A “free-spirited” mum has defended her son’s unusual name after friends and family warned he’d be bullied when he starts school. <br /><br />Dolly Danyi Pitblado, 27, and her husband, Lane Pitblado, 28, named their four-year-old son Poet - after deciding masculine names wouldn’t suit him.<br /><br />Despite settling on a name early on in her pregnancy, she kept it a secret until after he was born - fearing friends and family would laugh at her. <br /><br />But she says she wouldn’t have it any other way - and he’s already a “little romantic with a poet’s heart” to suit his unique moniker. <br /><br />Dolly, who owns a baking business alongside Lane from Londesborough, Ontario, said: “People get so offended by my baby’s name - but he wouldn’t fit anything else, he’s a creative spirit with a poet’s heart. <br /><br />“His personality is 100 per cent reflective of his name - it’s perfect. At four years old, he wakes up in the morning and offers to bring me coffee and breakfast. <br /><br />“Elderly people tell us ‘how could you name him that? He’ll get made fun of’ - it takes them a minute to take it in.”<br /><br />Dolly found out she was pregnant in January 2019 - and says she could already sense what Poet was going to be like as a person, and what he was going to look like. <br /><br />She based her list of names on this hunch - and decided early on not to give him a “masculine” name like Nathan or John. <br /><br />Her list included lots of unconventional names - like Emeryck, Bo, Navy and Slightly - but she didn’t feel these would suit her son properly.<br /><br />And her family’s reaction to these names influenced her to keep ‘Poet’ a secret. <br /><br />She said: “We wanted a non-masculine name for our first son, which sounded pretty - not something like Nathan or John.<br /><br />“All the names we had on our list were a bit different - Emeryck, Emery for short, Bo and Navy just didn’t feel like him.<br /><br />“We were going to go for Slightly - but we did get a lot of slack for that. I told them I loved the name and they laughed and said it’s a ‘word, not a name’ - so we changed our minds. <br /><br />“I knew he was going to be like his dad - who has a poetic heart. We were talking about it - and I was like, ‘oh my gosh! It has to be Poet!<br /><br />“And we decided to keep it a secret until after he was born, because we found out how harsh and picky some people can be.”<br /><br />Poet was born at Stratford Hospital, Ontario on July 18, 2019 - and Dolly says his great-grandparents were taken aback by his name once it was revealed. <br /><br />“When Poet was born, I literally recognised him like I’d seen him before,” she added. “But the older generation was more taken aback with his name. <br /><br />“My grandparents and Lane’s grandparents had to take it in - but our friends and parents instantly loved it!”<br /><br />Dolly says the locals in her town feel offended by the name, and regularly come up to her and Lane to express their concerns. <br /><br />She said: “We live in a small town, we know a lot of these people, they stop to talk to us and tell us they’re offended by our baby’s name.<br /><br />“They tell us it’s not a name - and he’ll be made fun of.”<br /><br />Despite the backlash, Dolly says she’s not worried about how Poet’s school friends will react to his quirky name.<br /><br />In September, he started kindergarten - and even his teachers say he suits his name. <br /><br />“Poet is in junior kindergarten now,” Dolly said. “His teachers say he flourishes into anything creative - like roleplay - and is very sweet. Which I think is really reflective of his name.”<br /><br />Dolly has since given birth to her second child, Lottie, two, on July 18, 2021. She says she “relaxed” with her name.
