5-year-old girl writes persuasive letters to parents to convince them to change her name, raises $150 for it
As kids, we have all thought about changing our names at least once. Wondering why our parents couldn't choose a better name. After confronting our parents about it and getting an explanation we just moved on with our lives. But not this little girl from Indiana. She was not only convinced that her current name was wrong for her, but she was also sure she had picked the most perfect name for herself. Her dedication to this belief is what sets her apart from the rest of us who wanted to have different names. Her mother could not help admire her determination either and decided to share it with the rest of us.
Earlier this year, the mom, Bri, took to TikTok to share why her little daughter would someday make history. So on the occasion of Women's History month, which is in March, she decided to share her daughter's story. Her daughter, Charlie, whose name was chosen by Bri and her husband, wants to change her name to Charlotte. Explaining their decision to name her so, Bri explained in the video: "So my little lady is named Charlie, Charlie Paige. I love her name, we chose her name, she looks like a Charlie. She is just my Charlie girl." But the five-year-old does not like it.
So she did what not a lot of toddlers would not. "She wrote me a persuasive letter on why we should change her name to Charlotte," explained her mom and added, "Then she did some research and she researched that in order to change your name, you have to go to the court, you have to pay around $200 in the state of Indiana, it has to be published and both of your parents have to agree if you're a minor." And to show that she really was determined to become a Charlotte, she really got to work. To raise money for the $200 she decided to make and sell friendship bracelets.
In a follow-up video, she admits that she and her husband took their daughter seriously and discussed the name change. It would be hard not to especially after the little girl came home one day with $80 from her bracelet business. Her mom was surprised and impressed with her daughter's hustle and how she had managed to sell to her pals at cheer practice. She had soon managed to raise more than $150. To further convince her parents she had her grandfather make her a backpack with the name "Charlotte" on it instead of "Charlie." She managed to go by the name Charlotte for a whole year.
To make an even more persuasive argument she wrote an opinion piece about why the name "Charlotte" was better than "Charlie" for her. The videos garnered a lot of attention and after they hit more than four million views, Bri read out the two letters in a follow-up video. The first letter read: "Dear mommy and daddy, I like it better than Charlie, Charlotte is a girl name and it’s the prettiest name ever. I don’t like Charlie, Charlotte is my passion. Love, Charlie.” In the opinion piece, she wrote: “Charlotte is a better name than Charlie, Charlotte makes me feel strong, Charlotte makes me feel independent, Charlotte makes me feel pretty, Charlotte makes me feel creative and Charlotte makes me feel loved.”
It seemed pretty clear that mom was on board with the name change but it was her dad that had to be convinced. “To dad, I know you don’t want me to change my name, but can we change my name for me please,” Charlie wrote. Bri asked her followers to send ideas to convince her husband. One person replied: "Every Charlotte I know is nicknamed charlie. It's not a huge leap. I think it's a great idea for her individuality." Many people remarked that she was one smart cookie and most people were overwhelmingly supportive of little Charlie who wants to be Charlotte. In more recent videos, Bri has started referring to her daughter as Charlotte. She even seems to have started the legal procedure to have the name changed.
