Just call her by her name?!

[FF7RGEEK]

I have 4 DD, my youngest is 1 next month.
My MIL won't use her name, just calls her baby she says it is impossible to pronounce (it isn't) in the beginning she would try to say her name and call her something not even remotely similar to her name.
She now has other family members doing the same and they won't use her name either, even though they did to begin with.
DH, tells her all the time that she is being silly and to just use her name, she will then just fall out with us.
I know her name is unusual but it is beautiful (in our opinion) am I being unreasonable to tell her she has to use her name?

My DD2 has a common European but unheard of in the UK name and my family just cannot get it right. Like your DD it's made up of two easy sounds.
I think it's so rude.

Fabulous name, and very phonetic to pronounce (in my opinion) I was thinking something Icelandic like Ugluspegill (meaning Owl mirror)......

@SuperMonkeys

She won't call her baby forever. You can't dictate what she calls her

One minute you're optimistic about common sense prevailing, the next thing you know she'll be dancing with Johnny at Kellerman's to dirty latin salsa.

@MilduraS

I'm Irish but don't speak the language and haven't lived there since I was a child. My DSis lives there with BIL who comes from an Irish speaking town. Naturally they chose obscure Irish names for their DCs, way more difficult than Aerith! You know what I did? I googled how to pronounce their names. I might also have stalked her Facebook page for the birth announcements to spell their names for the first few birthdays

Irish is a language though, not a video game. Hardly comparable!

Saying that Aerith is ok. Heard stranger names

Correct her every single time. If she says how's the baby, say do you mean Aerith? She's fine thanks.
And if she keeps on I would start ignoring her until she learns it.
It sounds petty but then she is being petty!
It annoys me when someone won't learn someone else's name.

Beautiful name OP. Your MIL is being a dick.
However. The Japanese for earth is chikyu. The way the Japanese would write 'earth' in kana would basically be ah-su. So not a million miles from arse. So yeah I wouldn't emphasise that

Perfectly beautiful name and perfectly easy to say. If she is a native English speaker, she says air a lot: air, hair, pair, stair etc. The -ith bit is from pith, Kith and even with if you don't voice the th.

Have the older sisters primed to say "Granny, her name is Aerith, not Baby!" Every. Single. Time. Pay them for it and they'll seek opportunities. Do it for Granny's copycat family members, too.

And I suggest you keep baby close and make Granny say her name before she gets to hold her. Be upfront but good-humoured. Say her name correctly and win a cuddle!"

Gorgeous name.

You're not being unreasonable to want people to use her name. I think your MIL and the others are being really rude. I love her name by the way, final fantasy fan here too :)

I love that name Aerith! Isn't she the flower girl killed by Sephiroth?

Who names a child after a video game? Maybe that's what MIL is not so subtly trying to express.

Aerith is a beautiful name!

My DD also has what some consider an unusual name and when she was a newborn we came across this a lot - DH's grandmother used to just refer to her as 'whatever her name is' (guess who stopped getting visited!). She is 4 now and is quite confident in letting people know exactly what her name is and heaven help anyone who gets it wrong!

I love love love the idea of teaching your DD to call MIL 'old woman' its genius.

I've not heard of that name before but I guessed the pronunciation easily. Not difficult to say at all.

Your dd needs a lot of personalised t shirts.

Maybe a bag.
Def a cap.
And a water bottle.
Fake tattoo??
Mm maybe a bit far?!?

One minute you're optimistic about common sense prevailing, the next thing you know she'll be dancing with Johnny at Kellerman's to dirty latin salsa

Maybe she’s just a huge DD fan?

For months I called DC2 baby girl. As in, hey there baby girl.

That is lovely. I'd never seen/ heard it and was able to pronounce it right so the MIL is being a dick. Definitely call her old lady .
I'd definitely go with the suggestion if having her in personalised t shirts or bibs for Every. Single. Visit as well.

This is one of the few chances to meet the pettiness head on.

I'm sure there must be lots of people like me who have never heard of this video game and would just think 'what a pretty and unusual name'
I don't think it is hard to pronounce at all.

Although as an aside I had an Aunt who was never called by her name but was always called Baby (shortened to Bay when she got above a certain age) I don't actually know what her real name was ! But I think that was just because she was the youngest of a very large family rather than because it was hard to pronounce.

And of course your MIL can pronounce your DD's name, but for some reason she disapproves of your choice and this is her passive aggressive way of letting you know. I would correct her every time she does it, and actually keep saying 'no - try again, it's not hard' until she says it properly.

@TakemedowntoPotatoCity

I love that name Aerith! Isn't she the flower girl killed by Sephiroth?

Yes but she is named because of a video game.

It’s a nice enough name but it’s unusual enough that people will assume it’s a reference to the game.

I didn’t really care what people called DS, I called him “pickle” most of his life. Annoying I’df they get it “wrong” but a nickname is fine.

@FF7RGEEK

I don't feel it is unreasonable so thanks for those that agree. I think those that said to make it awkward I think that's what I'll do from now on.

Her name is Aerith.
Which comes from the word earth in Japanese, but is also a name of a character in a video game (mine and DH's all time favourite game)

So phonetically it's air rith?

Let her call her baby, as others have said your d's will correct get when she starts speaking! Not worth falling out over surely?

@Dddccc why will the child be bullied? It’s a beautiful name, I’ve named both my children after characters from books, neither have ever been bullied because of what I chose to name them.

Does she have a sister named Tifa?

@Ellpellwood

Going by your username, is it Aerith?

How did you figure that out?

Aerith Is a lovely. I really wouldn’t worry about your MIL not using her name. The baby won’t care and I bet she will start using the right name soon enough. I don’t think it’s unusual to call new babies ‘the baby’ for a while. I think you are going to end up with conflict over someth8ng that doesn’t matter.