Pregnant Woman Wants to Skip Sister's Wedding After Sister Stole Her Baby Name — and Used It for Her Dog

Mar. 15, 2025

Pregnant woman in stock photo.Photo: MorePixels / Getty Images

A mom-to-be says she won’t go to her sister’s wedding after the sister stole the name she planned to use for her child — and used it to name her dog.

In an anonymous post onReddit, the woman writes that she and her husband are expecting their first child “after years of trying.”

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Six months ago, the woman’s younger sister, Emma, got a golden retriever puppy — and the woman’s hopes for naming her child “Lila” were dashed.

“We were all excited for her—she’s always been an animal lover and was thrilled to finally get her own dog,” the woman writes of her sister. “But when she introduced us to the puppy, she casually said, ‘This is Lila!’ "

While the woman initially thought her sister was joking, she soon learned that she was not.

“She just shrugged and said, ‘It’s a name, not a copyright. I thought it was cute for a dog,’ " the woman writes. “I was honestly stunned. I didn’t want to make a big scene, so I let it go in the moment, but it really bothered me.”

Now, months later, the name has become associated with the dog, but the woman still wants to use it for her future child.

Adding that she “felt humiliated,” the woman writes that she sat her sister down privately, to tell her how she was feeling.

The post continues: “I told her that while I’m still going to name my daughter Lila, she’s made it really awkward for me. She laughed and said, ‘Awkward for you, not for me!’ "

Now, Emma is soon to get married and the woman is supposed to be her maid of honor – but she no longer wants to be.

A golden retriever puppy.Maya Karkalicheva/ Getty Images

Maya Karkalicheva/ Getty Images

“I don’t want to stand up there and celebrate her when I feel like she doesn’t respect me or care about my feelings,” she writes. “Last week, I told her that I wasn’t sure I could attend the wedding because of how hurt I’ve been about everything.”

Emma, she adds, “lost it.”

“She called me selfish and accused me of ‘ruining her big day’ over something as ‘stupid’ as a name. She even told me, ‘You’re the one making this a thing. Nobody cares except you.’ My parents are siding with her, saying I’m being ‘petty and hormonal’ and need to let it go because ‘family is more important than a name.’ "

Now, the woman writes, she feels “torn.”

“I know skipping her wedding is a huge deal, and I don’t want to cause a permanent rift, but I also feel like Emma has completely dismissed my feelings and made this whole situation worse,” she writes.

Another commenter gave more blunt advice: “Get a pet snake, call her Emma.”

source: people.com