My mum gave me & my sister the same name, she should’ve been creative but I’m stuck with it now & too lazy to change it
A MAN has revealed that his parents used the same name for himself and his sister.
Most people have their baby boy and girl names picked out from a young age, but not Robert Bolohan’s mum.
The 28-year-old's mum, Rodica, was inspired to use the name on her first born son after reading it in a magazine - but five years later decided to recycle the name for her daughter as well.
He says: “It was also because she didn’t have much time when she was deciding and picked it at the last moment."
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous, Robert who lives in Uxbridge, England reveals his mum didn’t have much time to think about picking a new name for his sister, Roberta, now 23.
“With my sister, because she was in a wheelchair and has Spina bifida there were many complications when she was born and during the pregnancy as well, so she didn’t have time to properly name her," Robert recalls.
Spina bifida is when a baby's spine and spinal cord does not develop properly in the womb, causing a gap in the spine.
Robert explains that his mum was going to name his sister after the Spanish car maker SEAT.
Instead, she decided to change her mind last minute to make life easier for herself, says Robert, who is originally from Catalonia.
“It was just easier to remember, I guess, Robert and Roberta," he explains.
Most read in Fabulous
Rodica was often quizzed on why she didn’t pick two different names.
“You were kind of lazy, right? Because you don't want to come up with a proper name. You just used Robert and made it feminine,” he recalls people asking.
While having the same name as a sibling might urge some to change their name, Robert admits he's just as lazy as his parents and has no desire to deal with the fuss of changing his name.
He says: “It wouldn’t make sense for me to change my name, first of all I’m too lazy to do all that - it would be too much work to change the documents.
“I’m quite proud of it, it’s not something that bothers me.
“It’s funny, I can explain it to anyone and they will be laughing, so it’s a good thing.”
“They should have been more creative, but given the circumstances it's okay,” he adds.
Although Robert isn’t against carrying on the tradition with his own kids, his wife, Mariona, who runs the translation agency alongside Robert, is not.
“I'm part of the team, I’d like to call my kid Robert Jr but that's just to inflate my ego.
“But Mariona doesn’t want to do that, if we were to have kids we wouldn’t call them the same," he confesses.
Although the name Robert is common in Spain, Roberta is not, which often ended up meaning people would call his sister Robert as well.
To help differentiate the two, the parents came up with a nickname for Roberta and decided to call his sister ‘Berta.’
Robert admits people’s reactions are always funny to watch as he tells them he and his sister share a name.
“People would always laugh,” he says.
Plenty of people would find it difficult having the same name as a sibling, but Robert revealed he was never upset by his parent’s choice.
“I didn’t have any problems, it never really upset me, to me, it depends on the culture.
“For me it was totally normal because I could differentiate the two but obviously to other people it’s a bit different because they aren’t used to the same name.”
And the pair constantly got their clothes mixed up as youngster's as the name tags sewn into their clothes obviously had the same name stitched in.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Despite it getting confusing at times, having the same name as your sibling seems to have its perks as Robert reveals it’s the perfect icebreaker when meeting new people.
“It’s a conversation starter more than anything else.”
