Arriving at the perfect name for a baby can be an exceedingly difficult task, given that it’s a tag they will be identified with for their entire life.
Imagine the situation where you and your significant other finally decide on the perfect name for your offspring, and then it’s later dismissed as “juvenile”. This was the conundrum one woman confronted when her spouse had a shift in feeling about their son’s pet name.
They had christened their son as Daniel, intending to fondly call him Danny.
However, as the child aged, her spouse was against using the pet name Danny, considering it too juvenile, and started advocating for using his full name instead.
The perplexed mother decided to share her situation on Mumsnet, where she explained that her two-year-old son, Daniel, has been referred to as both Daniel and Danny since his birth.
She clarified that there were no directives to exclusively use “the complete Daniel,” with family and nursery friends often calling him Danny.
The mother revealed: “Now, my spouse is conveying that he had initially agreed for him being called Danny when he is young, but would be called Daniel as he grows. He feels Danny is babyish. I recall that during discussions on names, we liked the idea of having both a pet name and full name, but I do not remember agreeing to this.”
She had assumed that as Daniel matures, he would select his preferred name, and they would honour his selection.
“His speech is still not developed enough to convey that. Moreover, at two, he is still in nappies and in my perspective, is very much a little one,” she commented, pointing out her husband’s persistence on informing the nursery that his name is Daniel and discouraging the nickname.
She voiced her worry that her husband’s imminent proclamation to her family that Daniel should be the name used might ignite an “argument” due to “past squabbles”.
In digital discussions, one individual voiced that her husband needs to “relax a bit”, as others shared their views on the situation with comments like: “It feels like a peculiar issue to get agitated about. Is everything else okay? You can’t dictate what others call your son, Danny is a common nickname and there’s nothing inappropriate about that. You can’t stop him from making the proclamation but nobody has to comply.”
Another chimed in: “‘Later in life’ is not yet arrived. You need to stand your ground with your husband and express your disagreement. He doesn’t have the absolute authority to decide this.”
Fellow Mumsnet user contributed: “He is being unreasonable. It is also futile. I have rarely seen a child named Daniel who isn’t called Dan or Danny by peers. Your son will figure this out as he becomes older. It is odd to insist on this now when others have been using his nickname. Your spouse should stick to calling him Daniel and that should be sufficient.”
