Naming DS after DH??

kcampy31

DH has recently expressed interest that he would like to have our DS ( If it's a boy) be named afte him...It's a family name that has been around for a while. We hadn't really thought of before or discussed it. There are a lot of men on his side with this name, which is something I think about.  Also, i think about it being confusing growing up with two people in the house with the same name...is it really that confusing or is it fine? Any thoughts?

berryblndgirl

I'm not a fan of Jr.'s, II's, etc. in general because I think it can be confusing. I know some people who've done it and called the son by his middle name to reduce confusion between the two, but I think that just confuses people outside of the family. One way this could work is if the son has a different nickname from the father. For example, they're both Jonathan's but one is called "John" and the other "Jack."

miss_beckman

Why not use DH's name as the middle name? By doing that, its still named after him, the name is still in the family and you avoid confusion!

MoFree

We're Jewish and that is a custom that just is not done since babies are only named after deceased relatives.  However, my family is Christian and my father, brother and grandfather all have the same first name.  I never liked it because I never who was being addressed when someone said "Tom."  The tradition ended with my brother and SIL who gave their first son a different name and Thomas as his middle name.

PuppyMommy

My brother is a 4th.  It was never confusing growing up. I should add that my bro and SIL have stated that they will NOT continue the trend if they have any little boys.

My H's name will be our son's middle name (Nathan).

newportbride715

Well, since you're asking, I hate it. I am totally against it. DH is too. There is no reason imo, to not give a child their own name. I find it very narcissistic to want to name your child after yourself. I say this as someone who has cousins named after their father, and my father is actually a III. But I am still totally against it and think it's silly. Not to mention very confusing. Middle name, fine. Naming after a grandparent or deceased relative/friend, fine. But after Dad? No way.

Aligator28

We're not fans of it, we think it is important to give a child their own name.?

sporky

if your thinking of doing the same exact name (as in a junior), i highly recommend not doing it. DH is a jr. and it is a NIGHTMARE to do any major paperwork because of his and his father's names. like on credit reports we've had his parents loans/debts show up on ours. it took forever to get things straightened out when we bought our house. and it still happens occassionally with different things. just so annoying.

EastCoastBride

I "ditto" on the Jr issue.  It can be a huge hassle when he becomes an adult w/ credit, etc. 

But even not doing the full Jr route - I too am not a fan.  Even in my Dh's family, there is a tradition of naming the first born son after the paternal grandfather.  YEARS before we ever had kids, I told Dh I wasn't going to do that.  Our child will already get his family's last name.  what about honoring MY family? 

Luckily DH agreed and we were totally on the same page. 

I do find a certain narcissism to the tradition, to be honest. When I hear guys who want their kid named after them, my reaction is "Why- what's so great about YOU?".  :-)

KappaUCF20

I don't like the idea.  I mostly wouldn't do it because of the reason the pp mentioned with credit reports getting mixed up, etc.  That could mess up a person's credit history for years.  I think every child should have their own name and identity.

kristen230

Aligator28:

We're not fans of it, we think it is important to give a child their own name.

?

This?

Sept17.05Bride

newportbride715:

Well, since you're asking, I hate it. I am totally against it. DH is too. There is no reason imo, to not give a child their own name. I find it very narcissistic to want to name your child after yourself. I say this as someone who has cousins named after their father, and my father is actually a III. But I am still totally against it and think it's silly. Not to mention very confusing. Middle name, fine. Naming after a grandparent or deceased relative/friend, fine. But after Dad? No way.

This.

hollybabe

I wonder why some men are into this?  Women usually don't suggest naming their children after themselves, unless it's a middle name.

kiki4

My DH's first name is William, with a middle name starting with T.  When he had his first son, they also used William, but a different T name; they both go by their T names.  It would be an idea to honor the family name and still give your DS his own identity.

jessawakawaii

I wouldn't do it. Personally, I don't think it's really fair that a child be a Jr., considering that (usually) they will already have the dad's last name, and the mother has no input into the name of her child.

mrs_tacos

In my husbands family, all the 1st born men have the same first name, Stephen, but they all go by their middle names, so there's a Mike, a Tyler, a Paul, a Lewis, and a Tracy, so it doesn't get confusing at all.

ashley0616

If we have a boy we're naming him after DH. DH is Joseph Stuart, and DS will be Joseph Wyatt. We'll call him Wyatt. I figure this gives me the opportunity to honor DH's family name, and give DS a few options as well. If he wants to be called Joe/Joseph/etc or Wyatt he can.

jebuell

I'll go against the grain here again...

