Woman names child after a South Park character. AITA? (plus reader baby names)
What's in a name?
Well, turns out, a lot. One woman shared with Reddit that she planned to name her son Marvin, after the South Park character 'Starvin Marvin.' Some readers were angry and thought this was offensive. Others were delighted and felt better about their odd child names and even more people pitched some very unusual alternatives.
AITA for naming my baby Starvin Marvin? (a character from south park)
I, 34F, am having a little boy with my, 35M, husband. We have recently been deciding on names and we both happen to love south park. Here is where I might be TA, We couldn’t decide on a name from the show that we both liked besides Marvin. AKA starvin Marvin from season one episode eight.
We went public with the name Marvin which resulted in my mother and sister getting curious and asking us how we settled on the name. I explained to her how much we loved South Park so we named our baby after one of the characters.
Later that night my sister did some research about the character and told my whole side of the family. The next day I had woken up to many texts and calls about how it was appalling that I would name my baby after such a horrible show. I argued back but now most my family isn’t speaking to me.
I honestly need everyone’s opinion on this because I want my family to be in Marvin’s life. I think I am ta because the show is very inappropriate but it’s my baby so shouldn’t I be able to name it whatever I please?
EDIT: The baby’s name is not “Starvin Marvin” It’s just Marvin but we have considered “starvin Marvin” as a nickname if the baby approves as it gets older.
Here is a roundup of the top opinions and then a list of comments from people pitching alternatives:
YTA - you're raising a human being, not a pet. They're going to grow up and know u named them after some absurd character in an even more absurd show. and i'm saying this as an avid SP lover.
Soft YTA... So the name Marvin isn't really a bad name. It's the meaning behind y'all naming him Marvin that creeps people out. Now that you told them SP where it came from, they won't be able to think about it in any other context. Also, the fact that you'd consider calling him 'Starvin Marvin' when he gets older is creepy, too. It's a super controversial character.
Y'all should have kept that part to yourselves and just said if we heard it somewhere and really liked it. No one would have a problem with it, and you two would still know where it really came from.
If there's a family name you both like that works with Marvin, maybe consider using that as a first name and move Marvin to the middle. It might help people come around. Ultimately, though, it's your kid... I just don't know if you should share the meaning of his name with everyone in the future.
Please go look up “children are not billboards for your fandom” on Facebook and post this there.
Naming your kid after a literal starving racist caricature of an Ethiopian kid? I’m one of those people that named all three of my kids after either favourite bands or characters. But who in their right mind picks the racist caricature to name their kid after?
My first thoughts reading this! I too have named my kids after characters I love, but not unusual names (Hayden, Brynden, Arya). Everyone gets inspiration from somewhere, many from shows, books, etc w that’s okay (as long as it’s not too weird).
My kids name aren’t super common but also not weird (Arya is popularly spelled Aria and has become somewhat popular now , at least more so than when she was born. Brendan is the popular spelling of Brynden. I know some people hate the “unusual” spellings…).
YTA Technically you can name your baby whatever you want, but it doesn’t mean people have to like it or won’t call you out when you pick a horrible name.
But there isn’t anything inherently wrong with the name Marvin. My kid’s name is a font that I had never heard of before and his middle name is from my wife’s favorite band. Only knowing that, his name sounds stupid - same for OP, but if you look at just the name that’s all that really matters. Marvin is fine and OP’s family just is offended for no real reason.
Edit: I change my mind completely, based off the fact that OP said they will call him Starvin’ Marvin as a nickname and that apparently the character is a literal starving, Ethiopian kid (I don’t watch South Park). That’s just messed up. If OP liked the name Marvin and just heard it in the show, that’s one thing, but this is a whole other level of stupid.
Edit (again): Ya’ll are killing me with these name guesses. Fantastic!
Wanna hear some of the names people pitched? Me too!
Garamond Pavement is a lovely name for a child.
I was going for Helvetica Queen
Maybe Comic Sans Abba?
Grotesque Funkadelic
I really love Rick and Morty so I have decided to name my son Mr. Poopy B*tthole.