The mom went viral after revealing she couldn’t pronounce her daughter’s unusual name. Even doctors say it’s wrong.
Emma Hutton, 35, says that “no one can understand” the name she was given to her youngest child, and declares that the unusual Monica is “not that difficult.”
The British mom didn’t want her bub to be “bored” so she named her one-year-old daughter, Elae (pronounced LA).
But she’s increasingly irritated that even intelligent adults like doctors can’t grab their heads around the way they say it.
“People still don’t know how to read my daughter’s name.” She vented in a recent Tiktok video Caption: “It’s not that difficult.”
“It’s 2025. I didn’t know that people couldn’t understand basic English.”
The furious mother, who lives in Sheffield, England, explained that before realising the mistake, she had just gone to see a general practitioner who mispronounced Ellae’s name.
“He declared it wrong and again he called her Ellie,” she explained.
“Then he just looked at me and said, “Did I declare it wrong?”
“Yeah, it’s been declared like a city, but he gave me a blank look.”
She then continued to explain how to properly name Ellae, saying that it was said in the same way as “the city of Los Angeles.”
However, I didn’t really understand social media. Instead, Hatton argued that if he wanted to avoid confusion, he should have opted for more traditional spelling.
“If people decide to spell a slightly ‘different’ name, don’t get mad at the person trying to pronounce it.
“It’s yours, not their fault. Why don’t people get it?” Another agreed.
As someone else meditated: “I pronounce it ‘ee-lay’. ”
“If it was pronounced ell-ay, I’m sorry it’s so phonetically wrong,” someone else said.
“I’m sorry, but I mispronounced the strange name you made,” he snickered.
“If everyone is making a mistake, do you think it’s yours more than the other people’s problems?”
“It looks like a made name. I’ll get it with your accent, but most would say Ellie. Does it consist of that spelling?
Others are more sympathetic, stating that it is a “beautiful” name and that they share their struggles with alternative names.
“My daughter’s name also has this. Her name is pronounced boe, not boo or cry,” she shared.
“My daughter is Tasia (like Asia, the sound of Tay is in front of me) she is called Tasia,” another explained.
“Like my daughter, they pronounce it Zay-lia, and her name is pronounced Zay-la (her name is spelled Zaila.”
Hutton’s rant said after millions saw an earlier video in January, she “people don’t understand.”
“I’ve had people tell me I feel sorry for my child or that I set her up for a lifetime of bullying,” the young mother, who works as a nail technician, told the Taiyo at the time.
“They call me Chub [say] What I was trying to win the world’s strangest name competition.
“I honestly didn’t care much, but I think it’s very strange that adults feel the need to share some scary negative thoughts about children.
“I will never comment on my mother’s post telling her that I find her baby’s name stupid and scary.”
A 2025 Australian Baby Names report edited by McCrindle shows that parents have turned away with “traditional” names, instead choosing names that feature shorter versions and fewer syllables.
“After researching parents of different generations and people planning to become parents across the country, we discovered that we prefer unique names over traditional names.” Report found.
“This trend is driven by the younger generation, who embrace a more unique name than any generation before them.”
As a result, classic names like Michael, Charles, Quinn have completely lost favour after becoming a very popular option in the past.
