Husband won’t call grandchild by his name

[Blyther]

our grandchild (5 months) has an unusual name. It’s a made up name which is a bit ‘out there’- think along the lines of ‘starry-Skye’ or ‘misty-bridge’. Our daughter in law is a bit whacky.

It’s of course entirely up to the parents to choose the name of their child but my husband won’t even say his name as it makes him cringe so much. He refers to the baby as ‘the little one’ or will call him by his middle name.

It’s now become apparent to the parents how he refuses to use his name and it’s causing an atmosphere. I just don’t know what to say to them as I completely understand his point and feel very sorry about the potential bullying he (the baby) is likely to encounter further down the road.

Advice on moving forward please.

Dixie is a cute name. And moon and beam are fineish individually as middle names. The combo is a bit too out there.
I find it a bit odd that they insist on using all thw names. Cause Dixie, DiDi, sweetie, darling are all adorable to call baby.

However, I also think you just need to accept the name and use it. It is what it is.

Didn't the Dixie chicks change their name to the chicks because Dixie has confederacy/slavery links?

I don’t think Dixie is too bad. You say they “insist on using the full name” but since your DH isn’t using any of their name at all I think he could probably get away with just calling them Dixie don’t you?

Yeah! I'm surprised there's only two people that have picked up on this as it's been an issue for a while in the US.

This is a wind up, nobody would be so foolish as to start a thread like this and include the full name of the child in question. Especially when it bad mouths the DIL so much. If it was real, and she / OP's son discover it, then the consequences and damage to their relationship with OP and her husband would be so bad the name won't be an issue any more anyway. Because they won't be seeing them much.

Thank you - I'll have a listen.

The Freakonomics one was interesting, too, if you want to dip in

https://freakonomics.com/podcast/how-much-does-your-name-matter-ep-122-rebroadcast/

@Emotionalsupportviper Cheers, I've got a long drive today, so I might do that. 👍

"Dixie" does have a feminine ring to it, though, so according to Freakonomics, he would be more likely to act up at school.

OP you say your OH sometimes calls the baby by his middle name - do you mean the baby is called Dixie Moon Beam and then has a 'normal' middle name on top of that and also a rhyming surname??

Like - Dixie Moon Beam James Stream?

I'd just go with Dixie and let her constantly correct you with the moon beam batshittery.

I know it's not the same but there's a child in the school I work at (I'm a dinnerlady) called Nevaeh. I can never get it right! I don't know what it is about the name, but it baffles me. She gets called Nivea, Nevia, Nev, Nevia.
I know it's nice for parents to think calling their kid an unusual names makes me hem special but it really doesn't.
Before you @ me. My ex husband wanted to name my son Aleksandr instead of Alexander. I said no, as all he would get through life was "you don't spell it like that!' btw we aren't Russian or any other eastern European who spell it like that so there was no reason to change the letters.
The grandparents have their opinion. I'm.waiting for my daughter to have a little Tarquin of her own...but I suspect she'll call him James.

Oh I like Dixie! It’s a nickname for Richard. My aunts brother in law is called Dixie and is a farmer in Ireland in his 60s, so def not from whacky material! I’ve always loved the name but didn’t use it as did worry about the teasing aspect. But I do think it’s cute and as it’s a recognised nickname for Richard it’s not too out there. Maybe just go with Dixie and not the full moon beam part?

Dixie is quite a cool name. Don’t see the issue. Just call him that and if the parents complain then just say the full name is nice and all but too much of a mouthful to say every time.

He needs to spend a whole day saying it, you saying it to him etc to normalise it for you both.

It's not normal, it's awful, but not worth falling out over as you can't change it, only how you react to it.

'Baby Moonie' is so much worse than just 'Dixie'

There is no way on this EARTH your husband cannot say the full name but you both call this child baby moonie. Absolutely no way, you’re on the wind up.
Dixie is fine. Suspect this is a troll thread so I’m sorry I bothered replying.

That poor child. A lifetime of ridicule.

@Blyther

i really don’t see such a problem with a name.
why cant you say it with the straight face?
you will really end up without seeing your grandchild much if you continue defending your stubbornness

I am now firmly Team Grandad.

I thought Jamie Oliver had come up with some crackers names, but that one takes the biscuit.

Having a sensible pet names shared between grandfather and grandson may provide at least one point of normality in that poor kids future life.

and baby moonie is somehow better or less ridiculous? 😂

the full name - which the parents apparently insist on - is however quite long. I would focus on that and tell that that a nickname might therefore be sensible.

Why not call the LO Dixie or Dixie-Moon? Or Moon-Beam?

If you manage baby moonie, you should surely manage any of these.

I knew a girl called Dixie, no one had issue with her name.

Dixie feels a little feminine but I like Dixon for a boy. Moon is not my taste but you can easily drop that, its not the first name.

I agree (especially in an American context).

But Dixie is also an abbreviation for Richard. That association might be stronger in the UK than those re: Dixie / Dixieland.

Not to be rude but this post says far more about you being too stupid to learn basic things than the child's name. If you work in a school its your JOB to learn the name not just make up what ever the hell you want.

Naveah while tacky in origin is hardly unheard of or hard to say.

OP clearly said they call the baby Moonie.

Which frankly is the silly name of the bunch... Dixie Beam is not that strange. Moon is odd as a given name here (although common in other countries) but 'Moon Beam' is ridiculous.

Moonie is also religiously loaded.

I don't see anything wrong with him using little one.
I have a friend who has a normal name, but she was short in height and got the nickname Titch, most people who know her (friends) caller Titch. She doesn't mind it and goes by titch more than her proper name.
Americans call there kids things like Randy. ( for the Americans, that means some one who is horny, yes daddy was probably randy when he made little randy)

I was trying to think of a nickname or abbreviation …

Dick-Mo-Be

Moby Dick!