Baby Name: Kevin

About three years ago, Johanna Giselhäll Sandström of Kyrkhult, Sweden, decided to get a tattoo of the names of her two children, Nova and Kevin, on her arm.

Unfortunately, the tattoo artist ended up misspelling her son’s name “Kelvin.” So he gave her a refund, along with the phone number of a tattoo removal clinic.

After learning that tattoos are difficult to remove — and realizing that the misspelled version of the name was growing on her — Johanna came up with a different solution: legally renaming Kevin, who was almost two years old at the time.

Here’s what she had to say about his new name, Kelvin:

I had never heard the name Kelvin before. There isn’t anyone who names their kid Kelvin. So when I thought more about it, I realized that no one else has this name. It became unique. Now we think it is better than Kevin.

She and her husband have since welcomed their third child, a daughter named Freja. Johanna plans to add Freja’s name to the tattoo, but notes that she will double-check the spelling this time.

Sources:

• “Swedish mum renames son after tattoo typo.” The Local 14 May 2018.
• Ciccarelli, Raffaella. “Mother renames son after tattooist makes spelling error.” News.com.au 17 May 2018.

Image: Clipping from the cover of The Saturday Evening Post (4 Mar. 1944)

[Latest update: Nov. 2024]