How does your last name influence your choices?

Mama_SAS

I have one of the most common last names in the US. Yup, that one that just popped into your head is my last name.

So when I choose names for my kids I do not choose common or plain names, but I also don't like crazy names. I like them to be semi-unique but not youneek at all.

DH and I get about 15 calls a week from bill collectors looking for other people who have the same names. DH has an extremely common/plain first name and mine isn't terribly popular now but was #20-something the year I was born.

So due to my last name all my choices are #500 or more on the recent lists.

How does your last name influence your choices? 

pms1

Our last name is Smith, so I tend to go for the more unique names just because I don't what them to be in the same class w/ another "john" smith.

jenna0627

I have a very Italian last name. If I didn't I don't think I would be as inclined to like some of the more Italian type names that I do now.

kellyloveszach

We have a common last name too.  I google the name choice and make sure there aren't any known criminals with that name.  I like classic names so there will always be another person with that name.

hyperangel_8509

My last name is Bye - yup, Bye. So definitely an influence as short (1-syllable names) make the name sound too short. Also, any names that end in the same i sound is out too. I love the name Lorelei...but hate the matching i ending. Also, I am european and wanted to use some european names....but they all sound weird with such a north american name as Bye!

brookelynpaisley

My maiden name was literally one of a kind for my family. I had to pronounce and spell it for everyone. That makes me want to choose a first name that is easy to spell and pronounce.

LadySmith08

pms1:

Our last name is Smith, so I tend to go for the more unique names just because I don't what them to be in the same class w/ another "john" smith.

This is us too. I want to find something unique, but not too far off the path of "normal".  We love Jackson but he would be one of 5 in his class.

DuckysDoll

Our last name is Hunt.... so no C's at the end of the name.... think about it and figure it out! =P

Mama_SAS

DuckysDoll:

Our last name is Hunt.... so no C's at the end of the name.... think about it and figure it out! =P

I think I'd also rule out Ks in your case. 

 

Wait... doesn't your siggy say that your H's name is Cedric? 

schnappycat

My last name is very similar to Bueller, so obviously Ferris is out.

backinpgh

Our last name is a strange uncommon word which happens to be a noun, so we have to be very careful about any names that are descriptive in any way.

LMS05

Our last name is short and very uncommon. I had never heard of it before I met DH so a common first name isn't a problem. It starts with S so any first name that ends in S is off the list because it runs together. It's a shame because so many good names end in S. 

nofrills_in_tx

Our last name is Milburn...clearly one of my fave names, Miller is out of the running!!

AwBeth

backinpgh:

Our last name is a strange uncommon word which happens to be a noun, so we have to be very careful about any names that are descriptive in any way.

 Similarly, our last name is a adjective, so we avoid names that are nouns (ie Lane or Brooke). 

ishka338

We have a very hispanic last name, so we have to have something that flows well with that and can be pronounced in English and Spanish.

mommydale

Our last name is much more common as a first name, so basically every name we looked at we ended up with 3 first names. lol. Thankfully since we're having a girl no one will be sitting there asking ok so what is your last name? lol.  SS seriously looks like another name belongs at the end of his name because of the 3 first names.  But honestly nothing to do about that one, our only thing was choosing a name that was longer because our last name is very short.

dairygirl19

Our last name is relatively short, so anything starting with the same letter as our last name is just terrible together.

It's like John Johnson but only worse. So much so that even other random people comment/joke about naming our kids with alliteration.

anna7602

Not really very much. It's a kind-of-run-of-the-mill Jewish last name, meaning quite a few people in NYC have it, but not necessarily in the rest of the country. I wasn't too worried about whether DD would know other people with her same exact first and last name one day.

I also wasn't too concerned about whether the "ethnicity" of the first name matched or not. I have enough Jewish friends from Mexico and Argentina to know that there are tons of people out there in the world with names like Ernesto Cohen, Mauricio Goldsmith, etc. that I felt like it was totally fine to focus on Meditteranean-inspired first names.

JaysonandKristin

NOTHING sounds bad with my maiden name - I mean, NOTHING.  You could name your kid "dog sh!t" and couple it with my maiden name and it would still flow.  

Since I got married, a whole slew of names are out simply for rhyming...

