Pregnant Woman Lets Online Voters Choose Baby’s Name for $5,000

Original article on OddityCentral.com – a blog on oddities and wacky news http://www.odditycentral.com/

A 26-year-old pregnant woman from West Los Angeles, California, has agreed to allow online voters to chose the name of her child, in exchange for $5,000.

Natasha Hill, a young art teacher from LA, is expecting a baby in September, but she had already started thinking about his/her name. She considered naming her child Katorah or Winter, but since she couldn’t make up her mind, she decided to enter a competition organized by Belly Ballot, a Austin, Texas-based startup that lets parents-to-be crowdsource their babies names with friends and family. According to the online company, voter will be presented with a list of 10 names - five boy names and five girl names – chosen by Belly Ballot and sponsors of the contest. The one with the most votes by the time the ballot concludes will be the name Hill’s baby will legally have, at least until he or she turns 18. Belly Ballot founder Lacey Moler assured participants brand names or names that are “too crazy” won’t be included in the 10 options.

Photo: NBC San Diego

“I just thought it was a really cool idea,” Natasha said. “I’m so excited to have won!” she wrote on the Belly Ballot blog. “The whole Belly Ballot concept is so social and fun, and can’t wait to see what everyone votes for!” But her boyfriend is not as enthusiastic. Despite the ballot company’s claims, he’s afraid voters won’t be able to resist the temptation to choose the craziest, most unusual names. The mother to be said she won’t be monitoring the results during the March 18-22 contest, afraid she’ll pick a favorite name and be disappointed if it doesn’t get chosen.The mother-to-be was chosen from 80 entrants, after she said she would use the $5,000 prize money to pay off credit card debts and put the rest away for her child’s college fund

Photo: Baby Ballot

As you’d expect, this unusual contest has sparked controversy among traditionalists who believe choosing a baby’s name is a personal decision of the parents, and not something to be used for financial gains and media exposure. “This is crazy,” a person wrote on the Belly Ballot blog “You should all be ashamed of yourselves for even considering this. What are you going to tell your baby when they ask you how you chose their name? Don’t do it, you will regret this.” Another commenter said:“Don’t get me wrong, I could use the money, but this sounds a bit outrageous.” the Baby Ballot founder doesn’t agree: ”This might not appeal to everyone, and we definitely respect parents who choose to keep their name and the baby naming process more private,” Moler told She Knows. ”However, we are allowing baby naming to become more social, and a lot of parents love being able to include their friends and family in the process.”

I wonder if they’ll include video-game-inspired names in the list. We already have a Skyrim-named baby, but there are plenty of other cool ones to choose from. If she doesn’t like the name, Natasha has the perfect solution: “there’s always a nickname,” she told NBC San Diego.