A dad-to-be has launched an online petition in his quest to honor his Greek heritage by naming his son “Spyridon.”
Nicholas Soukeras, of East Elmhurst, New York, writes in the petition he is appealing to the world for the right to name his first-born son after his father. But his pregnant wife, Kseniya, isn't quite on board with it.
"[She] is is of the opinion that the name 'Spyridon' is archaic, base, bereft of elegance and unsuitable for a child living in 21st century America," Soukeras wrote.
Kseniya prefers the name "Michael," the name of her late father. But she seems to be amenable, if her determined hubby gets enough people on his team.
"I'll settle for 100,000 [signatures] — this is an approximate population of my hometown Maladzyechna," Kseniya, who is due in August, told the New York Post.
So far, they have just over 300 signatures. "I don't want to call my son something I can't even pronounce," she added.
Soukeras told BuzzFeed News that his wife "really hates" his chosen name, but he is adamant about preserving his Greek heritage.
Plus, he added, Michael is "so common."
In his appeal, Soukeras gives a list of tongue-in-cheek reasons as to why Kseniya simply just doesn't appreciate the elegance of his chosen name.
For one, he said, his Belarus-born wife has only been exposed to "barbaric" names in her homeland, like "Arman, Osip, Igor, Rurik, Ruslan, Artem, Vadim and Zoran (to name a few)."
Her "Russian ear is not trained for the sweet, musical sounds of our Greek nomenclature," he said, "and as her exposure to the English language and American culture has been limited to a mere eight or so years in Southern New Jersey and the borough of Brooklyn, New York (enough said), Mrs. Soukeras has not been afforded the time nor opportunity to accept the quite common and well-received name "Spyridon" in not only Greek communities, but in the United States as well."
Soukeras adds that if they name their baby Michael, his wife will likely use Mischa as a nickname.
Soukeras opposes this because it is "a name also shared by B-list Hollywood actress Mischa Barton, star of such films 'Virgin Territory' and 'Zombie Killers: Elephant's Graveyard,'" he wrote.
Finally, Soukeras said that he and his wife previously agreed he could name boy children, and she could name girl children.
"Should Mrs. Soukeras name both children according to her wishes, the marriage, not unlike modern day Belarus, ceases to be a democracy (the concept of which was borne by the brilliant minds of the Ancient Greeks) but rather an authoritarian dictatorship," he wrote.
Soukeras told BuzzFeed News that he made the petition as a joke and sent it to a few friends.
"I wanted to get my friends to sign it and get her to laugh in the process," he said.
He added that only a few of his friends even signed it because they didn't want to make his wife mad.
He said he wasn't sure how it got picked up in the media, and was totally shocked when reporters began calling him.
"It's hard to focus on work right now," he said.