Is it weird to name child after a living sibling?
Earlier today I had lunch with a friend and we got into a conversation about what name DH and I would have gone with had this little one been a boy. I told her that we had agreed that if it was a boy we would name him Nathan Christopher after DH's younger and only brother (Christopher is his brothers first name.) DH wanted to do this because he has a large extended family that he is not close to at all. His brother is really the only family he has (well besides his parents) and they have an extremely close bond that DH treasures.
I always thought it was sweet but after I told my friend this, she gave me this look as if I was crazy and said that she thought it was weird to name a child after their aunt/uncle unless they tragically passed away or something of that nature. It really shocked me because I wasn't expecting that reaction and I still don't really see the issue with it or how it would be considered "weird."
What are your thoughts on this? Is it weird or totally okay?
Re: Is it weird to name child after a living sibling?
So funny (& glad) you posted this because I was wondering the same thing. We love the name Nicholas which is my fiance's brother's name. We wouldn't be naming him after his brother, but we love the name and want to think about using it! I'm curious to see the posts.
In my opinion, I don't think it is weird!
I don't see anything wrong with it, I think it's great that he and his brother are close and I think it would be a wonderful way to honor him.
My only concern would be if his brother has a son, would he want to name his own son after himself? I only ask because my SIL wants to give her (future) son my husbands name as a middle name. We had already planned on using DH's name as a middle name for our (future)son. I know it's totally hypothetical but for some reason it bothers me:S It's probably just me though, I am 40 weeks preggo and feeling hormonal!!!
I have a rule to not name any of my kids after anyone in the family. That being said, My middle name is Angela after my grandma, the cousin born right after me, her first name is Angela. My siblings are all named after someone and there are 6 of us. My older sister named after an aunt (Jennifer), oldest brother named after both grandpa's (Joseph Robert), 2nd oldest brother named after my dad and grandma (Leonard Patrick- grandma Patricia), next brother named after an uncle (Francisco- goes by Frank, doesn't have any kids of his own), me- grandma, little sister's middle name after a great grandma (Kathleen).
We tend to reuse names, which is why I have 2 cousins named Judy. Growing up it was big Judy and little Judy. Which is not cool.
Is your friend Jewish? I know in that religion it's only acceptable to name a child after a deceased relative, not a living one.
My middle name is after my great-grandmother, who was alive when I was born.
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DS's first name is my father's name, and his middle name is DH's father's name, both of whom are alive. Our name for a someday daughter, Claire Anastasia, is DH's and my grandmother's first names, although both are deceased. We like the idea of a namesake.
I do agree with PP that in your situation, you need to consider if BIL would want to name his own future son after himself.
Not weird at all. By the title of your post I thought you meant your child's sibling (as in, name your baby after your other child) which would be weird. But people name their kids after living people all the time- my son's middle name is after my dad, I was named after my grandma, my dad's middle name was after his dad...
Now that I think of it, my husband's brother named his first-born after my husband.
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How rude. To each is their own I guess. But DH and I have Riley Vanessa on our list after is younger(very much alive) sister Laura Vanessa. We even told my SIL and she is so flattered. I don't think someone has to be dead to be named after, how morbid...
Ditto on wondering if she's Jewish.
H and I have family names we'd like to use. Most of the people our children would be named after are dead. But if we have a second boy (already have the middle picked for first boy) I'd love to use my brother's name - Matthew - as a middle name. My brother's middle name is John, which is my father's name and HIS father's name. All 3 of them were at one point alive at the same time. Heck, my grandmother had the same first and middle name as her mother.
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Me either. But I know in some cultures (Jewish?) that you don't name a baby after a person who is still alive.
Although, I could be completely wrong...
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A middle name, no. If you had done a first name, I might side-eye a bit. It would get confusing!