Woman Refuses to Change Dog’s Name after SIL Wants to Use It

When a pregnant woman demands that her sister-in-law change her dog’s last name, she refuses. Was she in the wrong?

Traditions run strong in many families, and that is especially true when it comes to passing something on to the next generation.

Many people, including myself, have spent many weeks or even months trying to come up with the perfect name for a child. In some cases, things don’t go as expected.

In one family, the situation came to a head when the woman’s pregnant sister-in-law demanded that she change her dog’s name.

A Tradition Is Interrupted

The woman explains: “My dog’s name is Zahava, which is basically the Hebrew feminine form for the word for gold/gilded. I’ve had her for six years.”

The problem was, her sister-in-law wanted to name her child Zahava to honor her grandmother. The grandmother also had a name that started with the letter Z, and it is their tradition to use the same letter in your child’s name.

When her sister-in-law spoke to her husband, she said that she was ‘uncomfortable’ having a daughter that shared the same name as a dog.

When the husband and wife refused to change the dog’s name, they explained that it was impractical. The dog was trained and knew her name. Not to mention the fact that they liked it.

At this point, the pregnant sister-in-law is ‘freaking out’ and saying that it doesn’t matter because it’s a dog, not a person. She claims that the dog won’t know the difference and her daughter would be embarrassed to share the same name as a dog.

The woman, on the other hand, told her that she could always choose another name, and now her sister-in-law is upset.

Was She Being Unreasonable?

The woman is wondering if she is being irresponsible or perhaps even childish for making this decision.

After posting this information on Reddit, she got plenty of feedback. Most people were on her side, saying that she was not being ridiculous and it was her sister-in-law that was being ridiculous.

We even get more context in the comments, realizing that in some cultures, it is a tradition to name a child with the same first letter as an older relative. Naming them the same name as the relative would trigger someone who was superstitious, making them feel that the child would have a short lifespan.

In addition, she didn’t have to choose that exact name. Any name that began with the letter Z would have followed in line with the same tradition.

I guess this one is still up for debate, but it leads to the question, was she in the wrong for not changing her dog’s name? You be the judge.