Baby Names
Do you have a horrible last name?
I do. It's 14 letters, 6 syllables, and impossible to spell or pronounce.
Not PG yet, but when we have kids, I've resigned myself to the fact that their names must be short, simple, and easy to spell and pronounce. Which is hard, because that sort of leaves us with "boring" names. 
If you have a difficult last name, what's your plan? Simple name? Or screw it, name them whatever you want, last name be damned?
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Re: Do you have a horrible last name?
Yes. Mine's a very old German last name and people butcher it often.
My children will have strong, easily spelled names to make their lives a little easier. I am going to try and give my sons shorter first names since they have to carry around the last name forever.
my maiden name is awful- akward to pronounce-
but I love my married name- easy to pronounce sounds familiar-
My maiden name was one syllable, and 5 letters. My married name is ?three syllables, ten letters long, ?and is often mistaken for a similar sounding name that is more common than ours. It's not awful to pronounce, but I think we'll pick shorter names to go with it so that they aren't a mouthful.
It's hard though too, because I love some longer names, like Rebecca, Charlotte, and Benjamin -but I am not sure if we will use those as first names or not. We might do it anyway I do like some short names too though, like Ian or Grace.
One name I love is Isaac-but our last name begins with a hard C. I can't decide how much that bothers me. ?
My married name is a hard one to carry. It took me a year and a half after being married to finally change my name. I went from a strong, English/Irish name to one that means "to rot." I wear it with some pride (defiance, maybe?) now, as all those with funny/embarassing last names do eventually, but I really envy people with names like "Johnson" or "Moore."
Anyway, to finally get to your question, YES, we are very careful about choosing names. This kid will have to scrap enough on the playground to defend his surname, we dont want to name him "Wolfgang" on top of all that.
Both my maiden and married names were/are pretty bad. They're both Dutch and non-phoenetic. My married last name is 11 letters long and 4 syllables, so yes, I've been conscious of giving our baby a shortish name. For a while, I really liked Kiersten. But her middle name has to be Nicole, so that'd give her a total of 20 letters!
Now, some of my favorite names are simpler: Lucy, Molly, Levi, Micah.
Mine too. And my name is Toni, so when said fast together, I swear it sounds like a sneeze.
My maiden name was short and simple - Wills. But it was ALWAYS mistaken for Willis. Drove me up the freakin' wall. I'd even spell it for people, but they hear what they want, not what I said and it would still get misspelled with the extra i.
We've got a tough last name - 4 syllables, italian and means "bearded rooster" - lol.
So be it - I named one DD Liliana...so she's got 4 syllables for each name and I've got to spell it all the time! But, I think it's gorgeous and has lots of short nicknames.
Baby #3 due September 12, 2014!