A man has been defended online for refusing to give in to his grieving dad’s baby name demand.

The 28-year-old man and original poster (OP), Reddit user Known_Marketing6374, shared his story on r/AITAH, explaining that he has a “complicated” relationship with his father.

According to his January 15 post, the OP’s wife is pregnant with their first child—a girl. The couple has agreed to name her after the OP’s late mother, who was divorced from his dad when he was only a baby and died when he was five.

“My wife wanted a nature name and my mom had a nature name so it worked perfectly for us,” the OP noted.

However, his father is definitely not happy with their decision.

The OP’s father believes that his daughter should be named in honor of his second wife and the OP’s stepmother, who died nearly four years ago.

At a recent family dinner, he made that clear, with the OP recounting, “He lost his temper and told me if I had any respect for our family, that is exactly what I’d do.

“He told me he’s grieving, my siblings are grieving and I should take that into consideration. I told him that has nothing to do with what we name our child.”

After having a one-on-one conversation with his father, during which his father called him “inconsiderate”, the OP shut him down.

“He has since accused me of invalidating his grief and being insensitive to it,” he noted.

While the OP’s father took exception to him standing his ground, an overwhelming number of Redditors have backed him for doing just that.

One user replied, “It’s your baby, your choice. His grief doesn’t give him that right,” while another noted, “Your dad’s grief doesn’t give him the right to control your baby’s name. It’s your and your wife’s decision, and honoring your mom is a lovely choice.”

A third remarked, “Your father is extremely self-centered and doesn’t care about anyone else’s feelings but his own. I highly suggest you distance yourself from him,” to which the OP replied, “I’m strongly considering it given the way the future is looking if he’s in our lives.”

Baby naming drama frequently makes an appearance on social media, with Newsweek recently covering how the internet backed a mother-to-be for refusing to name her baby after her late brother.

Newsweek also recently highlighted a couple who were applauded for ending eight generations of naming tradition.

Speaking on that situation, etiquette expert Diane Gottsman told Newsweek something that seemingly also applies in the OP’s case: “The final decision rests with the parents who have the ultimate right to name the baby a name of their choice.”

Newsweek contacted the OP for comment via Reddit.

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