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NAME SHAME
People burst out laughing at my son’s name, they say he’ll be bullied & never get a job but he’s earned thousands aged 5
WHEN Laura Phillips fell pregnant with her first son - she knew she wanted him to have a unique name.
But the mum-of-four was not prepared for the onslaught of opinions about her choice - with people bursting out laughing, claiming he'd be bullied and saying he'll never get a job.
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Her little lad has already proved them wrong - earning thousands as a model and actor at just five years old.
Single mum Laura, 35, says the negative comments almost swayed her away from her chosen name, but she's glad she ignored the haters.
She tells Fabulous: "I knew I wanted something unusual because I prefer unique names.
"And my son was always going to be my last baby, because once I had a boy I wanted to stop, so I thought 'I've got to go all out'.
"Someone was talking about pro golfer Tiger Woods and the name stuck with me, but I changed the spelling and called him Tyga-Blu Abbott.
"I always say it's a Marmite name, people either love it or hate it. When I was pregnant, so many people said 'are you sure?' that it did make me debate it for a couple of days.
"Then I thought ‘no, I’m not going to change his name to suit other people’. Now he’s older, it doesn’t bother me."
Laura - who's also mum to daughters Levi-Ashlee, 18, Reese, 16 and Paris, seven - says the worst reactions to Tyga's name have been online.
Most read in Fabulous
She explains: "I shared his name on a parenting page on Facebook, and someone replied with a crying with laughter emoji.
"They said ‘with a name like that, he’s going to get bad attention in school and get bullied, then he’ll struggle to get a job when he’s older, because you don’t see many doctors called Tyga’.
"When I was pregnant, friends would say 'what? Are you serious' or 'are you sure?' when I revealed what I was going to name him.
"I've also had doctors put his name down as 'Tyler' before, because they thought I'd made a spelling mistake.
"But Tyga's proven the trolls wrong because he's been working since the age of one."
Tyga has modelled in campaigns for Argos, Tomy Toys, Mamas & Papas, Early Learning Centre and Sainsbury’s.
He's also filmed adverts for trampoline parks and the new range of Gruffalo toys - as well as doing brand deals, netting £300 worth of personalised clothes.
Laura says: "So far he’s made £5,000. It all goes in his bank for when he’s 18, then he’ll get it.
"While he's happy to work, I want to keep the money coming in so he's got a good amount to start him off, maybe for a car or a housing deposit.
"Since Covid, Tyga's been getting lots of sibling bookings with his sister Paris, as they like to keep the kids in bubbles."
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And as for the concerns about his name - Laura says they were completely unwarranted.
She explains: "Other kids don’t even blink at Tyga's name, if anything it’s been a good reaction. It’s always adults who are the judgemental ones.
"Nowadays, if anything the common names are more unusual.
"And I think it’s unfair to judge a child off something like their name, they didn’t have any say in it. It doesn’t affect them as a person, it’s just a name."
So far he’s made £5,000. It all goes in his bank for when he’s 18, then he’ll get it. I want to keep the money coming in so he's got a good amount to start him off, maybe for a car or a housing deposit
Laura
Another mum recently revealed how trolls say her baby girl will be bullied relentlessly for her name, but she loves it.
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Meanwhile, this mum has given five of her kids the same name.
She adds: "They’ve different dads so it bonds them - and one’s even named after a road".
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