A teenage girl has asked the internet for help as she revealed that her stepbrother has been forcing her into changing her name.
According to the anonymous student who shared her problems on Reddit, her stepbrother wants her to change her name because the two not only have the same nickname but also share the same surname.
While the stepbrother didn’t complain about their names before, he now told his stepsister she should change her name so that he won’t have a hard time as they return to school together.
“My mum and my stepdad dated when they were teenagers. In this time they picked out baby names together. They agreed on a unisex name that they both liked and agreed to give their first child this name. Let’s say the name is Charlie,” the teen wrote in her post.
“They broke up. Mum had a baby with someone else, my bio dad, and they named me Charlotte, Charlie for short. Meanwhile, mum’s ex also met someone, also had a baby, and named their son Charles, again using Charlie for short.
“Mum split with bio dad when I was seven. She reconnected with stepdad when I was 11. I’m now 16. I live with mum, stepdad, and other Charlie. Mum and stepdad married when I was 14. Mum took his last name, and he adopted me, so I have his surname, too.”
She added: “Other Charlie and I are starting the same sixth form in September. We’ve not been formally accepted yet but it’s the only one we both like, and we’re both on track with our grades. We’re able to give them a preferred name, like Charlie.
“Other Charlie asked what I’m putting as my preferred name because he wants Charlie, not Charles, as his preferred name. I said that I also want Charlie as my preferred name.
“He’s gone off on one, saying that I can’t be Charlie because he’s Charlie, and us having the same surname is already going to give him problems. He says that I need to go by Charlotte at sixth form, or failing that use one of the other nicknames you can get from it, like Char or Lottie. I said no. I’m Charlie, I’ve always gone by Charlie, and as he’s the one with the problem he can go by Charles.”
As the teenager explained, she doesn’t want to use her full name because of her biological father who is no longer a part of her life.
Despite her explanation, the teen’s stepbrother allegedly insisted he should be the only one in the family with the nickname because he got it first. He also accused the girl of being an a-hole for not considering changing her name.
“Mum and stepdad say I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to, and they’d never expect me to go by Charlotte, but it might be nice to consider one of the other shortened versions of my name or even using my middle name because Other Charlie has issues with the family arrangement and it would be nice of me to let him have this,” the teenager added.
After asking Reddit if she was in the wrong for sticking to her nickname, netizens were quick to voice their support for the teen.
“If they end up with the same name, they can be Charlie (Middle Initial.) Like Charlie B and Charlie K. That’s how we handled having 5 kids in one classroom who had the same trendy name. It was fine,” someone wrote.
“There’s no such thing as calling dibs on names with ‘oh I had it first’. If Charles has a problem with it then Charles can go by his name, nobody else has a problem with it,” another one said.
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Replaced!