Names can be super important, so much so that they can cause pretty significant riffs within families.
Which is what happened to one woman on Reddit who posted, “AITA for refusing to ‘demote’ my dog after my sister gave her baby the same name?”
“I (26, female) have a dog named Charlie. Charlie is a golden retriever I adopted four years ago, and he’s my best buddy. My sister, Emily (29, female), recently had her first child — a baby boy. She and her husband named him…Charlie.”
Back to the story: “At first, I thought it was funny and didn’t think much of it. But then, Emily pulled me aside during a family gathering and said it was ‘confusing and disrespectful’ for me to keep calling my dog Charlie now that her son has the same name. She asked me to rename my dog.”
“I told her no. Charlie has been his name for four years; he knows it, responds to it, and it’s on all his paperwork. Changing it would be weird for him (and for me).”
“My parents have weighed in, and while my dad says it’s ridiculous to expect me to change my dog’s name, my mom says I should ‘just consider it to keep the peace.’ Now, Emily’s barely speaking to me, and a few family members think I’m being stubborn. I have no idea how I am wrong here. The world has gone mad.”
“I love my dog and didn’t name him to spite anyone. I also think it’s not my fault they chose a name already used in the family. AITA?”
Many of the comments are rather delightful:
“There was a post years ago about a guy who had a cat named Nigel, and his sister (or roommate?) started dating someone named Nigel, so they called the cat Nigel and the guy Human Nigel.”
“Suggest that she changes her son’s name to Spot or Rover.”
“Adopt a second dog, name it Emily.”
“Reddit update in five years: ‘AITAH? Whenever I call my dog, Charlie, for a treat, my nephew comes running.'”
But while this particular story and many of the comments are kind of silly, the situation being described is also kind of serious, specifically when it comes to the family dynamics being described:
“I’m so sick of people burning family members for the golden child in the name of ‘keeping the peace.’ No. You didn’t disrupt the peace. Tell Charlie (your precious pup) I said ‘hi.'”
“Emily is the golden child and expected OP to just change the dog’s name since she wanted it.”
“I’m beginning to realize exactly how bullsh*t ‘keeping the peace’ is. Why is it never the person who’s disturbing it who is told to ‘keep the peace?'”
And some people, like user u/True_Dot5878, called out how unequal treatment of siblings gets exacerbated in families where one sibling has a child and the other doesn’t: “The only reason your family is viewing you as stubborn or the a**hole is because certain people are very, ‘I have a child, so I’m more important than you’ attitude.”
“I’m going to assume you’re also childless. Your family believes you should go along with it and rename your dog because, in their eyes, a dog doesn’t compare to a child. They probably also believe that you have all this available free time that your sister doesn’t have (because, in their eyes, childless people don’t have any value or concerns or stressors or a life!). Your sister knew your dog’s name was Charlie and probably had no discussion with you to see if you were willing to change the dog’s name. And now you’re being strong-armed in this situation and expected to just do what your sister wants because your parents probably feel that ‘you don’t understand what it is like to be a parent.’
I say keep the dog’s name. This is your sister’s problem. Tell her to give her kid a nickname or change it. She’s got time to do it on the birth certificate.”
So, what do you think? What would you do if you were in the position of the dog owner? Would you change the name just to ‘keep the peace’ or would you stand your ground? Do you have any advice for the person who posted?
Let us know in the comments!
Note: Some of this submission was edited for length and/or clarity.