is it "passing on" a family name if you change the spelling?

cjsbdl · November 2010

I'm torn about this. We haven't yet decided on a first name for our baby girl, but we're 99% certain her middle name will be Ann, which is my Mom's middle name and was my grandmother's middle name. Except I really prefer the Anne spelling. I don't know why I care, really, since the middle name so rarely gets used...and I'll probably just go with Ann in the end.

But I'm just wondering what you all think. If you're going to use a family name, do you use the same spelling to the letter?

ETA: to add her MIDDLE name. Ann would be her middle name, not first.

alchris · November 2010

I think it's fine! My middle name comes from my dad's grandmother, but he didn't like the sound of my first name followed by Christina, so my middle name was Christine -- in other words, it's a different name! But we all consider that I was still named (my middle name) after her. I think Anne as a middle name is lovely. Then again, since they're pronounced identically, perhaps keeping the spelling of Ann is more important to you? Regardless of the spelling, however, I think you're passing along the name.

Good luck deciding!!!

Mouseygail · November 2010

I think so, I think that the sound is more important than the spelling... but I have a similar situation, my mom, sister, and two of my nieces have the middle name "Lee", but I like the "Leigh" spelling better...

MyColonyNJ · November 2010

I think it is fine. There are so many people that do so many different things when it comes to honoring a family member (same initial, spell different, combo of names, shorter version of a name, etc)

I love the name Ann, I also prefer it spelled Anne

Temp159135562506975 · November 2010

i would call it "honoring" a family member more than passing on their name if it's changed - either way it's very nice to do.

We took part of my maiden name for Gray's middle name - so it's not the same, but still has meaning behind it.

I like Anne better, too FWIW lol

do what you want to do!

browneyedgrl4282 · November 2010

My youngest, Brady's middle name is Robert which is really after my mom Robin! Robert is also my uncle middle and my grandfathers name but the baby was really named after my mom! His middle name was almost Roe, which is my moms middle name but i felt Brady Robert sounded better!

i also like Anne over Ann as well!

cmw&tdm · November 2010

I would go with the Ann spelling, even though you don't prefer it, but that's just me. I think it's fine if you choose to add the e.

ETA: Natalie's middle name is Kate, after both DH's grandmas called Catherine and his Aunt Kathleen.

TheSkimmy · November 2010

yes! Charlie's middle name is Lawrence- which is one of my grandfather's middle names but my other grandfather's first name was Lorenze- but I still say we honored him with Lawrence also since that's how they pronouced it.

Cassian · November 2010

I agree with Goldie. It is more like honoring the name rather than passing it on, in my opinion. To truly pass on a name, it should be the same.

crystalgirl · November 2010

I've always considered a variant of the name to still count. In fact, we're making a big stretch with DS2's first name... He's actually getting a modified version of a female relative's name! We just couldn't settle on a male relative's name that we liked.

ETA: And technically, DS1's first name is not identical to his namesake's either. He has the anglicized version of the name that was already in use by other members of the family, rather than the original spelling/pronunciation.

roaringrock · November 2010

my vote? keep the original spelling! no question. if you're honoring grandma lucy why change to lucee? I don't get it.

but... if baby joseph turns out to be a girl, josephine makes perfect sense.

muppet.fan · November 2010

Chiming in late, but I think with middle names, spelling isn't as important...you're still choosing the name to honor the family member and that's what counts.

E's middle name is Kathryn. We chose it to honor DH's mom, Kathleen, who passed away in 2000. But we already have a niece named Kathleen, so we didn't want to use that. We went with Kathryn because not only does it honor his mom with the "Kath," my maternal grandma's name happens to be Kathryn (spelled that way).

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