Mum-of-eight hits back at criticisms of kids' unusual names
By 9Honey Parenting|
Naming a child is a special moment for parents - whether they opt for a traditional moniker or something more unique. One mum in the US is causing a stir online for the string of unusual names she has given all eight of her children.
Neysa Brandon uploaded a video to her TikTok account, @theepiklife, which showed her kids all saying their own names, so that people could hear how they were pronounced - and her followers were shocked.
"Shepherd, Ezrah, Shiloh, Hezekiah, Ebenezer, Hannahniah", one-by-one the kids appeared in the clip. While dad Jason introduced toddler Cozette and mum held baby Ansel.
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The video has been viewed 5.9 million times and immediately the family, who also have a podcast and Instagram page, came under fire for their name choices.
"Ebenezer? Isn't that like a disease?", remarked one. "It's Scrooge's first name actually," replied someone else.
"They really just flipped to a random page in the bible and said this'll do," commented another.
"Hannahniah is a keyboard smash, not a name," noted a third.
"I thought my name was bad, I'll never complain about being named Paige again," chimed in another.
"All fine until Ebeneezer, Coziah, Hanaaihfebs, and Ezikiausbaavs", said another one of Neysa's followers. To which she cheekily replied, "You just gave me new name ideas."
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"I don't know if I'm floored by the amount of kids or how the names kept getting worse," said one user on Instagram. "You're probably just floored by the fact that there are confident, self secure kids in the world who wouldn't be as rude as people in these comments," retorted Neysa.
"I definitely don't understand the stigma with their names, I'd honestly say they're uncommon but definitely not unheard of," said one fan in support of the family.
In a follow-up video, the mum-of-eight, fired back at her critics explaining the meaning behind Ebenezer.
"My husband asked me if we could name our baby Ebenezer and at first I was like 'you're kidding right?'" she said. "But thenกญwe dug into what it actually meant. Most people associate it with A Christmas Carol but what they miss is the moral of the movie.
"Charles Dickens picked that name because Ebenezer signifies a new beginning, hope, a transition to new life."
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"When we had Ebenezer it was a time in our life where he was our new beginning, he gave us hope for the future. And that's exactly what the name Ebenezer means.
"So to all the 'scrooges' in the commentกญ you need to re-watch the movie or read the book stat!"
"I absolutely fell in love with it! We call him Ebby for short," she concludes.
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