NEED TO KNOW
- A man who recently lost his dog says his sister is working to commemorate their bond in an interesting way – by naming her child after the late Golden Retriever
- The man writes on Reddit that he finds it “weird and kind of gross,” and doesn’t want his sister naming the child after his dog
- But Reddit users are split, with some saying the gesture is a kind one
A man says his sister wants to name her baby after his late pet — a Golden Retriever named “Max” — but he is urging her not to.
In a post shared to Reddit, the anonymous 31-year-old man explained that Max passed away last year.
“He was with me through my divorce, the death of our mom, everything,” he wrote. “I had him for 7 years and he honestly got me through the darkest time in my life. When he died, I was devastated. I even had his paw print tattooed on my arm.”
Now, the man’s younger sister is pregnant and has a specific name in mind for her son.
“She recently told me she and her husband have decided on the name ‘Maxwell’ for their son,” the Redditor continued. “I assumed it was after her husband’s granddad or something, but nope—she said it’s ‘inspired’ by my dog. ‘He meant so much to you, I thought it would be sweet.’ ”
While the man initially thought his sister, 29, was joking, he soon realized she was not, and “told her flat-out it was weird and kind of gross to name a human baby after a dog.”
“She got super offended and said I was being possessive and weirdly obsessive about a pet. I told her she can name her kid whatever she wants, but I don’t have to pretend it’s not bizarre and insensitive,” he added,
Now, the sister has stopped talking to him, while their dad said he should take the whole thing as a compliment.
“My friends are split—some say it’s touching, others say it’s creepy,” he continued.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
He ended the post with an important caveat: that his sister was “directly responsible” for the injury that led to Max’s death.
“A few months before he passed, I had to leave town, and she agreed to watch him. While she was out walking him, she forgot to close the gate, and Max ran into the street and got hit by a car,” he explained. “He survived, but he was never the same after that. He struggled with health problems for months before he finally passed.”
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
The man also claimed that the sister “didn’t even like Max when he was alive. She always complained about how much he shed, how he was an inconvenience, and never once showed him the love or care he deserved.”
Some Reddit users say the situation is strange, mostly because the sister is trying to commemorate a bond shared by someone other than herself.
“It isn’t weird to name dogs and humans after each other, but it is weird to do so about someone else’s special dog that you’re weirdly trying to commemorate when the person said they don’t like that,” wrote one commenter.
Still, others think the gesture is a kind one.
“If my sibling told me they were naming their baby after my dog, I’d be thrilled,” another user added. “It’s a sweet gesture, and then you have a little piece of that friend walking around in your life. … your sister is making a sweet and heartfelt gesture, here, and at the end of the day, the practice of naming a baby after a deceased dog isn’t the weird thing that you think it is.”
“Ultimately, though, it’s her baby and not yours,” they continued. “You said your piece, and that’s it. Your part in the baby naming process is done. And you’re going to have to find a way to be okay with that.”
Read the full article here
