Everyone With An “Old Person Name” Was Once A Baby
A close friend is introducing me to her baby son, and we are chatting.
Me: “So, what’s his name?”
Friend: “Reginald.”
That’s not the actual name, but it’s a good substitute.
Oh! I do not like the name. I look at the baby, and he does not look like a Reginald. No one under sixty looks like a Reginald! I don’t want to lie, but I also don’t want to tell the truth. So, I will have a chat around the name without giving my real opinion
Me: “Oh, that’s an interesting name. How did you pick it? Is it a family name, or does it have some other significance?”
Friend: “No, it’s just a name [Husband] and I have always liked.”
Me: “What does your family think of it?”
Friend: “They don’t like it.”
Me: “They told you that?!”
Friend: “No, but I could tell because they said, ‘That’s an interesting name. How did you pick it?’”
Rumbled! I stared at her in horror!
I blushed, and she smiled. I didn’t actually apologised because I didn’t want to say my opinion of her son’s name aloud, so I hoped she took my obvious shame as “sorry”.
She is a good person, so it did not cause a rift. We are still friends, and Reginald has grown into his name. It suits him very well. I have never told her that because I am hoping she has long forgotten that I didn’t like his name.
Amusingly, just after the original conversation, I saw part of a British sitcom where there was a character called “Reginald” played by an actor in his sixties. One younger character asked another, “How did he end up with the name Reginald? It suits him very well now, but how could anyone name a baby Reginald?”