1) DH is the 4th.  He went by a NICKNAME that was uniquely him and never got confused as to whom his mother was calling for growing up.  He was Rocky, his Dad was Earl.  His Grandpa went by Big Earl when his Dad came around.  His Great-Grandpa went by Fred.  So none of them ever really went by the same name.  They all have their unique personalities (though DH is a lot like his Dad!) and own identities.

2) We've never gotten anything for his Dad, Grandpa, or Great-Grandpa like bills or tax info or anything like that.  DH's social security number is nothing like the others and that mistake has never been made here.  What helps is DH uses his nick-name exclusively and even his social security number is linked to that even though he never changed it the government considers it an "assumed" name and completely legal.  It might also help that the other Earl's live in Washington state? 

3) He loves the history of his name.  His friend Chuck is also a 4th and named his son the same name (we call him Chaz).  Chaz is 9 and loves being "The 5th".  It's hard to get a name to go that long, so it's got a neat history when it does.  You have a connection with all these people in your family that few people have.  Plus since his best friend did it and his son is the 5th our sons will have their own special connection that few kids can share.

4) If it sucks too much growing up your kid can always change it.  Like I said DH went by his nick-name for so long the government recognized it and now when you run his social security number it shows up as both his assumed and legal names.  He never had to go to court or anything, they did it for him.

5) As for the mother not having a say in her child's name- DH made it my call if we wanted to carry on the name or not.  He said if I hated it we didn't have to have it.  I am NOT a big fan of the name, but I'm a big fan of the connection and I've chosen to carry it on if we get the chance.  So there you go, I had say in my child's name.

 So if YOU like the name and YOU like the history behind it, I say go for it!  Trust me- it'll work itself out.   If you're trying to find a way out of doing it then don't.  Don't name your child something you don't want to name him.

LMS05

newportbride715:

Well, since you're asking, I hate it. I am totally against it. DH is too. There is no reason imo, to not give a child their own name. I find it very narcissistic to want to name your child after yourself. I say this as someone who has cousins named after their father, and my father is actually a III. But I am still totally against it and think it's silly. Not to mention very confusing. Middle name, fine. Naming after a grandparent or deceased relative/friend, fine. But after Dad? No way.

Agree 100%. ?

kimmyg000

i've always hated this. confusing

Becky262

We're using DH's first name as a middle name because we can't stand Jr's.

Is there maybe another version of DH's name or a nn that you can use instead of the exact same name?

jolis_petits_bijoux

berryblndgirl:

I'm not a fan of Jr.'s, II's, etc. in general because I think it can be confusing. I know some people who've done it and called the son by his middle name to reduce confusion between the two, but I think that just confuses people outside of the family. One way this could work is if the son has a different nickname from the father. For example, they're both Jonathan's but one is called "John" and the other "Jack."

This.  I think that if you do this, it's important to have a different NN for DS than DH. 

We're probably going to use DH's FN as a MN for DS.   

jesssy1204

my hubby (Joseph Paul) was names after his dad (Paul Joseph).

What about doing something like that? Im not really into Jr. or ll, lll-but i think how they changed first for middle was super cute..

mrsc720

If we have a DS he will be a IV. His family usually uses adjectives and nicknames (big, little, papa, dad, etc.). I figure we will do the same thing. They really don't get confused. DH's name is Jack so sometimes they call him Jack the third.

BlessedMommy723

DH was named after his dad and he definately does NOT want to name a boy after him (if we ever have a boy that is, lol). We have had a lot of trouble clearing things up with issues on my DH's credit that are from his dad. He had horrible credit b/c of a credit card that was opened one month after he was born... it went on his credit instead of FIL's. We found this out before getting married and will be married 3 years on the 15th... we are just now getting it sorted out (even though it is obvious DH didn't open the stupid account!).

Also, I know another Sr./Jr. duo whose son's speeding ticket was put under the father's driving record and it was a major pain for them to sort that out as well.

Just wanted to give you some things to think about. I don't think that it is too confusing to have your DS grow up with the same name as your DH.... but sometimes issues like the above happen.

Would your DH be open to keeping either his first or middle name and then picking a name with the first initial of the other name for your DS? (For example: DH = David Willim S... and DS = Daniel William S...??)

nsees

I really don't like it.  My DH thinks it's kind of egotistical.  I think it's better to do it with a MN, not first.  I also agree that it can be confusing.  My dad and brother are both David's with different middle names.  Luckily the solution there is my dad goes by Dave and my brother by David.  It still gets confusing...especially now that my sister is marrying another David!!!!