For most moms, deciding on their baby's name is a personal process. Whether you've loved it all your life or have debated over it for months, the majority of the time, the final choice is typically one that holds some meaning to you. That's not the case for Los Angeles mom-to-be Natasha Hill.
The 26-year-old recently won a contest on social naming site, Belly Ballot. The prize? $5,000 in exchange for letting the Internet pick her unborn baby's name.
Apparently, Hill first discovered the contest while searching for baby names online. To participate, she had to describe what they planned to do with the cash prize. Hill was chosen from a pool of nearly 80 applications after sharing her plans to pay off some credit card debt and then save the rest for her child's college fund.
Now, Hill, who will soon be entering her third month of pregnancy, will sit back while the public votes on their favorite name. Sounds risky, right? But Hill, who isn't picky and actually prefers unusual names, says she's not worried. "I think people will do the right thing and vote for something unique and nice," she said.
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The choices of names won't be revealed until the poll begins in March, but apparently, they'll be based on trending names and the site's sponsors, which means advertisers can suggest names that are tied to them, like that of their company's CEO.
Am I the only one who finds this really weird? Not to mention, kind of lazy. Okay, I get it … $5000 is a good chunk of change to get for essentially doing nothing. But it's not like they're asking to name her pet. This is her baby's name–one that the kid will be straddled with for the rest of his or her life. It's one thing to ask family and friends for advice, but how can she just sit back and not have any input? When the child asks her in the future why she chose their name, what is she going to say? "I didn't, complete strangers did?" … Or better yet: "You're named after the CEO of [insert random advertising company here]. That's just sad.
I have a feeling that down the road, long after that money has been spent, she'll regret not having a bigger part in the process. I only hope that Hill is much further involved in all the other aspects of her child's life!
Image via KMLA5
