Woman sparks outrage for naming child after devastating world event

A mother-to-be has triggered mass backlash after her plan to name her unborn baby after a devastating nuclear event was exposed online.

If there's one thing that's going to divide people, it is baby names. In their mission to make their kids stand out against the crowd, some parents can go to some pretty extreme lengths - so much so that Nameberry put together a list of 10 controversial names to avoid.

Of course, some aren't that out there if you think about it, but in this case, the parents of this baby might want to reconsider.

And before you begin throwing your guesses in our direction, we feel obliged to warn you: it's considerably more controversial that you could have possibly imagined.

This mother-to-be picked an incredibly controversial name for her child (Oscar Wong/Getty stock images)

The hotly-debated moniker was brought to light by a friend of the family, who shared a glimpse at an invitation to the new mum's baby shower.

Said acquaintance posted a screen-grab of the e-vite on Reddit, claiming she'd been left speechless by the baby's name.

"Please join us for a baby shower," the flyer read. "Join us to celebrate the upcoming arrival of a little bundle of joy."

It was then that the chosen name of the family's incoming addition was revealed as 'Chernobyl Hope'.

"We can't wait to celebrate together," the message continued.

For those in need of a reminder, the Chernobyl disaster occurred in 1986 near Pripyat, the Soviet Union (modern day Ukraine) when a reactor inside the city's Nuclear Power Plant exploded.

The explosion was caused by ill-trained operators carrying out a test despite an accidental drop in reactor power, causing a dramatic power surge that could not be shut down due to the poor design of the reactor.

Two workers died of the impact of the explosion, after which a further 28 died of acute radiation syndrome. The leak of radioactive materials to other parts of Europe also resulted in 5000 thyroid cancers in surrounding areas, making it the worst nuclear disaster in history.

Whilst the family friend opted not to comment any further on the disturbing name choice, it didn't take long for comments to flood in, branding the baby's future name 'ridiculous' and 'offensive'.

"I refuse to believe this is real lol," one hit out.

The site in Chernobyl exploded in 1986 (SHONE/GAMMA/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Another admitted: "I have a feeling they don’t know what Chernobyl meant. I asked them where they got the idea from and said it just sounded nice????"

"It's not too late to tell them!" a third pointed out.

Others, meanwhile, relentlessly mocked the mum-to-be, branding the name she'd selected totally tone deaf.

"Im sure everyone at the celebration will be radiant," one jibed with a controversial pun.

"Speak for yourself," another attempted to make light of the situation. "If I were a guest at that shower and heard that name I’d have a total meltdown."

A third teased: "Oh, there's bound to be some fallout from this," while another went on: "Sure, but we need to cool down first, the exposure to jokes are off the readings."

But there's more, as according to the poster, Chernobyl's parents wanted her to be nicknamed 'Cherry'.

"I just can't believe they would name a baby girl Chernobyl. I'll gather enough courage to tell them my thoughts." they added.