A young mother’s heartfelt attempt to honor her grandparents took an unexpected turn after she gave her newborn daughter a name that some people say crosses the line into “child abuse.”
At just 20 years old, the new mom wanted to find a meaningful way to honor two people who were important to her: her grandparents, Harvey and Charlotte.
Instead of choosing between the two names, she decided to combine them into one.
But it wasn’t until after her baby girl had officially been named that the rest of the family discovered what she had come up with. According to one relative, the paperwork had already been completed by the time they learned the baby’s name.
“She named her something so horrific I cannot even call the baby it,” the woman’s cousin wrote on Reddit. “This poor child. Harlotte. HARLOTTE.”
The problem was immediately clear to others. Harlotte is a combination of Harvey and Charlotte, but it sounds remarkably similar to “harlot,” an old-fashioned word historically used to refer to a prostitute.
When the family finally heard the name, the reaction was anything but calm.
“My mom burst out, ‘YOU NAMED THE BABY W****???’ and my cousin started screaming. We are a loud family, but holy hell,” the original poster explained.
She added that she had started calling the newborn “Piglet” because of her pink complexion and “puggy nose.”
“That’s child abuse”
Once the story spread online, strangers quickly came up with alternative names they thought the little girl could use instead.
Suggestions included Charley, Harley, Charvey and Lottie, with many people saying Lottie would be the easiest way to avoid the unfortunate association.
“Did no one hand her a dictionary opened to the word ‘harlot’ and ask her if she really wanted to saddle her precious child with such a name?” one person asked.
“I vote with everyone else. I would call the child Lottie and keep advocating for a name change,” another person commented.
Others focused on how badly the attempt to merge Harvey and Charlotte had gone.
“A baby Victorian whore. How sweet,” one commenter joked.
“I think people inventing a name should probably do a quick search to make sure they’re not calling their baby a whore,” another wrote.
“You could even argue that’s child abuse, considering she named her a whore at birth,” a third person added.
Should some baby names be banned?
While much of the online discussion centered around Harlotte, the debate eventually turned toward a broader question: How much freedom should parents have when naming their children?
Naming laws differ significantly from country to country. Some governments place restrictions on certain names to protect children from bullying or social harm, while others have rules designed to preserve cultural traditions and prevent titles or offensive terms from being used as names.
“Often, these rules are there to protect children from names that could be seen as derogatory or make life more difficult for them,” Kaomi Taylor, founder of the Museum of Names, told Today’s Parent.
“In some countries, naming laws also serve as a way of preserving cherished cultural traditions and heritage.”
In the United States, however, parents generally face far fewer restrictions when choosing names for their children.
That freedom has resulted in some truly unusual real-life names, including Fanny Pack, Fanny Whiffer, Post Office, Warren Peace, Rubella Graves, Nice Carr and Hell Hellickson.
Michael Sherrod, co-author of Bad Baby Names: The Worst True Names Parents Saddled Their Kids With, previously discussed the subject with BBC News.
“A lot of parents say they want their kids to be unique,” Sherrod explained. “They think it’s fun and differentiates their child from everyone else, and gives them a personality.”
He also noted that many American parents view naming their children as a personal decision, essentially believing they can choose whatever name they want and that their children can change it later if they dislike it.
Could a bad baby name be considered child abuse?
Although Sherrod acknowledged that an especially offensive or harmful name could potentially be viewed as a form of child abuse, he questioned whether additional laws would actually be necessary.
“I’m not saying courts should not intervene, but I would prefer they do so only when parents cannot agree and the item gets taken to court,” he said.
“For the most part, parents are pretty good at compromise. I would say, anecdotal evidence is that the number of cases considered abusive is so tiny as to not require much law, if any.”
The unusual case of Harlotte has now sparked a much bigger conversation about where the line should be drawn when parents choose names for their children.
Do you think parents should be allowed to choose any name they want for their baby, or should certain names require official approval? Share your thoughts and pass this story along to see what others think.