Nothing with the double OO sound (like Luke) 

Most names that end in the hard C or K sound

Any names that end in -lee or -ley are out

This last one makes me laugh because it's true, but my FIL has SIX siblings and all of their names end in -y...  FIL - Buckley, his sisters - Debbie, Judy, Kristy; his brothers - Teddy, Ronny, Tommy

FIL goes by Buck... but the rest of them stick by their given names.  I think they sound terrible, but it's not often (as family) that I ever refer to them by their full names. 

 

Sagenhaft

JaysonandKristin:

This last one makes me laugh because it's true, but my FIL has SIX siblings and all of their names end in -y...  FIL - Buckley, his sisters - Debbie, Judy, Kristy; his brothers - Teddy, Ronny, Tommy

FIL goes by Buck... but the rest of them stick by their given names.  I think they sound terrible, but it's not often (as family) that I ever refer to them by their full names. 

 

 

my dad's family is like this, they're all: jimmy, eddie, ricky, joey, judy, patty,  and steve (oddball, there).

sleepingbeauty825

Our last name ends in 'er' and is an adjective. We can't use (not that we would) any name like Ryder, Sawyer, Gunner, etc. We stay away from all 'er' names. My personal name ends in 'er' and I hate the way it flows. I much prefer my strong Scottish maiden name.

Allie30

My husband's last name ends in "son". There's a reason I didn't take it. ;-) And all "son" names are out for us: Jackson, Harrison, Madison, etc.

msmerymac

My mom (probably) had your last name as her maiden name. Her first name is Susan. My dad's name is John. Yup, you'd better believe I don't have a common name!

 

My husband's last name is one syllable and our children will have his last name. So basically, I'm looking for multi-syllable first and middle names. And Liam would go horribly with his last name, so that's out. It's also a verb, so it's really, really hard to google anyone with that name.

Mama_SAS

Sagenhaft:

JaysonandKristin:

This last one makes me laugh because it's true, but my FIL has SIX siblings and all of their names end in -y...  FIL - Buckley, his sisters - Debbie, Judy, Kristy; his brothers - Teddy, Ronny, Tommy

FIL goes by Buck... but the rest of them stick by their given names.  I think they sound terrible, but it's not often (as family) that I ever refer to them by their full names. 

 

 

my dad's family is like this, they're all: jimmy, eddie, ricky, joey, judy, patty,  and steve (oddball, there).

Like Will Hunting's brothers: Marky, Ricky, Danny, Terry, Mikey, Davey, Timmy, Tommy, Joey, Robby, Johnny, and Brian 

anniebugg

My husband is Chinese our last name is Yu, pronounced like it sounds (you). We can't choose something like Mary or Carrie because it sounds like an action (Marry you, carry you). We're also avoiding names that start with F (F Yu) and P (P Yu) for comedic reasons

moseyma

Only in so much as I can't use one of my favorite girl names b.c it rhymes with my last name. Also, I tend to avoid names beginning with the same letter - P-  b.c that's just not a letter that lends itself well to alliteration.

JaysonandKristin

Mama_SAS:

Sagenhaft:

JaysonandKristin:

This last one makes me laugh because it's true, but my FIL has SIX siblings and all of their names end in -y...  FIL - Buckley, his sisters - Debbie, Judy, Kristy; his brothers - Teddy, Ronny, Tommy

FIL goes by Buck... but the rest of them stick by their given names.  I think they sound terrible, but it's not often (as family) that I ever refer to them by their full names. 

 

 

my dad's family is like this, they're all: jimmy, eddie, ricky, joey, judy, patty,  and steve (oddball, there).

Like Will Hunting's brothers: Marky, Ricky, Danny, Terry, Mikey, Davey, Timmy, Tommy, Joey, Robby, Johnny, and Brian 

Did you have to look those up?  Or, did you recite those from memory?  I'm freakin' impressed!!  

Mama_SAS

JaysonandKristin:

Mama_SAS:

Sagenhaft:

JaysonandKristin:

This last one makes me laugh because it's true, but my FIL has SIX siblings and all of their names end in -y...  FIL - Buckley, his sisters - Debbie, Judy, Kristy; his brothers - Teddy, Ronny, Tommy

FIL goes by Buck... but the rest of them stick by their given names.  I think they sound terrible, but it's not often (as family) that I ever refer to them by their full names. 

