'My son is being bullied because he's named after a piece of furniture'

A mum has sparked debate after sharing that she's considering letting her seven year old son change his name. She said she adopted her son three years ago and didn't change the unique birth name his biological mother gave him. Known as Table*, the boy has grown unhappy with his distinctive name.

Turning to Reddit, the mum detailed her experience: "He had a rather unusual name but we decided to keep it. We researched a lot and although the name seemed awfully silly, it felt wrong to take his name from him." Elaborating on her sons situation, she wrote: "His name is the name of a piece of furniture. For the sake of the question, I will use the first name Table.

"We actually decided to keep his entire name but we just rearranged things to include our surnames. His full name was Table Michael Harrison."

She continued: "My husband and I gave our son both of our last names and made Michael and Harrison both his middle names. Therefore, his name became Table Michael Harrison Smith-Jones."

Faced with teasing from his peers, the boy chose to go by one of his middle names at school.

Further explaining their choice, she stated: "He decided to use Harrison from that point forward. It took a little while to get everyone on board, but he was in first grade this year and everyone now calls him Harrison. He gets upset any time he sees his actual first name written down on forms.

"He gets upset when he has a substitute and she calls him Table. He really doesn't like his first name and it makes him think of bad things."

Instead of asking for new toys or a day out for his birthday, the only thing he wants is to legally change his name.

The mum seeking advice shared: "His seventh birthday is coming up and he asked if we could change his name to Harrison for his birthday present. We told him that we would think about it. Of course, that won't be his only present but it struck me as pretty serious that it was his birthday request.

"He wants to get rid of Table completely and become Harrison Michael Smith-Jones. Would you let your kid do it? ".

One user responded to her post saying: "In the case where neither parent is attached to the name, the child hates it and it's unusual enough to draw negative attention? Definitely."

Another user chimed in, adding: "I'd say in 99% of situations the kid is too young to make this decision. I'd also say this is the 1%."

While a third said: "I would consider it. The name is causing him distress and he is already going by another name. Plus, he still has the connection back to his birth family with his middle name, if that becomes important for him in the future."