LifestyleBaby NamesAn expecting mum has opened up about the pressure she's facing from family members to give her daughter a traditional name - but she fears it could make the little girl's life harder11:30, 22 Jun 2026Updated 11:30, 22 Jun 2026While some parents choose to pass names down through the generations, others prefer to select something entirely new for their newborn. One woman, however, is keen to break with family tradition, as she simply cannot bear the Irish baby name her husband's family are desperately pushing her to use.‌The 27 year old revealed she is expecting her first child with her 28 year old husband after years of trying to conceive. Since discovering she was pregnant, her husband has been using a jokey placeholder name for the baby - but what began as a bit of fun has rapidly snowballed into something far more serious.‌Taking to Reddit, she said: "He's second-generation Irish and he's been calling our baby Siobhan. He likes that it's traditional Irish and, don't get me wrong, it really is a pretty name but my major hangup is: we live in the US, we were both born and raised in the US, and the US is known to be kinda garbage at pronouncing traditional Irish names right, on the first try anyway.‌"I do not want to send my daughter to 12+ years of public education and have teachers, substitutes, and fellow students unable to say her name right on the first try."She says she knows all too well how maddening that can be, as she herself has a fairly common name — but with an unconventional spelling. According to the mum-to-be, it brought her nothing but grief, and she is determined her daughter won't grow up facing the very same struggle.She added: "Kids can be mean and I don't want my kid to have a name that might get her bullied or cause her teachers to call her "Si-o-Bo-Han" (not at all how you'd pronounce it) every time they call her name in class. The problem? Everyone is telling me that I totally need to use the name Siobhan.‌"My own parents say that it's pretty and unique (again with that word, mum rolling my eyes) my aunt and cousins are saying 'well, that's what you call her anyway' (my husband does, I don't) and my husband's family gush over it too."I've told everyone that it's not what I want to go with, but it's like talking to a brick wall!"Despite her husband eventually dropping the name once he realised how much it bothered her, she says the rest of the family have failed to take the hint.‌She claims the situation spiralled to such an extent that her mum and sister even attempted to order embroidered baby blankets bearing the name Siobhan before she put her foot down.She added: "He's told them that it was really just a joke name and he kept using it just to tease me... He's said multiple times it's not what we're actually going with but things are starting to get out of hand.Article continues below"My mum and sister have already tried getting embroidered blankets with Siobhan ordered for the baby! They only failed because they called me to confirm the spelling and I shut it down hard."Now they're p***** because I still can't make up my mind on what I actually want to name my daughter and I'm just a mess."I'm pregnant, my head hurts, and... I don't know. Am I just making a big deal over nothing? Should I just name the baby Siobhan and get it over with or is this worth putting my foot down on?"Choose Daily Mirror as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.‌BabiesEducationPregnancyBullyingParentingBaby Names