 

 

my dad's family is like this, they're all: jimmy, eddie, ricky, joey, judy, patty,  and steve (oddball, there).

Like Will Hunting's brothers: Marky, Ricky, Danny, Terry, Mikey, Davey, Timmy, Tommy, Joey, Robby, Johnny, and Brian 

Did you have to look those up?  Or, did you recite those from memory?  I'm freakin' impressed!!  

I had to look them up. I always forget 'Terry, Mikey, Davey' but can recite the rest. I've seen the movie way too many times. 

narabug

I went from being the only person in the states with my name, to not even being the only one in the local family. It's a little strange for me. I hated my common first name growing up, so pairing that with a much more common first name makes me want to stay out of the top 50 at least. Maybe the top 100.

Our last name is only one syllable so all one syllable names are out as first names. Nothing that starts with P, because that's what our last name starts with. And nothing that could spawn the nn Harry, because that's would just be bad with our last name.

We mostly like A names for our middle names, but nearly any letter paired with AP makes a word, so I've been having a hard time getting over that for initials. Our favorites make LAP and CAP.

CanyonMama

My absolute favorite boy name, Luke, has been totally ruled out by my DH because our last name begins with a "K" and he thinks it would sound like "Lou" with the blending of the K sounds.  

BrittKav

I have a long, hard-to-spell, Irish last name. So, you'd think I'd go for shorter, simpler names, right? Nope. DD is Anneliese. Unless it would sound really goofy (and I can't think of any examples) my last name doesn't affect what first name I choose. Though, I guess if the first name was, for example, very Italian sounding, it might be weird with my very Irish last name.

loveyoubean

We have a really hard to pronounce Polish last name, and my name is Poppy so I always think it sounds weird.  My maiden name meshed so well with my first name, now I think I have no "flow."  We chose Anabelle because it worked well with our last name, other choices, like one syllable names, just didn't flow.

jason&robin

My last name starts with an H so we tend to skip on any H names or anything that rhymes too much. I have picked names that both DH and I like and that sound good with our LN. We have a son named Ethan and a daughter named Allison. Popularity didn't really come into play. It's hard enough to agree at all!

crystal959

My last name starts with U so no names starting with F or P.

AnneEB

We have a very Irish last name: O'----- .  DH loves the name Maria and I like it a lot too, but it just doesn't "go" with our last name at all.  My girlfriend said it sounded like the name of a Mexican/Irish fusion restaurant

iteachk

Our last name is two syllables, and ends in "n."  I stay away from names that are similar.  So no Jayden, Brandon, Collin, etc. for us.

12bailey18

Our last name factors in hugely. My husband is half hispanic and has an hispanic last name. Therefore, all of the cute, all-american, trendy, names sound terrible with it! So, even though our child is only a quarter hispanic he has a hispanic first name because it flows better.

j1e2n3n4i

We have a pretty funky last name, so I want our child to have a "normal" first name.

 On the other hand, I don't want it to be way too common because I hated being one of seven Jennifers in my k-6th grade classes.

hjk5000

Ours is difficult because it has 3 syllables, lots vowels and it starts with a V.  Very obviously Dutch.  As we were searching for names we realized any thing  with 3 or more syllables just won't work because it's such a mouthful.  I had to scratch a lot of favorites.

shanwalk2

I never realized how hard my (married) last name would be for people before it became my last name.  It's got a ton of vowels, and DH is hispanic but doesn't use the "proper" pronunciation (so I don't either)... which (IMO) makes it even more difficult.  

I've actually had people in cities that are more spanish speaking correct my pronunciation...

Anyway, this issue with the last name has made me cautious not to put too many vowels in a first name and make it fairly simple so they don't have to spell out their first and last name, (last is unavoidable.)

The hardest part for me is trying to decide if we want to give them a name that "matches" the ethnicity of their last name.  We don't particularly identify as a Latin family, but the last name is pretty ethnic sounding and I think it would be strange for them not to match.

Ex:  "Matthew Gonzalez"  (not my last name). 

KristinKD

Our last name is easy to pronounce and common but not overly so, so it works with most names. I can think of one girl name and some last-name-as-first-name boy names that don't work, but I don't like those anyway.