now. They told me I should at least think of their feelings and that I should consider the future and whether I’ll be taken seriously.”
So Sunny wants to know if he’s in the wrong for saying no to his parents.
The top-rated comment says he’s not.
“Sonny or Sunny, regardless how you spell it is a perfectly normal name for a male. An identity is intertwined with a name and it’s hard to separate the two. You, and you alone, are the person that should decide if you want to change your name,” the commenter wrote.
Another top-voted comment added, “It sounds like your parents are more concerned about their feelings regarding your name than your feelings. That name is yours, you’re your own person, and if you don’t want to change your name because you like it, then don’t. Those are their feelings to live with, and putting them on you as a child is unfair and weird. I also have a weather name and I still love it, and I’m almost thirty. More power to you!”
