A frustrated mom turned to the internet for advice because her teenage daughter hates her name and wants to change it.
The mom — who identified herself as Laurenw16 — shared a post on parenting forum Mumsnet about her 13-year-old daughter Elizabeth. She wrote that her daughter wants to change her name because she thinks it is "old fashioned" and not trendy amongst her age group.
"I neve[r] imagined her ever saying this because [I] purposely picked the named Elizabeth to avoid this happening," the mom explained. "It was a name I ... thought she would be happy with, it's a classic no nonsense name."
She speculated that her daughter's issue might stem from the fact that Queen Elizabeth is currently arguably the most famous Elizabeth. Instead of sharing a name with royalty, the teen wants to be called Emily.
"According to her 'it's the most pops ... name in my generation and it's cool,'" the mom claimed her daughter said.
She asked other people on the forum if she should allow her child to make the change or if she should say no and make her wait until she's older.
"She will probably get over it when she’s older and gets [past] the teen stage," she mused.
Others were quick to weigh in with their advice in the comments.
While no one wanted to force the young girl to keep a name she doesn't like, many seemed hesitant to encourage legally changing it at such a young age.
"I'd let her be called whatever she wants, but definitely no legal changes until she's 18 and has used the new chosen name for a few years," one commenter recommended. "At this age she's just exploring who she wants to be and no one should keep a name they didn't get a choice in just because their parents like/chose it."
Other's recommended trying a nickname for Elizabeth out before taking steps to change the name entirely.
"I would probably try hard to steer her towards considering one of the many shortenings of Elizabeth," someone wrote, listing a multitude of examples: "Liz, Lizzy, Libby, Beth, Bethany, Betty, Bett, Bettany."
Some people recommended making Emily the child's middle name or just letting her call herself Emily as a nickname.
Newsweek notes the mom seems to be from the U.K., especially since she referenced the queen in her post. In the U.K., a 13-year-old would not be able to legally change their name without parental permission.
Although Elizabeth is not as popular as it once was, Babynames.com notes it was still within the top 50 most popular names in 2021. It even landed within the top 20 in the U.S.
Interestingly, the name ranks above Emily in terms of popularity on the same site.
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