Here’s why parents should rethink naming their baby Axel

Parents-to-be might want to avoid this name for their future offspring. 

A Redditor has divided the internet with a stark warning to parents who have “Axel” on their list of possible baby names because it sounds like a naughty word.

“‘Axel’ sounds cool and edgy on paper until your kid starts acting out,” wrote MyDogCanSploot. “I went to a school event with my kid. Another mom at the table began yelling, ‘A—hole!’ whenever her kid started running around. 

“It took me forever to realize the kid’s name was Axel, but when said in anger, it definitely sounded like something else.”

Axel, which can also be spelled Axel or Aksel, is an Icelandic name that means “father of peace.” It also has original in Germany and Scandinavia, according to The Bump.

Axel is currently ranked 60th on the 2022 Baby Names Popularity Charts and 77th in US births last year, according to BabyNames.com.

Reddit commenters quickly pointed out that it was a “valid” point — but mostly if they were saying the “pretty standard Scandinavian name” in an American accent.

“It definitely doesn’t sound like that when I say it with my English accent,” one wrote. 

Another agreed, writing, “My children have Scandinavian names, and one is Axel. This isn’t a problem in a British accent, nor has it been an issue in the few European countries he has visited. Must be an American accent thing.” 

A Danish poster wrote that it’s “always interesting to see how divisive Axel appears to be. Here it is just a normal, classical name without any edgy connotations at all. Kind of on par with Thomas or Matthew.” 

However, one parent with a 9-year-old son named Axel backed MyDogCanSploot. 

“He had speech issues, so anytime he’d say his name, it 100% sounded like ‘a—hole.’ Thankfully that’s better now,” they wrote.

“Thank you for saying this. I used to love the name and still like it written down,” another wrote. “But my daughter has an Axel in her class and every time she talks about him, it sounds like ‘a—hole.’ And he’s the nicest kid! It’s unfortunate the parents didn’t think of this before naming him.” 

Another said their daughter was playing Roblox with a friend and heard her yell, “A—hole, go!” 

“I was about to snatch her phone until I remembered the other child’s name was Axel.” 

Some responders said they’d never realized how the name sounds — until the thread.

“My BF works with an Axel and I’ve never thought is name sounds like ‘a—hole’ until this post,” they mused, while another said they know an Axel “and never actually considered this.”

The Reddit thread also brought up another name that parents might want to rethink. 

“A kid at my school is named Ocean and when his friends yell for him across the playground it sounds like, ‘Oh s—t!’” one commenter wrote.