Should I let my six-year-old son change his name?

A mother has turned to Reddit for advice after her six-year-old son made it clear he wants to change his name. 

“My husband and I adopted our son about 3.5 years ago. He had a rather unusual name but we decided to keep it," she began. "We researched a lot and although the name seemed awfully silly, it felt wrong to take his name from him”

While the woman doesn’t reveal the actual name, she refers to her son as "Table".

“We actually decided to keep his entire name but we just rearranged things to include our surnames. His full name was Table Michael Harrison. My husband and I gave our son both of our last names and made Michael and Harrison both his middle names. Therefore, his name became Table Michael Harrison Smith-Jones.”

When he started school, some of the other kids teased him for his name so they agreed her could choose one of his middle names to go by. 

“It took a little while to get everyone on board, but he was in first grade this year and everyone now calls him Harrison,” she continues.

“He gets upset anytime he sees his actual first name written down on forms. He gets upset when he has a substitute and she calls him Table. He really doesn't like his first name and he said it makes him think of bad things.”

For his birthday, "Harrison" asked is he could legally change his name as his present.

“He wants to get rid of Table completely and become Harrison Michael Smith-Jones," she said. 

“Would you let your kid do it?”

In the comments section, the mother explains that she is worried he might resent her later in life. 

"I don't want him to regret it when he gets older and resent us for allowing him to make the choice when he was only 6 years old," she said. 

The response on Reddit is mainly in favour of letting the boy change his name. 

"In the case where neither parent is attached to the name, the child hates it and it's unusual enough to draw negative attention? Definitely," one person commented.

Another added: "Just saw that he says the name has bad memories for him. Listen to the poor kid. The name clearly is a source of nothing but distress."

"I'm with others here," another said. "I can't think of a single good reason not to go ahead with the name change."