Baby name expert forced to intervene after parents accidentally choose X-rated name for newborn
The celebrity baby name consultant had to point out that the name had an NSFW double meaning
Madison Burgess
A baby name expert has revealed how she was forced to intervene when parents had accidentally come up with an X-rated name for their child.
SJ Strum is the UK's leading celebrity baby name consultant and has worked with countless families who are trying to come up with the perfect moniker for their new addition.
As well as being hired out for private consultations and dishing out advice on social media, she also released a book called Baby Name Envy last year.
Speaking to Tyla, SJ explained that one of the most common dilemmas she comes across is couple's struggling to agree on a name.
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The expert said: "It’s surprisingly hard to agree on one 'perfect' baby name. In this situation we look at both parents' lists and encourage them to ‘spot the similarities’ and in doing so narrow down a criteria.
"Do they like soft sounding names? Old fashioned or modern feel? Long or short? It really helps, just like buying a new house, to set out your must haves and most of us skip this part and delve right into suggesting names to each other and end up with lots of vetos."
Although SJ revealed she 'would never say no to a name' no matter how outlandish, unless she felt somebody in the couple really didn't like it, on one occasion, she did have to urge a couple to rethink.
She recalled how the parents wanted to call their baby girl Ophelia, which is a popular choice at the moment thanks to Taylor Swift using it in one of her new songs, 'The Fate of Ophelia'.
Of course, Ophelia is a stunning name and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it - but being paired with their surname was where the issue came in.
SJ said: "Sometimes a surname makes a name choice tricky. One client loved the name Ophelia but her fiancé's surname was Cox, so I segued her into something equally special but less awkward."
If you don't get it, read the full name Ophelia Cox out loud and you'll see what we mean - no offence if there actually is somebody called Ophelia Cox out there.
Another tricky situation SJ found herself in was when one client wanted to name her baby the same name as her dog as 'she didn’t like anything better'.
"I didn’t think she’d exhausted all possibilities, so we went again with a list of baby names," the expert said.
And elsewhere, a dad-to-be wanted to name his baby IO, but mum wasn't quite on board and so SJ had to step in and attempt to change his mind.
She said: "It's a galactic name, and he was really loved it. And his wife was like, 'Can you convince him that this is not a good name?' I had to be like, 'I wouldn't use that because a your wife doesn't love it, and also it's just really, really difficult'.
"And I think with celebrity names, you can push it too, but I'm all for a really playful personal name, but not like a personal joke."
The baby name consultant advised that if you do want to pick something that's really unique and out there, you can always choose it for their middle name and then they can decide whether they want to go by it or not.
SJ recalled another instance where the baby's dad was a huge fan of Winnie-the-Pooh and wanted to name their little one not just Christopher, but Christopher Robin - however, the mum, understandably, wasn't convinced.
The expert said: "Another dad really liked Winnie-the-Pooh and he wanted to call the son Christopher Robin. Mum was like, 'I can't do it. I don't like the name Christopher on its own. And Christopher Robin is just because he likes Winnie-the-Pooh'.
"And so then we had to look at other names from the world of Winnie-the-Pooh, obviously not Pooh or Piglet, and sort of gently get him off of that idea that you had to have a Winnie-the-Pooh name."