Family ‘horrified’ by Cree baby Mary Jane’s name, which sounds like slang for drugs

Mom came to the defense of her daughter’s unusual name after relatives and strangers mistook it for a slang term for drugs and said that in the future she would not get a job.

Tenil Bain, 33, named her daughter Cree (pronounced “tree”) after partner Michael, 29, who jokingly suggested it.

Although it was originally said as a joke, the Canadian beauty specialist liked the name and decided to style it as Chree in honor of her mother Cheryl, 58.

But some members of the couple’s family weren’t fans – it’s speculated that the name was similar to the slang word for cannabis – a tree.

Relatives were initially ‘horrified’ by the name, but Ms Bain refused to change it and now says the whole family fell in love with ‘little Cree’.

“Many people have frankly asked me why I chose to name my daughter Cree,” said the mother of two from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

“People are just so afraid of change – they say they are afraid that she will not be hired in the future or that she will be bullied in class.

“But in the same breath, she will go to school with River, or Brook, or Forrest.

“Many commentators are trying to find meaning in her name, which is not there – Chri is not named after marijuana.

“I think she has a beautiful name.”

The couple settled on the name Cree Mary Jane and spoke about their choice to family and friends.

At the couple’s gender reveal party in May 2018, Ms Bain got into a heated discussion with some of their family members.

She said, “They were furious. They told us that we were going crazy and that we couldn’t do it.

“Fortunately, as soon as Cree was born, they learned to accept it. Now she’s just our baby Cree, even at four.”

Ms Bain gave her baby girl the middle name Mary Jane, after her 79-year-old grandmother, making her full name Shri Mary Jane.

Mom posts content online with Cree and her older brother Tevye, eight, whose name was inspired by a character from fiddler on the roofone of Ms Bain’s favorite films as a child.

She says people are “extremely biased” and view the Internet as “a safe, anonymous space where they can say whatever they want.”

“I had one person who said he would tear up the application if he saw Cree’s name on it,” Ms Bain said.

“Some of the comments can actually be uploaded – someone said that no one can pronounce it.

“I feel like I’m protecting my kids, but I also see this as an opportunity to teach them not to be prejudiced or judgmental.”

Luckily, Ms. Bain gets a lot of nice comments from people she meets offline.

She said: “People always say that Cree’s character is the perfect complement to her name. She is very extravagant, she sings and dances.

“She’s just so Cree.

“Fans fiddler on the roof I also recognize the mention in Tevye’s name, and he is often praised for this.

“If I could tell the TikTok haters one thing about my kids’ names, I would say this: they are names.

“They are beautiful and you have to be careful when you talk about children.”

Originally published as Family ‘horrified’ by child’s name, which sounds like slang for drugs