To be blunt, this Canadian mom doesn’t really care what you think about her daughter’s name.
An Ontario couple who decided to name their daughter Chree were met with disdain from their friends and family who pointed out the name sounds similar to “tree,” a code term for cannabis.
Tenille Bain, 33, and her partner, Michael, 29, came up with the name after he jokingly suggested it to her.
Bain, a beauty technician, ended up loving it — pronounced “tree” — and stylized it in honor of her mom, Cheryl.
“Multiple people have blatantly asked me why I’d choose to name my daughter Chree,” Bain admitted to SWNS.
She continued, “People are just so afraid of change — they say they’re afraid she won’t get hired for jobs in the future, or she’ll be bullied in class.”
She pointed out that other kids have some unique nature-related names, like “River” and “Forrest.”
Their daughter’s name is Chree Mary Jane, the middle name inspired by Bain’s 79-year-old grandmother, Mary Jane.
Despite her middle name, the mom maintains her daughter is not named after marijuana.
After Bain and her partner settled on their daughter’s name, they decided to share it with friends and family at their gender reveal party.
But instead of receiving support, they say they were criticized.
Bain claims the bash ended in a “heated discussion” over the name.
“They went ballistic,” Bain revealed. “They told us that we were being crazy and that we couldn’t do it.”
Chree is now 4 years old, and her family appears to have come around on her name.
“Thankfully as soon as Chree was born, they learned to accept it,” Bain said.
Chree isn’t the only child in the family with a unique name.
Chree’s older brother, who is 8, is named Tevye, which Bain explained was inspired by a character from “Fiddler on the Roof.”
Tevye is the milkman and narrator of the story, which was Bain’s favorite growing up.
She often shares content of her two children online, despite rude commenters who blast her for her daughter’s eccentric name.
“I had one person say they’d rip up an application if they saw Chree’s name on it,” Bain said. “Some of the comments can be really loaded — someone said no one would be able to pronounce it.”
Offline, though, Bain says she gets a lot of support from loved ones and strangers alike.
She said many people think Chree’s personality matches her name, as she has a larger-than-life nature and loves to sing and dance.
Bain sees this as a learning opportunity for her two children to not be “prejudiced” or “judgmental” of others.
“If I could say one thing to the TikTok haters about my kids’ names, it would be this — they’re names,” Bain said. “They’re beautiful, and you need to be mindful when talking about children.”