Photo: unplannedpodcast / YouTube; lianajadee / TikTok
They never mentioned Jade or her baby, but their commenters read between the lines.
By John Sundholm — Written on Mar 14, 2023
Unique baby names have been all the rage in recent years, and nowadays everyone seems to have an opinion on whatever they consider to be a weird baby name.
But for TikToker and parenting influencer Liana Jade, known as @lianajadee on the app and one-half of the YouTube couple Connor and Liana, the interest in her unusual baby name reached such a fever pitch it has left her tearfully pleading with people to consider the child on the other end of their baby name critiques.
Mom Liana Jade was viciously trolled for naming her baby Koazy.
The uproar began after fellow parenting influencers Matt and Abby mentioned unusual baby names on their podcast.
Matt and Abby, who chronicle their lives as parents on their @matt_and_abby TikTok page, their YouTube channel Matt & Abby and their podcast "The Unplanned," never mentioned Jade and her baby Koazy specifically while they were criticizing parents' practices of using unique baby names.
But their commenters assumed they were referring to Jade, and that was enough.
Jade was reduced to tears by the trolling over her baby's name in the comments of Matt and Abby's YouTube Shorts and TikTok videos.
Jade began her video by stressing she meant "absolutely no hate" against her fellow influencers, but said she was deeply disturbed by what went down in Matt and Abby's comments.
"I know it's not everybody's cup of tea," Jade said of her son's unusual name, Koazy. "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but it's just different when there's this comment section open on such a big influencer's video."
Matt and Abby have since deleted the TikTok clip from their podcast, but the clip they uploaded to YouTube Shorts is still live, as seen below.
"It does kind of bug me," Abby says in the clip, "some of the names that are out there nowadays." The couple then goes on to criticize parents for naming their children "off the wall" monikers they will then have to live with as adults. The couple calls the practice "scary" and "a red flag."
Matt and Abby have since disabled comments on their YouTube Shorts video, but they were open long enough for their followers to have a field day mocking Jade and her husband's choice to name their baby Koazy. "It opened a comment section to allow all of these people who didn't like our baby name to just rip at it," Jade said in her video, adding, "it's really upsetting."
Jade was most upset because the name Koazy has special significance to her and her husband.
Jade says much of the trolling she received centered on the assumption that she chose her son's name for clout to please her followers, a charge she says is untrue.
"People have kind of pulled out of context," she said, presuming that they chose the name based on their followers' frequent comments that "he was cozy in the womb...as I was getting so heavily pregnant." But Jade says they were already considering Koazy after hearing about other children whose parents chose the name, and that all of the warm comments online about their baby being "cozy" in the womb confirmed it was the right choice.
"It was almost like, oh, my God, it was meant to be," she said. "I wasn't trying to name him anything for a flex."
Jade implored people to remember that they are ultimately mocking a defenseless baby when they mock a baby's name.
Jade said she found the spectacle of a bunch of grown-ups banding together to troll a baby's name deeply disturbing. "People—just fully grown adults—just sat there slandering my baby's name. I think it's quite cruel."
And she went on to subtly but pointedly criticize Matt and Abby for not being more careful about their words, or at least better managing their commenter's responses. "If I'd have posted that video personally," she said, "I think I'd be very mindful of who was being named and how that could have an effect on other people."
That's probably good advice for all of us. It's all too easy to mock what we think of as weird baby names from behind the anonymity of our screens, but there's ultimately a child on the other end of our wisecracks. And just like with their name, they'll also have to live with our mockery living online for the rest of their lives.
John Sundholm is a news and entertainment writer who covers pop culture, social justice and human interest topics.