'My friend says I gave my sons 'naughty names' and now I feel guilty'

15 August 2022, 14:44 | Updated: 15 August 2022, 14:46

Do you believe there are 'naughty names' for children? A mum-of-two has explained her dilemma...

A woman has been left feeling guilty after her friend accused her of picking ‘naughty boy names’ for her sons.

Taking to Mumsnet, the mum-of-two said that she's been considering having a third baby but is stressed over what to call them after a comment her friend made.

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The anonymous woman explained that her husband has Scottish roots so they wanted to honour his history, writing: "We had a son first and called him Arran (pronounced Arun) after one of the Isles and we joked that if our second child was a girl we would call her Skye.

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"Second child turned out to be another gorgeous boy so we called him Lewis, after one of the other Scottish Isles.

"My friend is pregnant - which is why we were talking about names - and that’s when she said (with a giggle) that it was really brave of me to give both my sons names that are associated with being naughty. She laughed it off but it really hurt."

She added: "I know a child’s name doesn’t define them but I feel so guilty that I may have given both my boys a name that has negative associations."

Asking for advice, she finally said: “Has anyone else been in a similar boat and how did you move on from it?”

Commenting on the post, one person wrote: "There is no such thing as a 'naughty boy name'. It is just the personal associations people have with a name."

"Ignore her. They are not naughty names,” said someone else.

A third person said: "This is nuts and not something I've heard before, on here or elsewhere. They're lovely names and your friend was being b****y."

While a fourth added: "Never really thought about 'naughty names' but when I read the title though I immediately had a few names in my head that I thought you might say.

"Arran and Lewis I definitely wouldn't consider naughty names! Both quite lovely. Ignore your friend, quite a mean comment to have made."

A fifth person said: "I live in Scotland - certainly not naughty boy names where I am (and have been).

"In fact, boys named after islands IME are always the sweetest and from the nicest families."