A “free-spirited” mum has defended her son’s unusual name after friends and family warned he’d be bullied when he starts school.

Dolly Danyi Pitblado, 27, and her husband, Lane Pitblado, 28, named their four-year-old son Poet - after deciding masculine names wouldn’t suit him.

Despite settling on a name early on in her pregnancy, she kept it a secret until after he was born - fearing friends and family would laugh at her.

But she says she wouldn’t have it any other way - and he’s already a “little romantic with a poet’s heart” to suit his unique moniker.

Dolly, who owns a baking business alongside Lane from Londesborough, Ontario, said: “People get so offended by my baby’s name - but he wouldn’t fit anything else, he’s a creative spirit with a poet’s heart.

“His personality is 100 per cent reflective of his name - it’s perfect. At four years old, he wakes up in the morning and offers to bring me coffee and breakfast.

“Elderly people tell us ‘how could you name him that? He’ll get made fun of’ - it takes them a minute to take it in.”

Dolly found out she was pregnant in January 2019 - and says she could already sense what Poet was going to be like as a person, and what he was going to look like.

She based her list of names on this hunch - and decided early on not to give him a “masculine” name like Nathan or John.

Her list included lots of unconventional names - like Emeryck, Bo, Navy and Slightly - but she didn’t feel these would suit her son properly.

And her family’s reaction to these names influenced her to keep ‘Poet’ a secret.

She said: “We wanted a non-masculine name for our first son, which sounded pretty - not something like Nathan or John.

“All the names we had on our list were a bit different - Emeryck, Emery for short, Bo and Navy just didn’t feel like him.

“We were going to go for Slightly - but we did get a lot of slack for that. I told them I loved the name and they laughed and said it’s a ‘word, not a name’ - so we changed our minds.

“I knew he was going to be like his dad - who has a poetic heart. We were talking about it - and I was like, ‘oh my gosh! It has to be Poet!

“And we decided to keep it a secret until after he was born, because we found out how harsh and picky some people can be.”

Poet was born at Stratford Hospital, Ontario on July 18, 2019 - and Dolly says his great-grandparents were taken aback by his name once it was revealed.

“When Poet was born, I literally recognised him like I’d seen him before,” she added. “But the older generation was more taken aback with his name.

“My grandparents and Lane’s grandparents had to take it in - but our friends and parents instantly loved it!”

Dolly says the locals in her town feel offended by the name, and regularly come up to her and Lane to express their concerns.

She said: “We live in a small town, we know a lot of these people, they stop to talk to us and tell us they’re offended by our baby’s name.

“They tell us it’s not a name - and he’ll be made fun of.”

Despite the backlash, Dolly says she’s not worried about how Poet’s school friends will react to his quirky name.

In September, he started kindergarten - and even his teachers say he suits his name.

“Poet is in junior kindergarten now,” Dolly said. “His teachers say he flourishes into anything creative - like roleplay - and is very sweet. Which I think is really reflective of his name.”

Dolly has since given birth to her second child, Lottie, two, on July 18, 2021. She says she “relaxed” with her name.