Is this name really that bad?

[Anonymous]

We've told our families that we're naming our son Stephen (steff-en), and the reactions that we've gotten have not been great. My mom is intentionally pronouncing it as Steven in an attempt to get us to change our minds. My brother has commented that it sounds like a "sissy" name. The only person who seems to like the name is my father-in-law.

I don't expect everyone to praise us for our baby name or be jumping for joy, but it would be nice if they could at least pretend to like it (just smile and nod) or remain neutral for our sake. 😅 Is there something that we're missing here? I feel like everyone is being melodramatic and juvenile over an ordinary name.

[Anonymous]

It's a very normal name. I hope you reamed out your moronic brother for still using genderized insults such as "sissy".

[Anonymous]

Perfectly fine name, but most people in the US will pronounce that spelling as Steven.

Are you open to Stephan or Stefan or Steffen?

[Anonymous]

I just think of Stephen King. He pronounces it the same as Steven, though. That’s the pronunciation that my brain wants to default to.

[Anonymous]

It will ALWAYS be pronounced by others as [Steven]. It's not a sissy name but you should change the spelling to Stefan or Steffen if you want it pronounced correctly.

[Anonymous]

A normal name, but up to you if you want to spend a lifetime telling people how to pronounce it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've told our families that we're naming our son Stephen (steff-en), and the reactions that we've gotten have not been great. My mom is intentionally pronouncing it as Steven in an attempt to get us to change our minds. My brother has commented that it sounds like a "sissy" name. The only person who seems to like the name is my father-in-law.

I don't expect everyone to praise us for our baby name or be jumping for joy, but it would be nice if they could at least pretend to like it (just smile and nod) or remain neutral for our sake. 😅 Is there something that we're missing here? I feel like everyone is being melodramatic and juvenile over an ordinary name.

It seems that people don’t like ANY name unless they picked it themselves. My mom told me that we were dooming our child to a life of crime when I told her that his name would be Jase. Talk about dramatic.

[Anonymous]

I love that pronunciation. I hate the Steven pronunciation. Go forth with your lil baby Stephen!

[Anonymous]

I mean, because that's not the standard pronunciation.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/stephen

So either change it to Stefan or get used to it being pronounced the same as Steven.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just think of Stephen King. He pronounces it the same as Steven, though. That’s the pronunciation that my brain wants to default to.

I’m the opposite. I’d go with the “Stefan” pronunciation unless told otherwise because of Steph Curry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We've told our families that we're naming our son Stephen (steff-en), and the reactions that we've gotten have not been great. My mom is intentionally pronouncing it as Steven in an attempt to get us to change our minds. My brother has commented that it sounds like a "sissy" name. The only person who seems to like the name is my father-in-law.

I don't expect everyone to praise us for our baby name or be jumping for joy, but it would be nice if they could at least pretend to like it (just smile and nod) or remain neutral for our sake. 😅 Is there something that we're missing here? I feel like everyone is being melodramatic and juvenile over an ordinary name.

It seems that people don’t like ANY name unless they picked it themselves. My mom told me that we were dooming our child to a life of crime when I told her that his name would be Jase. Talk about dramatic.

Sorry, this made me LOL. Grandma has her priorities straight for her grandbaby!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean, because that's not the standard pronunciation.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/stephen

So either change it to Stefan or get used to it being pronounced the same as Steven.

Based on the information given in the post, I think the OP’s mom is only pronouncing it the same as Steven because she hates Stephen, knows the OP hates the Steven pronunciation, and is trying to get them to change it to an entirely different name by annoying them with Steven.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean, because that's not the standard pronunciation.

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/pronunciation/english/stephen

So either change it to Stefan or get used to it being pronounced the same as Steven.

Based on the information given in the post, I think the OP’s mom is only pronouncing it the same as Steven because she hates Stephen, knows the OP hates the Steven pronunciation, and is trying to get them to change it to an entirely different name by annoying them with Steven.

Agree that’s her motive, but the rest of the world is going to pronounce it Steven with that spelling so OP really needs to consider that. Changing it to -an vs -en will go a long way.

[Anonymous]

I like the name "Stephen" (Steven) and I like the name "Steffan"

They are two different names. Stephen is not pronounced Steffan.

[Anonymous]

He's going to have the world calling him some combination of

Steff-en
Steven
Steff-aaaahn

I have a name that's pronounced a million different ways and it's absolutely obnoxious. I wouldn't do that to a kid.