Naming your children after your parents.

scooter19 · February 2010

A lot of people have told me that I should name DS after my father. He passed away 3 years ago from cancer. And man, I just miss him so much.

Anyhow, your opinion, do you think it's wierd to name your children after your parents? My father's name was Dennis. If I names DS after him, we would call him Denny. But the name, obviously, always reminds me of my father. And I'm just affraid it would be wierd, ya know?

WDYT?

Brewtowngrl · February 2010

I am not a fan of my dad's first name, so it was not even an option. We did give DS#1 the same middle name as my father's middle in honor of him.

Mrslisvenn · February 2010

my mom passed away when i was 14 years old and her name is ruth.. my brother wanted to name his daughter after mom but SIL didnt like the name.. they googled and discovered raiza is the modern version of ruth so they named their daughter raiza.. you may want to look at the modern version of dennis and see if that is a name you would like..

jenn&Dave2005 · February 2010

Our LO's middle name is after my mom and his mom, both whose middle names are Lynne as well (still living). But if we had a boy DH wants him to be named after his father John who passed last year. I'm ok with it I guess. It doesn't seem too weird to me. It's a nice tribute I think.

jordans_wife · February 2010

it is up to you and how the name makes you feel. imo if you name your child after your father it should be a celebration of his life and not a reminder of his death. my mother has cancer and it has gotten very very bad at this point. i will be using a piece of her maiden name as the middle name of my child if we have a girl. but it is in honor of my mom and it will never be a sad thing to me. i hope my baby will be strong and smart like it's grandma!

sarahmae8 · February 2010

I think if it would be too weird for you, make it his middle name. That way he is still being remembered but it is not so hard at the same time.

liza0828 · February 2010

We're naming our daughter after both of our mothers.

GreekyPie · February 2010

We will be naming our little boy after DH's father. I'm fine with it!

lite-bright · February 2010

Personally, I'd start with whether or not you and DH love the name itself for your son, regardless of its sentimental value -- then go from there.

We gave DD1 two family names: Sophie, after my DH's grandmother who died the year before she was born; and Lynn, which is both my middle name and my mom's middle name. We considered a lot of other names, but we loved this one both on its own, and for the family ties it represented on each side.

Calibride31304 · February 2010

DS1 mn is after my Grandpa John, who died exactly 9 months and 1 day before DS1 was born.

DS2 mn is after both my dad and FIL who both have the same first name.

If you don't want to give your DS the same first name as your father, you could give him the mn of Dennis instead. If you do choose to name him Dennis, you may find he does certain things that remind you of your dad, which could also be pretty cool.

mellieg8582 · February 2010

What about using Dennis as LO middle name? This is what we are doing for our LO. His name will be Matthew Raymond. Raymond is DH's dad's name.

blissfully_caffeinated · February 2010

I don't think it's weird at all. It might be a little peculiar if you named your child after a living family member but that's only because you'd have two people with the same name in one immediate family. kwim?

If you like the name and you want to name your ds after your dad I think that's great. I see no weirdness in it whatsoever. Plus, I really like the name Denny. It makes me think of someone amazing (which is weird since I don't think I've ever known a Denny).

adcffaa · February 2010

Since you feel it might be weird I'd say no to naming your son after him. If you didn't feel weird about it, liked the name and felt OK using it then I'd say go for it. As for us, we have a similar (but different) problem. The middle names we've chosen for the LO are mine and my fiance's middle names and my fiance's mom just does not like that idea at all. She keeps saying that "Jewish people only name after the dead, by naming the child after you, you're basically setting a grave for yourself." My fiance and I aren't religious so what Jewish people do or don't do doesn't really apply to us. She's really weirded out abotu the whole thing and we're completely comfortable with it.

KaciRoo · February 2010

We're using my dad's name as LO's middle name:)

fabulistbride · February 2010

My SIL's brother died before she and my brother had their 1st, a girl. A few years later, when they had their son, they named him after her brother, but not the name he was usually called by. It was one of those things where he went by his middle name (Brent) but his first name was Thomas. Meanwhile, her brother named a daughter Brentley. Both are tributes to their brother but do not evoke negative feelings.

We're considering Aubrey Elizabeth, which combines my dad's name and MIL's name, for our little girl, but haven't made the final decision. I think my dad will be touched and honored if it is the name we go with.

