'My friend named daughter after a food and baby's nickname is even worse'

Daily Mirror

11-06-2025

A woman has shared her shock after hearing what her friend is naming her newborn daughter, as she explains how her entire family reacted to the news at the child's gender reveal party
Choosing a baby name isn't always easy, especially when you consider your family and friends' opinions on your favourite monikers. But one woman has become a laughing stock among her friends after announcing her daughter's unusual moniker at her gender reveal party.
Taking to Reddit to share her shock over the name, a friend said: "My one of my parents friends are pregnant and just had their baby shower. I attended and after the gender reveal (it's a girl), the name was announced: Paprika - like the spice.
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"They said that they did this so that they could call her Pika, like Pikachu. The baby shower was Pokemon themed.
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"Their family was visibly confused and didn't know how to react."
Wanting to hear other peoples' thought on the name, she shared it on Reddit's tragedeigh thread, a group created to share names that have been "deliberately misspelled or completely made up to appear more unique than they actually are".
Commenting on the moniker, one user said: "Wouldn't people end up calling her Prika or Rika? They like Pika but chose a longer name that they will shorten and drop a middle letter. But not the longer name from which they got Pika. It all makes sense!"
Another user added: "At least the spelled it correctly."
A third user said: "Name reveal is a terrible idea. If you meet a baby and the baby is introduced, you can react about how cute the baby is, who they look like, or whatever.
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"If you're told a baby has been born, you can react with interest about all sorts of things. But with a big Name Reveal, you're going to be expected to react to the name specifically, which is awkward if you don't love it."
Another user said: "My neighbour's yappy Maltese is named Pika(chu)."
One more user added: "As a long time Pokémon fan, this is absolutely ridiculous."
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Another user said: "If I was that baby honestly I'd rather be named Paprika rather than literal Pikachu. Not a good name, but we have literal food names playing in the playground. It's not the worst."
A final user said: "It's legal to name the kid Pikachu, why not?"
While it's not illegal to name your child after a Pokémon in the UK, there's an every growing list of banned monikers worldwide.
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In Sweden, in 1996, a family wanted to name their child 'Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116'. However, unsurprisingly, this was not approved by the government despite the family's insistence that it's pronounced Albin.
When the name was rejected, the family tried to name their son A instead - again pronounced Albin - but this was also turned down.
In the end, they ended up calling him Albin, pronounced as such.
In Japan, a couple sparked controversary after attempting to name their son Akuma, which means devil.
In 1994, the father explained how he chose the name because he wanted his son to stand out in life with an unforgettable moniker, making him appear powerful.
The family faced a legal battle to keep the name but ended up backing down and changing their son's moniker.