Before You Name Your Baby, Make Sure Their Initials Aren’t Embarrassing

Names are one of the very first things people learn about you — which is exactly why getting them right matters so much. Many future parents keep a running list of baby names in their Notes app, carefully weighing meanings, family ties and how they sound out loud. But as one viral moment proves, there’s another step that often gets overlooked: checking the initials.

In a now-viral Instagram video, creator Emma Windham shared the surprisingly frustrating reality of living with unfortunate initials. Addressing her followers, she explained, “Hey, so when you’re deciding on what to name your kids, look at what their initials are going to be. Every time I have to initial a document, I have to write ‘EW.’” Simple, harmless — but something she’s had to live with her entire life.

Once the video made the rounds, the comment section quickly turned into a confessional of initials gone wrong. One person wrote, “My girlfriend’s initials are KMS.” Another added, “My sister is AD, I’m HD so together we are ADHD. Our brother is OD, our dad is ED. And our mum is a psychologist.”

Some commenters embraced their initials as a perfect reflection of their personality. “My initials are NAP and that just so happens to be my favorite activity,” one user joked. Others shared stories that were funny — and slightly painful in hindsight. “A senior in one of my art classes in high school had the initials J.E.W. & he was Jewish and he LOVED bringing it up and his mom constantly said ‘I didn’t think about it! Get over it already!’ 😂,” another wrote.

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If there was one takeaway from the thread, it was clear: initials matter. While parents can’t control every nickname or teasing moment their child might face, checking initials ahead of time is one easy step to avoid giving bullies a head start.

That’s a lesson one mom learned the hard way. Chelsea Skaggs, a writer for Scary Mommy, shared her experience in a November 2020 blog post after realizing — far too late — that her daughter’s initials spelled out something less than ideal. After naming her baby Aribella with an S middle name and having an S last name, the issue didn’t click until her own mom pointed it out.

“It wasn’t long before my mom was doodling her name out on paper and turned to me. ‘We have a problem,’ she said. ‘Her initials spell ASS,’” Chelsea wrote.

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She admitted she briefly tried to laugh it off. “If I am being really honest, ASS sometimes describes both of my children well and could be an appropriate nickname,” she joked. “I’m convinced that most every toddler could accurately go by the name ‘ASS’ from time to time.” Still, reality quickly set in. “The brutal reality of signing paperwork as an adult or initializing ‘trade-and-grade’ assignments in middle school made it too much for me to bear.”

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Determined to spare her daughter years of awkward moments, Chelsea took action immediately. “Alas, my husband wheeled me back to the nurse’s station where I found the paperwork lady,” she recalled. Luckily, the documents hadn’t been submitted yet. “We had the pleasure of ripping up all evidence that our child was, for a moment, known as ASS. We swiftly swapped her middle and first name and resubmitted the paperwork as if nothing had happened.”

Even her social media announcement needed a redo. “My social media announcement post was replaced by a message ‘Yes, I know I made my child’s initials ASS. I promise I am changing it and will be a better mom from here on out.’”

The moral of the story? Before falling in love with a name, write it out — first, middle and last. Your future child (and their middle school self) will thank you.