FemmeNat01 · February 2010

Nate wanted our girl name to include his mother's name: Grace. But, I didnt really care for Grace (it's a beautiful name just not for me) so I tried to find an alternative. I found Anya which means grace, it's Russian (my heritage), and it's a form of Ana (my grandmother's name).

Maybe you could do something similiar. And it isnt weird at all. Family names are pretty common and this is an amazing honour for your father.

trapani2be · February 2010

I lost my Dad to a heart attack before ds was born and we were talking about naming him Samuel after him, but I thought it might make me sad to hear his name everyday so we used it as his middle name.

erinlee08 · February 2010

If we have a girl her middle name will be my late moms. She passed away 2 years ago from cancer. Somebody asked me if we were using her name as LO's first name, but honestly it would make me too sad.

On the other hand, if LO is a boy his first name will be my late grandpa's name. He passed away 2 months after my mom. I love the name and we would be using his name even if he was still alive. I always knew that if I ever had a little boy he would share his grandfathers name. For some reason using his name dosen't make me sad just really proud.

Honouring your loved one by using their name isin't weird at all-as long as you love the name too.

Neen33 · February 2010

My mother passed away almost 3 years ago. My brother gave his second child my mother's middle name and I will use her name for LO's middle name. This way it's not too close for comfort...

TanyaRenee · February 2010

Could you use your father's middle name as either your LO's first or middle name?

jenkm · February 2010

The names we chose have our dads' first names as our sons' middle names. I think it's a nice honor to use the name, might use it as a mn so you aren't constantly thinking of your dad that way.

NewMama2010 · February 2010

I'm a big fan of using a family name as a middle name. If you have another name you really love, I would use that as the first and Dennis as the middle to honor your father.

sapgirl76 · February 2010

Not exactly the same situation, but my brother passed away from cancer three years ago. I felt a lot of pressure to use his name, especially after we found out we were having a boy. Not only would it be too weird for me to use his name, his name was super-common (Michael) and we didn't want a super-common name. We still felt obligated to do something, though, so are using it as a middle name, as a few pp's have suggested. That way there's still the nod to him, but my son won't be a constant reminder of how much I miss my brother.

EffieOpert · February 2010

My brother died in May 2008. His name was Ryan. I wanted t o name my son or daughter after him. I love the name but I love Emmett more so I decided to use Ryan as his middle name. My son will always know who he is named after and how much he was loved. Also, it will remind me to let Emmett know how much Ryan would have loved him and is watching over him everyday

Smootchy · February 2010

Very good question! I come from a family that Namesake's are totally the norm... BUT on christmas eve my brother (who's only 30) was diagnosed with stage 4 stomach cancer. The family is heartbroken... It's a constant fight he's going through right now and although we have been told it's uncurable, we have nothing but faith that he WILL fight throw this. He will make it.

That being said. My son will be son any day now. And we already had a name picked out. Someone asked me if I was going to change the name to namesake my brother. And I just can't do it. And I'm not sure if I'm a bad person for it. IF something heavenforbid happen to my brother, it's just WAY too soon for me to be able to look at my lil bundle of joy and cry thinking of my brother.

...it's a very touchy situation.

NastyAnnie · February 2010

My mother passed away in 2000. Had the Hitchhiker been a girl, we would have given her my mother's name as a middle name. Since he is a boy, we decided on an appropriate variation of my mother's name (her name was Andrea, nickname Ander; Jack's middle name will be Anderson) for his middle name.

I think it depends on the family and situation. It's been almost a decade since my mother passed; it was not painful for me to pass on her name as a legacy. Had it been, we would have made another choice.

murfygirl · February 2010

I really want to give one of my sons my dads first name as his middle name. My dad died when I was 18 of a heart attack. His name was Patrick which I couldn't fathom giving as a first name but it makes a great middle name.

