'People physically cringe at my son's name and I'm worried he'll hate me'

The process of choosing a baby name can be a daunting one. You need to pick something that you'll be happy calling your child for the rest of their life, and it can be all too tempting to ask other people for opinions on your choice before you make the final decision on what to call your newborn.

However, one mum-to-be has found out the hard way that getting advice from other people isn't always the best idea. In a post on Reddit, the pregnant woman said she had been talking about baby names with a colleague of hers and was left feeling like she'd made a huge mistake when one name made the co-worker "physically cringe".

The mum explained that she doesn't know the gender of her babyyet, but she and her husband already know that if they have a baby boy, there's a strong chance they'll name him Sebastian.

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But when she told her colleague this, she was told to "choose something else" as the other woman admitted she couldn't stand the name and thought it was a bad idea.

She wrote on Reddit: "I just found out that I'm pregnant and I was talking to one of my co-workers about the boy and girl names we chose. I know I shouldn't have, and I learned my lesson, but her reaction is stuck in my head now.

"I might have a girl, so this might be irrelevant, but if it's a boy, we're 90% sure we're going to go with Sebastian. I told my co-worker the name because she asked, and she PHYSICALLY CRINGED and said 'No, choose something else'. I mean, she has kids, too, and I don’t particularly like their names, but I guess it got me thinking, damn, is it that bad?"

The mum said she does have other boy name options on her list, like Callum and Caleb, but because she and her husband both have Russian-speaking family members, she doesn't feel those names are as suitable as Sebastian.

She added, "I'll admit there are some names that I like a bit more (Callum or Caleb are some of my favourites), but we have Russian-speaking families, and I work with Russian speakers at my business, so it's pretty much a non-negotiable that the names work in both English and Russian (we live in the US, and I've been here since I was a baby).

"The names I like more don't work in Russian at all. And my husband LOVES the name Sebastian, and it ticks all the boxes, so I'm happy to go with it because it's my favourite option right now that meets the bilingual requirement. Plus, I love the nickname Seb."

In an edit to the post, the mum also clarified that she runs a daycare and that her colleague has been working with her and her family for "close to a decade." This means the colleague will interact with her child once it is born, and this has been an "added stressor" in her baby name search.

Commenters on the post encouraged the mum to use the name Sebastian regardless of what other people think. They pointed out that people have different tastes, and just because her colleague doesn't like the name doesn't mean it's inherently a bad one.

One person said: "Sebastian is a great name, but your coworker has different tastes than you. It doesn't matter, end of story."

Another wrote: "Sebastian is a lovely name! Your coworker was being impolite and insensitive. Ignore her and name your baby whatever you like."

A third also posted: "Sebastian is #35 of the current top 100 most popular boy names. So, plenty of people dig it. But the most important thing is that you and your husband like it. Your coworker might literally quit tomorrow, and you'd never see her or her opinion again. So choose what you love."

According to data from Nameberry, Sebastian is currently the 14th most popular boy's name in the US. In the UK, the name is less popular, with Baby Centre ranking it 96th in 2025.