AITA: New dad defies family tradition of naming child after a month and his parents ice him out

Imagine being named after a month your entire life and hating every second of it. Now, imagine breaking free of that family tradition when it comes time to name your own child—only to have your family act like you’ve just committed some sort of generational crime.

That’s the situation one Reddit user found themselves in when they dared to give their newborn son a perfectly normal name, Tobias, instead of a month-inspired moniker. Cue the family drama and passive-aggressive silence. Of course, the internet had a lot to say about it.

Breaking away from tradition

Reddit user “December” (yes, December) shared his dilemma under the classic 'Am I The A--hole subreddit, asking if he was wrong for not following his family’s five-generation tradition of naming children after months of the year.

December (who prefers to go by “Dec” because, understandably, he’s over his name) explained that his wife just gave birth to their son two weeks ago, and they named him Tobias. This wasn’t some spur-of-the-moment decision—they kept the name under wraps until after the birth certificate was signed, knowing full well how his family would react. And boy, did they react.

According to Dec, his mom, who relentlessly lobbied for the baby to be named September (if it was a girl) or October (if it was a boy), was furious. Even his dad, Alex—a man with a “normal” name who probably never had to explain why he was called, say, February—was on Team Tradition.

But Dec? He wasn’t having it. “I told them I wasn’t going to name my child a ridiculous name because some old, long-dead, crazy man decided months of the year would be good names,” he wrote. That honesty didn’t go over well, and now his parents aren’t speaking to him.

Redditors offer various takes

Naturally, Reddit users flocked to the comment section like it was Thanksgiving dinner, eager to weigh in. And the support for Dec was overwhelming.

One Redditor kicked things off, writing: “NTA [Not the a--hole] - Traditions like this deserve to be broken. Your dead ancestors really do not give two s**ts what you call your kids and are incapable of any disrespect from you.”

Another offered: “NTA but you could have tried a different argument. You married your wife. She has a strong tradition of not naming any family member (even pets) to the months of the year, and you two indeed followed the family tradition—just not yours.”

Someone else chimed in with some practical advice: “The boy options apart from August (and that makes me think of Augustus Gloop from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) are weak. You’d go through life hating the name and he would probably go through life getting bullied.”

A comment read: “My family has a naming tradition and I happened to be named after a man who beat his wife and child to the point they were hospitalized. Family traditions are not always a good thing. Edit: I was that child and obviously I was named after my dad.”

Another pointed out the logistical nightmare: “With only 12 months and this going on for 5 generations, that must mean there are so many duplicate names for different family members. I would not want my child to be one of the 10 (or whatever) people named after a particular month.”

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