A man has shared his worries online after his wife decided she’d quite like to call their unborn son ‘Charles Manson’ in honour of her late brother.
No, her brother isn’t the famous cult leader, but he was called Charles, and that’s enough for her.
The man explained on Reddit – which is always a sign to take these things with a pinch of salt – that his wife won’t give up the idea that their child should be called Charles, despite the fact that she took his last name, which is Manson.
Naturally, the comments on Reddit’s ‘Am I The A**hole’ page are broadly supportive of his stance, given what we know about Charles Manson and the connotations that name would have.
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Asking the internet for help – always a dangerous game – the man explained his predicament: “My wife Melissa (31F) and I (31M) have been married for 4 years. Melissa is 8 months pregnant with our son.
“Melissa and I both use my last name (she changed hers to mine legally), as she does not want to be associated with her last name as she has a lot of trouble with her parents.
“Unfortunately, our last name is Manson. As in Charles Manson.
“It really sucks but it's what I have.
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“Neither of us have ever had a problem with that until now.
“A few weeks ago her brother unexpectedly passed away of a heart attack at the age of 35.
“We were both shocked and devastated.
“He was a great man who was always healthy, and we were very close to him. Nobody saw it coming.
“He left behind his wife and three kids.”
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The post continued: “Melissa now wants to name our son after her brother. I would not have any issue with this, if her brother's name wasn't Charles.
“I told her I was not OK with naming our child Charles Manson, and she insisted that nobody would notice or care. She is calling me an a**hole for disrespecting her brother like that. (Note that her brother's last name was not Manson, that is mine and Melissa's last name).
“So, should I let this go and just name our son after a guy who has been so important in Melissa's life?
“I really do not want our kid to have to go through life having the same name as a serial killer. Imagine how hard it would be to get a job.”
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As you might imagine, loads of people agree that naming your kid after a serial killer is pretty bad craic.
One comment said: “You are truly protecting the kid.
“Use Charles as a middle name if you must, or maybe honour her brother using his middle name? A nickname she used to call him?
“But seriously, don't call your kid Charles Manson.
“Or after any particularly well-documented serial killer.”
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Another wrote: “Yea [sic] I wouldn't want to go through customs with that passport.”
A third added: “You're protecting your child from being associated with a monster.
“It's like naming your child Adolf. Does she hate her own child? Is she seriously so short-sighted that she doesn't see the issue?
“OP, this is a hill I would die on.”
At this point we’d usually try to add some balance of people saying ‘nah, actually let your wife name the kid Charles Manson’ but – honestly – it doesn’t exist.
It's rare that everyone agrees on something online, but here we are.
Topics: Weird, Reddit, True Crime, Parenting
Tom Wood