Teen Dike Legal Name by Nickname, but Mom says she’s “childish”

A woman seeks advice online after entering a deeply personal disagreement with her mother about her name.

The 18-year-old, who goes by the nickname Eliza rather than Elizabeth, opened about the emotional tug of war between honoring her own identity and meeting her family’s expectations in a Latest Reddit post.

Eliza explained that she “never really liked” her first name, but her “parents loved it” – especially her mother.

“She/they thought I would only use the full version of the name,” she writes. “But for several years I have used Eliza exclusively.”

Her mother, however, has never warmed up to the nickname, especially because of its connection to a beloved animated character in The wild tower carriers.

“She thinks it is sticky to name children for fictional characters who are not the one I am actually named after, but I like the association with my nickname,” writes Eliza, revealing the little but significant misunderstandings that have been built up over the years.

Since she was just a child, Eliza’s mother tried to gently correct her and encouraged her to embrace Elizabeth. “When I was 6/7, she corrected me for about a year and told me that I had a beautiful name and should be proud to introduce myself,” reminds Eliza and noted that she quit when “she realized I didn’t give up.”

Even after realizing that her daughter did not go, her mother “still mumbles about it often”, never really let go of her disappointment.

Recently, the excitement bubbled up again, especially after Eliza’s birthday, when her mother questioned why she had not “grown (it)” childish nickname “.”

The conversation reached a breaking point when her mother acknowledged that “it kills her” when using Eliza, and she “can’t understand why” she wouldn’t go by Elizabeth instead.

“My mom told me that I have such a wonderful name and most children would kill for such a normal name today and she pointed out all the names that she thought strange among my comrades,” says Eliza, noting that it “obviously makes her crazy.”

Eliza felt the pressure and finally spoke her truth.

“I’m Eliza now and most people know me like Eliza,” she explained to her mother. “I told her that I love to have it as my name and she said it really is not and I should love Elizabeth way more.”

“It was when I admitted that I never liked it and never wanted to use it.”

Since then, her mother has acted “extra strange”, called her several times a day.

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Even her father weighed in. “My dad texted to ask why I couldn’t calm my mom just a little here,” she writes.

Now Eliza is left and wonders if she is wrong to stand by her chosen name and turn to the Reddit community, which was largely lateral with her.

“Does she realize that it has been a name looooong before the cartoon?” A user commented to whom the poster responded with clarification, “She does. But the association still bothers her because my friends and I saw it as a child.”

Regardless of the family’s rift, Eliza is stuck in her chosen name.