Naming your baby isn’t exactly child’s play anymore.
As the world prepares to welcome Gen Beta in 2025, the competition to give newborns names that set them apart — or even put them on the path to become billionaires — is hotter than ever, driving some anxious parents to hire pricey consultants to make sure they get it just right.
And if there’s one trend that’s emerging for the coming year, according to experts, it’s nostalgia for names that haven’t been popular since before most new moms and dads were born.
Move over, Madison — make way for Elsie, Birdie, Goldie, Regina. But there’s a potential problem with that last one, an expectant mother reminded everyone on Reddit recently — and that problem is Regina George.
Antagonist of the 2004 teen comedy Mean Girls, George (Rachel McAdams) left such an impression on one viewer, she’s nervous her daughter may spend her childhood being teased for sharing a moniker with the twenty-year old fictional character.
“I’m due with my third daughter in a couple of months and we have chosen the name Regina,” the mama-to-be mused in the Namenerds subreddit.
“I’m curious if you all primarily associate the name with Mean Girls or if it has other affiliations for you. Is this on the same level as naming a girl Elsa? We don’t think so, but inquiring minds, I suppose.”
Regina George, famous for lines like “Get in loser, we’re going shopping,” and “So you agree? You think you’re really pretty,” sat atop the Plastics clique at North Shore High School, comprised of George, Gretchen “Fetch” Wieners and Karen Smith.
The ecosystem of the fictional secondary school in suburban Chicago was notably knocked off balance by the arrival of Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan), leading to George’s eventual comeuppance.
One in-the-know Redditor revealed that the original poster’s fears were not entirely unfounded.
“I’m a Regina! Mean Girls came out when I was in 4th grade,” the woman said.
“The Regina George jokes happen pretty often but I learned to lean into it a lot — it makes saying my name easier and people don’t spell it wrong,” she shrugged.
“It’s either going to be Mean Girl references or being called Vagina,” another commenter — possibly a Canadian — warned.
North of the 49th Parallel, the name is commonly with associated the capital of Saskatchewan, named Regina but pronounced like the popular part of the female anatomy.
The cornfed metropolis recently made the headlines for trying to have some fun with the spoof-prone pronunciation, adopting “Show us your Regina” as a new tourism slogan.
Officials were forced to scrap the sexy campaign and issue a groveling apology after serious local outcry.
Back on Reddit, plenty of people felt the mom was worrying too much, suggesting that by the time her daughter made it to school, the reference was going to be near-ancient — while others wondered if wasn’t already one for the history books, even after a Broadway musical and a 2024 movie adaptation of the popular stage show.
“My daughter is named Regina. There have been no Mean Girls or vagina references. When it does inevitably happen, I won’t care. People can and will find something stupid and negative to say about any name,” a mom said.
Whatever — we’re getting cheese fries.
