A man has slammed his dad for condemning him to a lifetime of bullying by giving him a “geeky” name.
Rygel, whose name is pronounced Nigel, revealed his “mega geek” dad drew inspiration from his favourite sci-fi shows and movies when naming him and his siblings. Although he believes his name is the least problematic, he expressed sympathy for his sister, who was named after a character from Game of Thrones.
He shared on Reddit: “My dad is an absolute mega geek who gave us names based on a Sci-Fi show he liked (though the middle child was named after Daenerys from Game of Thrones). The older sister’s name is pronounced like ‘Aaron’ but is spelled like ‘Aeryn.’
“Not even I am saved from this torment because I was named Nigel, but with an R instead of an N, so it’s ‘Rygel.’ What’s also worse is that Aeryn’s initials are ALS. Like the disease. Not sure if my parents want us to be bullied or not.”
He attributes his years of torment at school to his unusual name, stating: “No wonder I got bullied in high school to end up a lazy a***hole in real life. The fact that I was named after a character that is Jabba the Hutt levels of ugly just made it worse.”
The post sparked a mix of sympathetic and humorous responses from users. One commenter noted: “To be fair, your dad did spell the characters’ names correctly for you… But much as I like ASOIAF and love Farscape, you and your siblings are people and not billboards for your dad’s fandom.”
Another observer remarked: “Gasped after ‘Nigel but with an R instead of the N’ thank God’. It could’ve been way worse.” However, one user offered a more laid-back perspective: “My wife’s initials are also ALS and it has had no effect on her life whatsoever.”
Meanwhile, a Farscape fan chimed in: “Farscape was a great show, and Rygel was an absolutely adorable character who had more character growth in the series than most… But even I wouldn’t name my kids after it.” Lastly, one teacher shared a witty anecdote: “One of my students is named James Tiberius and it makes me giggle every time I put his grades in and see it. You can totally find nice sci-fi names that will fly under the radar people!”.