January 30, 2025 at 12:35 pm

Teen Asks Little Brother To Stop Calling Him By Stepfather’s Last Name, And Now It’s Causing Family Tension

by Heather Hall

Source: Reddit/AITA/Pexels/RDNE Stock project

Names are a big part of identity, and when someone tries to change yours, especially without your consent, it can feel frustrating.

What would you do if a family member started calling you by a last name that wasn’t yours?

Would you correct them to set clear boundaries?

Or would you let it go because they mean no harm?

In today’s story, one teenager finds himself in this exact situation when his little brother starts calling him by his stepfather’s last name.

Here’s what’s going on.

AITA to request my little brother stop calling me by my stepfather’s last name

My mom, 42F, has been seeing this guy, 46M, whom I will call Seth, for about 9 years now.

They got married in 2019 and moved in together, but 8 months later, they separated, not legally.

They kept contact and are now back together.

Since moving back, my mom decided to hyphenate her last name to match Seth’s last name and changed my little brother’s (5M) last name from her maiden to Seth’s last name.

Let’s say, Smith, for the sake of the post.

The little brother keeps calling him by the wrong name.

Now, even though I (16m) moved in with them, I didn’t want to change my last name for myself and to avoid drama within my late father’s family.

Now, Seth and Mom are training LB to his new last name, and he has started calling me (OP name)Smith.

I wasn’t comfortable and told him to stop it or just call me by my name only.

Mom is defending LB and saying to stop letting LB know that we have different last names and causing a rift in the family.

Please note that LB is aware that Seth is not my Bio dad and acknowledges that I have half siblings besides him.

AITA?

Yikes! It’s easy to see why he’s upset, but the brother is still very young.

Let’s see what Reddit readers have to say about his situation.

According to this comment, they’re encouraging it on purpose.

Source: Reddit/AITA

This person has an excellent point.

Source: Reddit/AITA

As this person points out, it’s okay to correct him.

Source: Reddit/AITA

Here’s a little passive-aggressive behavior that may work.

Source: Reddit/AITA

Allowing this behavior is wrong.

They need to explain to the 5-year-old that the older brother has a different last name because he’s old enough to understand.

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.