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One mother's plea has divided opinions of parents around the world – and her dilemma is becoming increasingly common.
The anonymous woman revealed that her son Jake, four, 'hates' his name and regularly cries and throws tantrums over the matter.
The child's misery has caused the mother to reconsider changing his name as she isn't keen on it either, but she fears he is too old to emotionally cope with such a drastic change.
'My son hates his name. He says it's boring and he even cried about it,” she said on Mumsnet. 'He was named after my cousin and has the same name as a close relative. He says he wants his name to be his and not someone else's.”
She quickly admitted, “I really don't like his name either, it's nothing terrible, but it wasn't my first choice. His dad chose it, and he's not in our lives anymore, so every time I say it I think of his dad.”
A mother's desperate plea has divided opinions of parents around the world – and her dilemma is becoming increasingly common
The mother further revealed that she has started to associate the name with negativity and hard times.
“His name just seems to have a bad connotation,” she said.
'I haven't told my son my true feelings, I always assure him it's HIS name and it's beautiful, but it's been over a year since he really started to hate it and it hasn't changed.
“I thought it was just a typical kid thing, but it really made him sad.”
The boy wants to change his name to 'Evan' and all his relatives and friends want to call him that, but the mother is divided.
She asked other parents, “Should I write it down as 'known as Evan' so that's what he's called at school and if he sticks to it when he gets older, we can legally change his name?” Or should I continue to encourage him to be called by his real name?'
A few mothers felt that changing the child's name was the best solution.
“Evan is a very reasonable name to change to. It sounds like mother and child need to escape the name “Jake.” I was going to call him Evan, even at school. If it sticks and everyone has settled, change it legally,” one person suggested.
Another said: 'Let him change his name. He seems pretty keen on it.”
“I had a friend who did this as a child, her parents made her change it and then had it changed by deed before her twelfth birthday. She never regretted it,” one woman said.
But others were not convinced.
“Can you change it to a name that sounds like Jake?” Jacob? Jackson? If not, call him Evan and see how it goes. A lot of kids have nicknames,” said one mother.
'What happens if he wants a new name again next month? Stick to his real name,” one man wrote.