AITA for calling my nephew a creep and removing his access to my computer for trying to find my old name by looking through birth statistics?
Picture this: a 29‑year‑old man, a 13‑year‑old nephew, and a mysteriously vanished first name that could have been the ultimate internet meme. The original name was so awkward it could have made a Roomba blush. So the dad changed it. Fast forward to a family visit. The nephew, armed with a curiosity‑filled brain and the hope of a new nickname, starts rummaging through the birth‑year popularity charts on Google. Suddenly, the dad's internal alarm system goes off, the nephew cries like a baby on a roller coaster, and the family is now debating whether the dad’s reaction was a bit… overkill.
The dad’s side
He’s got a story: “I told my nephew I changed my name, but I didn’t reveal the old one. He then spent his time scrolling through the top names of my birth year, trying to guess the name I abandoned. I told him that’s creepy behavior, that people keep secrets for a reason, and that I was upset. He cried, and now my sister and brother‑in‑law are mad at me for making him cry.”
The nephew’s side
He’s just a kid who stumbled upon a list of popular names, thought it was a fun puzzle, and didn’t realize he’d offended the adult he was trying to impress.
The Comments (because Reddit is a wonderful, judgmental playground)
You gave a 13 year old a mystery and you're pissed that they tried to solve it? Really?
YTA.
YTA
All he did was GOOGLE popular names in your birth year and you think that’s “creepy”?
I mean honestly, what’d you expect? A 13‑year‑old is going to get info like that and not be curious?
YTA
The most popular names list in a given year isn’t private or personal information.
If he was digging through your bank statements or medical files, sure, read the kid the riot act, but googling common names is a pretty mild thing to start name calling over.
Honestly, their birth name isn’t even private personal information.
All the kid has to do is Google OPs current name, their address and birthday and it’ll come up.
I get that you might feel annoyed, but in no way was nephew being creepy.
He was just being nosey.
You dangled a big mystery in front of a teenage boy, obviously he’s going to be curious?
You could have explained to him that he needs to respect people’s boundaries instead of treating him like some sort of unsavoury character.
TL;DR
A dad overreacted to his nephew’s innocent name‑searching, leading to tears, family drama, and a lesson in digital boundaries. The nephew was just curious; the dad was a little too dramatic. #DadDrama #NameChange #RedditRealityCheck