Battlebaby09 · February 2010

I lost my father also to cancer, almost 9 years ago. I really wanted to honor my father, but it was an incredibly hard decision to name him after him. My father's name was James Wesley, but my grandparents called him Wesley. My grandmother made me feel very uncomfortable about naming my son Wesley, because I felt she would try to replace my father with my son. It is a constant reminder, but it is nice as a middle name. My DH really helped me embrace it. We will call our DS Tyler, but the honor of my dad will always be there. I know I couldn't have a daily reminder with a first name. I had to have a huge blow out discussion with my grandmother about my son, his name, and him being an individual. So when she would tell people his name she would say, but they are going to call him Tyler though. And now it is comforting to here her say that, " there could only be one Wesley". But I think it is all personal preference and what you can handle. It was also nice to pick Wesley for the W. My first name is Tiffany =T = Tyler and my husband's middle name is Walter =W= Wesley. So it was really neat to be able to create his name with a lot of meaning.

mbgreenwalt · February 2010

I like it and we are doing it. Our daughters middle name is Annmarie. MIL middle name is Ann and my mom's middle name is Marie.

FutureMrsLemon · February 2010

My son's first name will be shared between himself, my father, my brother, and my deceased grandfather. His "nickname" is what my grandfather was called frequently by those who knew him best. My dad literally swelled with pride when he found out we were naming him after my grandfather. If it had been a girl we had planned to use my mothers maiden name as the first name.

My son's middle name is my DH's first name (this is Greek tradition).

So all in all we are big on family names here. And no I dont think its weird. I really miss my maiden name, and I like that he will have such a strong connection with the other men in my family.

Brytany09 · February 2010

We are using my mom's first name for our LO's mn. I don't think it's weird as long as you and you DH both like it and feel comfortable with it.

StrawberryAlarmClock · February 2010

My parents are Jeffrey and Martha so, no, it never occured to me to use their names Stick out tongue LOL

I understand wanting to, though. That would be a great way to honor your dad. However, if it would be painful for you, don't do it. Having said that, LO might remind you of him in little ways and help you focus on the happy memories!!

KristenBtobe · February 2010

Not strange at all. Our daughter is Margaret (Maggie), she shares the name with her grandmother and great grandmother, both who are still living.

BabyGurlE1 · February 2010

Definitely don't think it's weird. We're naming this child after my brother, but if we have another son in the future, we'll be naming him after my dad. I'm all about "family names" and since I'm not in love with boy names in general, this made the most sense to us.

jessface926 · February 2010

Use his name as a middle name.

whit1827 · February 2010

We're naming LO Benjamin Paul - Paul is my dad's first name, and he's still living. We chose it because my dad has 3 daughters, and DH has "given" a piece of his name to LO already with his last name (originally I/we were considering LO's middle name to be DH's first name, but he declined). If/when we have a daughter she will have my mother's name, more than likely as her middle name. My mom passed away when I was 18 (sisters were 16 and 13) and I can think of no better way to honor my mother.

IMO, you shouldn't pass down your father's name unless you truly want to - don't let other people sway you one way or "guilt" you into it. And, if calling your son by your dad's name would be weird (which I could see how, especially for your mother), then perhaps consider his name for your son's middle name.

lvmomjbj · February 2010

DS#1's middle name is after my father. DD is last part of her name 'Anne' is after DH's favorite aunt who passed away 10 years ago. If we have another DS his middle name will be after DH's father.

DreamsBride411 · February 2010

My LO will have a combo of the matriarchs of my fam: my mom (Maria Ana), my grandmother (Catherine) and my gmas sister (Ana). I'm all for naming LOs after family if your fam is good people. My MIL amd FIL suck so we'd never name any kids after them.

JLCaruso · February 2010

Our names for LO1 were Giovanni Jose (Giovanni is the Italian form of John, which is my FIL and BIL names, and my father is Jose) or Angelina Caroline (my mom is Angelina, MIL is Carol, and SIL is Caroline) We are big into naming after people, in fact we have already picked out names for more children than we will probably have and all are after our parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, and uncles...

Starfish17 · February 2010

My father passed away 3 years ago as well, and if LO is a boy, we will be using his name as a middle name. This way, he would know about and have a connection to his grandfather, since he won't get to know him.

melpoteet · February 2010

we are team green and our boy and girl names kind of take care of all 4 of our parents. girl name: Ella Kaylee (my mom, me, MIL, SIL all have names that end in A) and kay is my mom's middle name. boy name: Cain Daniel (cain is MIL's maiden name and daniel is my dad's name. My nephew is named after my FIL but our children will bear his last name so that covers everybody to me!

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