Woman Kept Her Name Change Secret For 5 Years Because Of Parents’ ‘Weird’ Obsession With US States

Taking to an anonymous forum, the woman explained that her parents had a “weird” obsession with the United States and gave both herself and her sister geographic namesakes.

While the uncommon moniker seemed to cause OP (a.k.a the “original poster”) issues growing up, her family seemed less than understanding when she finally unveiled her new name just months before her wedding.

Read on to see how Redditors reacted to the family drama in the ever-popular AITA (Am I The A–hole) forum.

“So, my (26F) parents decided to name my sister and I after American states. I have permission to share her name (Arizona) and I was called Pennsylvania at birth. Yea, my parents are weird,” began OP. “I guess they thought geographical names were cool but I think there’s a huge difference between calling your child Arizona or Dakota or Paris Vs Pennsylvania.”

OP noted her parents were “massive republicans and America lovers,” so they possibly just wanted to “be patriotic” with their choices.

“For as long as I can remember, everyone has called me Penn or Penny,” wrote OP, though she added that her parents “insisted that everyone was to call me by my full name.” That being said, the woman claimed “people could see how ridiculous my parents are.”

“My sister (28F) didn’t struggle as much with her name since Arizona just sounds better than Pennsylvania, and the Greys anatomy character Arizona Robbins made the name seem quite cool as we got older,” OP continued. “I was mocked and teased as a child in elementary school because of my parents insistence on my full name. They would literally berate my teachers for letting me write ‘Penny’ on my work/books.”

Then came the name change. OP said that once she turned 21, she got her name legally changed to Penelope — saying most people just assumed that was her name anyway, as she went by “Penny” while at college. While she kept the secret for years, OP said it was time to come clean ahead of her upcoming wedding, as she would have to say, “I, Penelope” when doing her vows. She acknowledged she and the officiant could say “Penny,” but explained that she didn’t want to “hide my real name on my wedding day.”

“I invited [my parents] over to my home and I tried to tell them in a really calm way that I had changed my name but they freaked out,” she said. “They said that I was disrespectful, I was calling their choice dumb etc. They are refusing to attend the wedding now.”

While OP was pretty confident she wasn’t the a-hole for changing her name, she said her parents were “particularly pissed about how I kept it hidden for five years before telling them” — and added, “Most people I know agree with them.”

“They think that I should’ve had the courage to be honest with them years ago so they would’ve had time to get used to it, instead of me dropping the news on them two months before my wedding and causing all this drama,” she concluded. “A few other family members have dropped out and my poor sister (who is maid of honor) is having a nightmare with this. My parents believe they had the right to know much earlier.”

Redditors pretty unanimously felt that OP was definitely NTA on this one, with most of them saying their parents were in the wrong for saddling her with the name Pennsylvania in the first place.

“NTA – how come none of your relatives are appalled that your parents care more about a dumb name then their actual child?” read the most upvoted comment, which prompted a response from OP. “Most of them think my parents are crazy but there are some who are just as crazy as my parents, so they’re the ones who are siding with them,” she replied.

“You can change your name if you want and the name your parents lumbered you with at birth was an excellent reason to do so. From what you’ve written I suspect your parents would’ve blown up whatever and the 5 years is just a pretense to hang their anger on,” wrote another Redditor, declaring her NTA and also adding her parents “need to get over themselves” after boycotting the wedding.

“If your parents spent 13 years of your school life trying to force everyone to call you ‘Pennsylvania,’ I suspect they would have spent the past 5 making you miserable for changing your name. Hence, your silence,” wrote someone else, as many continued to take OP’s side.

Then came the kicker: “this just reminds me of the bit in Family Guy where Meg says that Meg isn’t short for Meghan and it cuts away to Peter writing Megatron on her birth certificate.”

OP definitely got a laugh out of the comparison, responding, “They definitely made that episode based on my parents, I have no proof but the creators have probably run into my dad at the bar or something.”

What do you think?