Brittany Marie Davison, 25, who came up with the name after loooking up unusual baby names, has defended her decision, insisting that her three year old son suits his “weird name”.
Se7en Simba, whose middle name is inspired by The Lion King, has a unique spelling that has sparked comments from some, with people warning that he will be “picked on” and “bullied”. Despite this, Brittany and her partner Wayne, 36, are confident that their son will grow up to love his name, and that he is being raised to be strong and confident enough to stick up for himself.
Brittany said: “Se7en is the most unique child you’ll ever meet.
“He absolutely suits his weird name.
“Everyone who meets him comments on how happy and funny he is.
“People can be cruel and we always get told ‘he’ll get picked on. He’ll be bullied. He’ll never have friends.’ But it’s always adults that are mean – he spends every day of his life with new children in our play café and hasn’t had a single child say anything about his name.
“I’m raising a strong child who is happy to stick up for himself.
“I know he will grow to love his name – but if he doesn’t, it’s only a name.
“How many people actually use the name they were born with anyway?”
Wayne’s seventh child with his partner may not have been named Se7en due to his ranking in the sibling lineup, but that moniker certainly has made waves.
Brittany said: “We really struggled with finding a boy name we liked.
“We liked the name Teddy but Wayne’s best friend’s son is called Teddy. Phoenix was our second choice.”
The unconventional name came about during a road trip. “We were actually on a road trip for work and I was googling unusual baby names and came across Seven,” she explained.
Suggesting it in jest, little did Brittany anticipate Wayne’s reaction: “I suggested it partially as a joke but Wayne loved it! We didn’t even look at names after that, it was absolutely certain we were calling him Seven.”
Despite their delight with Se7en, born February 12, 2022, there was a hiccup with its unusual spelling.
“I loved the spelling Se7en but unfortunately I forgot to ask the registrar if we could use the number.”
Regrettably, postpartum exhaustion meant Brittany did not pursue the desired alphanumeric spelling – yet the couple insists on using it outside official documents. As for the middle name Simba, it seems Disney had a paw in that.
Initially contemplating Mowgli, Brittany recounted: “The Lion King is one of our favourite Disney movies and I suggested Simba pretty early on but Wayne wasn’t sure.
“I told him if he didn’t think of a better middle name by the time he was born – I was calling him Se7en Simba.”
There were no better suggestions, so Se7en Simba it was. According to Brittany, most friends and family support their bold naming.
She remarked: “Most of our family and friends were supportive of our choice of name after a few jokes and disbelieving faces.
“Wayne’s nana did say ‘you can’t call him Seven, that’s a number, not a name! I’ll call him Wee Sev’.”
The couple often hear ‘Sev’ as a nickname for their son, and Wayne has even humorously dubbed him ‘Six’. Unfortunately, they do encounter negative remarks from strangers online.
Brittany said: “People are always taken aback when they ask his name.
“We took him to A&E one day as he was really poorly and when the doctor called his name, the other parent in the waiting room asked if he was supposed to have a numbered ticket because we were ‘order number 7’ and he didn’t know what number he was.
“A fully grown adult on TikTok told me when he was less than six months old – ‘I would bully him.'”
Nonetheless, the parents believe they are nurturing a “strong” child who could choose to change his name later if he wishes. Brittany added: “Se7en is everyone’s friend, he’s kind, he’s gentle. But he’s also headstrong and will tell you when something is unfair.
“We have been so lucky with him, but I also know is a reflection in our parenting that he is so kind and so happy.”