\
A DISTRESSED woman has opened up about the fund she started to help her niece get a much-needed name change.
She explained that she was left with no choice after her niece started getting bullied at school for her unique name.
1
Redditor New-Fail849 revealed the name in a post.
She explained that when her younger sister, Ramona, announced that she was having a child, tension arose over her choice of name.
“Now I love my younger sister, and we’ve always gotten along pretty well. However, she has always been into nerdy pop culture stuff; she plays D&D weekly, loves Marvel Movies, and is obsessed with fantasy novels,” she said.
“Her favorite, as you may have guessed, is The Wheel of Time series. Now, I know next to nothing about this series, but I knew enough to know that Egwene al’Vere wasn’t a name she came up with on her own.
“When she announced that name, there was a bit of confusion and disapproval from the family, but no one strongly pushed back on it.”
She explained that she felt the responsibility fall on her shoulders.
“That honor went to me. I tried to approach the subject calmly. I even gave her the ‘You’re naming a human being’ speech, but she said she knew best.
“After a brief back and forth, I flat out told her her daughter was going to get bullied.”
Despite her best efforts, Ramona refused to listen to her case.
“She blew up at me, and I didn’t push the issue any further because I could see that she wouldn’t budge,” she said.
Years later, her niece, who goes by the nickname “Gwen,” opened up to her about problems at school.
“She has been voicing lately that she hates her name. The teachers at school always get it wrong, and her classmates tease her constantly,” the Redditor said.
“None of this is helped by the fact that Ramona insists on calling her Egwene al’Vere, not just Egwene or Gwen, which she much prefers.”
The name has even caused internal fighting between the mother-and-daughter duo.
I told her if she had put more thought into naming her child, she wouldn’t be in this situation.
Redditor New-Fail849
“Ramona has tried venting that Egwene won’t shut up about her name, and she doesn’t know what she’s gonna do about her,” she said.
“I kind of sarcastically said if only someone had warned you. She asked what I meant. I said she named her daughter something stupid, and now she’s facing the consequences.
“She said she doesn’t know why she even bothered coming to me, and she should have known I was just gonna be a b***h. I told her if she had put more thought into naming her child, she wouldn’t be in this situation.”
In an update, the Redditor added that she had begun a fund for her niece’s name change, thanks to commenters’ suggestions.
“That’s a child that is going to pay to legally change their name when they turn 18,” said one user.
“If you want to be a good aunt, I’d look into [it], get all the info and paperwork, and the money for it for her 18th birthday.”
“I understand liking a name from a fantasy book/movie or whatever else, but she fails to acknowledge how it’ll affect her daughter in the future,” agreed another.
“I bet she will change her name when she turns 18.”
The original poster shared that she had taken their advice to heart.
“A lot of you suggested setting up a fund for a name change if she wants one at 18. I think that’s a great idea,” she said.
“I looked it up, and to file is about $80 in my state, but I’m sure it’ll be far more than that.
“I’m gonna set aside $200 for now and add to it when I can. Hopefully, it’ll be a nice little whatever fund when she turns 18.”
