Criticism directed at parents for allegedly negatively impacting their children’s lives due to difficulties in pronouncing a unique name, as revealed by a teacher

A name is the key to someone’s identity… so what does it mean if it’s indecipherable?

Mike, a resident of New York, recently shared on TikTok an anecdote narrated by a teacher friend of his. The story revolved around a name that seemed more like a riddle than a typical moniker.

‘How do you pronounce that name right there?’ he asked, showing the letters ‘JKMN’ on the screen.

‘Guess,’ he encouraged, adding: ‘You won’t get it right.’ 

‘My friend, who is a teacher, came across this name as she was doing roll call on the first day,’ he explained.

Confessing his friend wasn’t sure how to pronounce the name at all, Mike himself admitted his guess was ‘Jacoom.’

‘Do you know how it’s pronounced?’ he asked in disbelief.

‘Noel,’ he shared.

Mike, from New York, recently took to TikTok to relay a story told by a teacher friend of his, who came across a name that was more riddle than moniker

‘You’re probably thinking, “how is that possible?”‘ he mused.

‘Because, she said, J-K-M-N… there’s no L there,’ he continued, as he revealed the rationale behind the confusing moniker.

‘It skips the L so it’s pronounced NO-L.’ 

‘Yes,’ Mike confirmed. ‘There are indeed parents out there who made the conscious choice to name their child that, and now the child will have to constantly explain their name throughout their life.’

Some people questioned the legitimacy of the story, with Mike posting a follow up video assuring viewers it was indeed, very real.

‘This is a real story,’ he insisted, responding to one user who accused him of regurgitating a story posted to Reddit.

‘My friend who told me this, she is a teacher, and these parents did name their daughter that.’

Users were horrified by the unusual name, accusing the parents of setting their child up for failure. 

Some people questioned the legitimacy of the story, with Mike posting a follow up video assuring viewers it was indeed, very real (stock image) 

‘Um. Names aren’t supposed to be riddled,’ one horrified user wrote.

‘JKMN is gonna end up changing their name to Noel or Noelle lol,’ pointed out another. 

‘I read “just kill me now” immediately while reading it,’ chimed in another.

Last year, name consultant Colleen Slagen revealed gender neutral names are on the rise. 

In recent years, the concept of girl and boy names has been turned upside down as moms and dads have been opting to give their daughters classic male names like Drew, Noah and Dylan.

Speaking to the New York Post, Colleen revealed that she has received a slew of requests for ‘true boy names’ for girls.

She noted that in addition to bringing a sense of uniqueness into the family, girls given male monikers are also more likely to become billionaires.

Colleen told the outlet that a likely trend for 2025 babies is something known as ‘My Best Friend’s Dad’ baby names.

The pro added: ‘I think we’ll start seeing more traditional male names being chosen for girls such as Drew, Noah and Dylan.’