She wants to name the baby 'Arya' but make the spelling about a million times more complicated.
Listen, I enjoyed Game of Thrones as much as the next person, but I'm not about to name my child after any of the characters in the series. And I'm definitely not going to give my child a Game of Thrones name but then spell it with about 90 unnecessary extra letters to "differentiate" it from the bunch.
Unfortunately, that's exactly what the roommate of this "Am I the A-hole?" poster plans to do. So OP got very honest with the roommate and told her exactly what they think of her baby name plan.
There are a lot of strong female characters in Game of Thrones and since the show's run, lots of people have been naming their babies Khaleesi, Sansa, Arya, etc. OP's roommate is a huge Game of Thrones fan and decided to name her baby after the girl warrior, Arya.
When the roommate asked OP about the name, OP said it was "a good name with a good meaning (Arya means noble in Sanskrit), but a lot of people have named their kids Arya/Khaleesi/Sansa because of the popularity of Game of Thrones and it might be a little too common, not that it is a bad thing."
That's when the roommate said that she would differentiate her baby Arya from all the other Aryas running around by spelling the name... Aughreighyah. AUGH. REIGH. YAH. People are just supposed to look at Aughreighyah and know to say "Arya."
When she asked OP what she thought about that spelling, OP didn't hold back. "I told her that, frankly, Aughreighyah looks ridiculously stupid and she should just go with Arya," they write. They said it was better to have a common name rather than a confusing name.
The roommate got upset with OP, and now OP wants to know if they were wrong to be so honest about the baby name choice. Commenters had little sympathy for the roommate.
"Ask her, 'Arya being stupid?'" one commenter joked. One commenter took the question a little more seriously. They said that normally OP would be wrong, but "A) that's a stupid name, and B) she asked your opinion."
That's the key here. The roommate did ask OP's opinion. Maybe OP could have been a little more sensitive about it, like they were when they gave their honest opinion about the name before they knew the spelling. Maybe they could have expressed concern without calling it "ridiculously stupid."
But ultimately, OP was looking out for this kid. "That poor child will have to spell her name for everyone and correct people mis-pronouncing it," one person wrote. They are setting that kid up for a lifetime of name struggles if they name her Aughreighyah.
"Why do people feel the need to do this?" one commenter asked. "Besides, the name is still the same, so they haven't really solved the 'too common' problem, they just made the spelling look like a cat ran over a keyboard."
In conclusion, don't give your children needlessly complicated names. If you're asked an opinion on a baby name, maybe tread lightly, but don't skirt the truth entirely. You might just save a child a lot of tears.
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