Woman with unfortunate initials goes viral after warning parents to think about overlooked problem
Gregory Robinson
Featured Image Credit: TikTok/emwindham
A woman is urging expectant parents to take one particular detail into account when choosing a name for their child.
There are lots of things to consider when choosing a name — Is the child being named after a relative? Are there alternate spellings? How does it flow with their surname?
One thing parents-to-be may overlook though is initials. Sure, it may seem like a minor detail but according to one TikToker, it’s not.
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Emily Windham has shared a video which has gone viral with 1.2 million views about the reality of having unfortunate initials.
“When you’re deciding what to name your kids, look at what their initials are going to be,” she says at the beginning of her rant.
“Every time I have to initial a document, I have to write ‘EW’. All these little initial lines just say EW EW EW EW.”
The 23-year-old said her parents considered the name Alexia, which only adds to her frustration because her initials would have been AW.
“That’s so cute,” she said.
“Okay, well, you missed Easy Em,” she joked.
However, her dad did not want her to be teased with the nickname “sexy Lexy”.
Viewers weighed in and spoke about their own awkward initials. One woman named Erin Williams commented: “Same girl”.
Another person wrote: “My initials are BJ”.
Someone else said: “My initials are EGG.”
A woman named Madison shared: “Mine is ME & when I would sign out on duties at work someone goes, ‘can someone plz stop signing ME and sign your initials’, I’m like, those are my initials.”
And Michelle said: “Mine is MD so I feel smart yk even tho [sic] I’m definitely not a doctor.”
People have also discussed the reality of living with a name after it takes on a whole new meaning.
In first-person piece for Business Insider, a woman called Alexa explained how Amazon's virtual assistant changed how she felt about her name.
"Growing up, I loved having the name Alexa. Aside from a brief first-grade obsession with the name Rebecca, I've always been happy with it and never had a reason to feel otherwise."
However, when Amazon's Alexa came onto the scene, everything changed.
At first, the references were 'subtle', with the vast majority of people asking if Alexa enjoyed sharing the name with Amazon's new device.
"I'd say that while they [Amazon] should have gone with something more obscure, it hadn't really affected me," she added. "I was so naive."
The jokes kept on coming for Alexa: "I worked at a department store in 2018, and at least once a day, a customer would make fun of my name. 'What's the weather today, Alexa?' 'What time is it, Alexa?' Some would even say things like, 'I bet you get those jokes all the time,' as if they weren't part of the onslaught themselves."
Thankfully, Alexa has since come around to sharing a name with the speaker device more.
She resolved: "Despite the ups and downs, I'm still proud to be named Alexa."