Mom Admits She Might Not Be Able to Pronounce Newborn's Name: 'Drives Me Absolutely Nuts' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Justus Stroup with her son and husband while pregnant with her daughter, Sutton.Photo:Justus Stroup

Justus Stroup

A few people, Stroup said, have said the name with deliberate emphasis on the “T’s,” like “Sut-ton.”

“I’m not gonna enunciate the ‘T’s’ like that. It drives me absolutely nuts,” she noted in her TikTok video, which has more than 135,000 views on the app. “I told a friend her name one time, and she goes, ‘Oh, that’s cute.’ And then she repeated the name back to me and I was like, ‘No, that is not what I said.’ "

“Both of these ladies were so sweet when they thought that’s what I said,” she added. “My speech therapist, when I corrected her and spelled it out, she goes, ‘You know, living out in California, I have friends who named their kids River and Ocean, so I didn’t think it was that far off.’ "

At the end of the video, Stroup admitted she may need to work on how she says her own daughter’s name. “Good lord, I did not think this was gonna be my issue with this name,” she added.

Justus Stroup’s newborn daughter, Sutton.Justus Stroup

“Truthfully this was never a name on my list before finding out I was pregnant with a girl, but after finding out the gender, it was a name I mentioned and my husband fell in love with,” says Stroup.

She was surprised to hear others pronounce it differently, but she’s not heard of many people with the name beyond the television screen. Ultimately, however, the confusion hasn’t impacted Stroup’s love for the moniker.

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Justus Stroup with her husband and son while pregnant with her daughter, Sutton.Justus Stroup

“I still love the name. I honestly thought I was picking a strong, yet still unique name,” she says. “I still find it to be a pretty name, and I love that it is gender neutral as those are the type of names I love for girls.”

Like many of her other social media posts, Stroup wanted her TikTok to speak to other moms who might relate to her parenting dilemma. Plus, she’s personally experienced Sutton’s side of the issue.

“My name has always been misheard or misunderstood growing up,” she tells PEOPLE. “When I noticed the same thing was happening with my daughter’s name, it was something I could relate to and wanted to share.”

source: people.com