A love-hate reaction to baby Cedric’s name
April 2, 2010
Kristin Rushowy
TORONTO STAR
Tina Stefanic Borda and Jeremy Borda loved it.
Almost everyone in her family hated it.
Her mom called it “horrible.” Relatives argued it was too difficult to pronounce, especially for those living in Slovenia. They pleaded for alternatives, like Matteas or Caleb. When the baby was born, they couldn’t bring themselves to use it.
“They despised the name Cedric,” Stefanic Borda says. “I heard too many reasons why, so I refused to listen to it anymore. In the beginning, they would use any other name and even use nicknames such as ‘piki’ or ‘fantic,’ which are Slovenian nicknames.”
The baby was Frederick, even Tedrick, but not Cedric, “and you would be surprised how often I heard that, still, to this very day,” Stefanic says.
But the couple stuck to their guns and, eventually, her family came around — which Borda thinks may be because he suggested they call the baby see-dreech – “so it’s easier for them to say.”
Cedric Xavier Stefanic Borda was born April 15, 2008, at Toronto’s St. Joseph’s hospital. Mom and dad found the name in a baby name book at a get-together with friends and tried it out on them. Everyone there liked it.
“It sounded very smart and intellectual, very different from the names you hear,” says Borda, whose own family had no objections.
“We thought it sounded nice and flowed nicely with the last names we have,” Stefanic Borda adds.
They also received some kind words from strangers. When leaving the hospital after Cedric was born, two older women they met in an elevator praised their choice.
“They said he will have a lot to live up to with that name,” Stefanic Borda says. “We hope the name inspires him to achieve something great in life.”
Did you recently have a baby and choose an interesting or unusual name? Email krushowy@thestar.ca