All names that have ever existed in the world were “original” at one point before they were passed down through generations (shout outs to all the Andrews and Muhammeds in the house!). But one Indonesian celeb has found herself in the middle of a social media drama for trying to stake an exclusive claim to the name she supposedly came up with for her daughter.
TV host Franda, who gave birth to her daughter Zylvechia Ecclesie Heckenbucker in April last year, recently got flak on social media after she derided a couple — one of whom happens to be her fan — who also named their newly born daughter Zylvechia.
(We’ll refer to Franda’s daughter as Zylvechia EH and the younger Zylvechia as Zylvechia K after the initials of their last names to avoid any confusion.)
Screenshots of Franda’s comment and DMs to Zylvechia K’s parents, who appear to manage their daughter’s Instagram account, have gone viral over the weekend.
“Did you really copy my daughter’s name? Even down to the way it’s written, and her nickname too. Maybe you can be more creative next time, it took so much effort for me to create that name… looking for a good name that would suit my daughter best. Then someone just easily took it to name their daughter,” Franda wrote in the comment section of an Instagram post by Zylvechia K, which appears to have been deleted.
The comment was followed up by two long DMs by Franda.
“Seriously your baby doesn’t deserve that name! I made up that name by myself, I didn’t look from books or anywhere. I MADE IT MYSELF. I made the effort to find a good, unique name THAT HAS NEVER BEEN USED BY ANYONE for my daughter. And then you STOLE it for your daughter, whose age isn’t far from mine. The spelling is the same, the nickname is also the same, and you seem to be really proud of it. Do you understand how hurtful that is?” Franda wrote.
“As parents, you must have known the feeling of wanting to give the best for our children? The name ZYLVECHIA is my dedication to my daughter. For months, while I was pregnant, I tried to come up with names. I wanted the best for my daughter. One that nobody else has. And now you took it from her just like that.”
Later on, Zylvechia K’s father posted an explanation for her daughter’s name on Instagram, saying that he initially wanted to name her “Kimi” after the son of Taiwanese singer/actor/race car driver Jimmy Lin. However, he eventually gave in to his wife’s wish to name their daughter Zylvechia, after Franda’s daughter.
While many netizens think that Franda overreacted, some actually tried to sympathize with her.
Wajar sih kalau sebel krn nama anaknya mungkin ga seumum nama” kebanyakan, tp too much ga sih kalau sampe dia ngomong lgsg gt ke orgnya? Kalau pengen nama itu khusus hanya utk anaknya ya di hak patenkan sj mba franda, kita ga bisa nyalahin org kalau namanya sm ky kita lah…
— Kairi (@eurydicism) September 7, 2019
“It’s actually fair to be upset because her daughter’s name isn’t as common as other names, but is it too much if she told the person directly? If you wanted that name exclusively for your daughter, why didn’t you patent it, Mbak Franda? We can’t blame others for having the same name as us.”
Despite of the negative people reactions, somehow I understand Franda's feeling. The reason why she's mad is bcs she made the name herself and you can't find it anywhere. But the word "your baby doesn't deserve the name" is unnecessary
— Fa Mulan (@notasweetbarbie) September 9, 2019
Franda has yet to release any statements since confronting Zylvechia K’s parents online. However, her husband, sinetron (soap opera) actor Samuel Zylgwyn, was less fussed about exclusive naming rights when a netizen recently asked him if she could name her daughter Zylvechia one day.
“Ahsiyappp,” Samuel replied, using the catchphrase of popular Indonesian Youtuber Atta Halilintar, which means “ready” or “yes”.
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