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Baby Names
Snow1010
member
Middle name after a dog...
Snow1010
member
in Baby Names
My husband and I would like our little girl to have a middle name that has meaning to us, but there really aren't any family names that work.
In the very back of my mind I thought about how much the name Madison meant to both of us because that was our dog's name. She was our first dog and meant the world to us; she passed away in March 2010. Although her name was Madison we always called her Maddie. To us, she was much more than a dog, she was like a child to us and we loved her more than anything.
At first I thought I was crazy to even think it, but my husband actually thought it was a good idea. Even my sister, who doesn't even like dogs, mentioned the name.
We are pretty sure our girl's first name will be Callie. And, I think that Callie Madison goes well together.
Am I crazy? I know I don't have to tell people why we choose the name Madison, but everyone knew our dog so they will know where we got the name.
On the one hand I don't care what people think, but I don't want to regret this decision.
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Re: Middle name after a dog...
Married since 06/19/2004|Anna born 11/19/2006|Charles born 11/1/11
Double undergrad graduation May 2011| Me: Psychology, DH: Communication| A long journey!
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I think it is fine. I mean you arent going to be going around saying "This is my daughter Callie Madison, her middle name is after our dog."
And I think it is a common enough name where even if people knew you had a dog named that, it wouldnt be a big deal.
Mommy's little helper
I am sort of torn. I think socially speaking, giving her the name Madison is fine... no one is going to associate her name as a "dog name."
But I guess I do have a hard time getting past choosing it for a pet connection though. As wonderful and meaningful as pets are (and I too am a dog lover), I just don't think they can even compare to a child. I am also not sure how I would feel explaining to my child that that's where their name came from? Depends on the child, I guess.
FWIW, my sister has vetoed her husband's dog's name for this very reason. And my other sister keeps vetoing her husband's truck's name again, because she doesn't want to have to explain to their future child the origin.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Callie Madison is a beautiful name too.
Put yourself in her shoes. How would you feel if you found out you were named after a dog? Or if your cousins/family members started to tease you about being named after a dog.
Better safe than sorry...
I wasn't name after a dog, but...many years ago my sister adopted a dog when the dog was already three years old. My FN is Jess and the dog was Jesse. They thought it would be traumatizing to the dog to change it's name but seemed to have no concern about whether it was traumatizing to me! Sadly, the dog died after a few years. However, a couple years ago my sister got another dog. What did she name her? Tess! I about killed my sister.
Keep the fond memories of your dog, but find a different MN for your daughter. You just don't know how she'll feel about being named after your deceased pet.
Thanks for all the responses!
I do see both sides. Madison has a very special meaning and is actually a nice name.
But I also can't predict how our daughter would feel about being named after our dog. I would hope that she will grow up to absolutely love dogs like we do, but you never know. Personally for me, I wouldn't mind if my middle name was after a dog because I love dogs so much.
I guess I would rather have a "normal" middle name after a dog than some horrible middle name after a family member. So many times people take family names just because and it really doesn't have a special meaning...or they don't even like that family member!
We have a big decision to make!
Ditto this
I'm kind of on the fence with opinions here. I would definitely say no for a first name. When we named our dogs, we purposely made sure not to pick any of the names we thought we might like for a future child.
It doesn't seem like such a big deal for a middle name, though. It honestly is a beautiful name and pairing.
If you just adore it and don't mind, then go for it. If you're not totally sure, see if you can come up with something else. Seems like a lot of names would go well with Callie.
Not crazy at all! My brother and sister in law are naming their next child after their dog that passed away a few years ago. Their dog (I have one of his pups) is like...a legand..lol The dog touched everyone at some point in time, and well thats why I had to have one of his pups! haha soo I dont find it strange at all.. We say "They obviously didnt know Eli if they think its weird to name their child after him".
I think its a great idea! I would consider naming a baby after our dog as well.
I totally agree. While I'm partial to the name Maddie, my daughters name, I was named after a dog. (Thanks Mom and Dad). I was born a Danielle and three days later, my parents dog, Jody, was hit by a car. My mom was still in the hospital. She was devestated and decided to rename me after the dog. The best part, my parents were always asked if I was named after Billy Crystals character in Soap. They would always say, "No, she was named after our 'first' baby." I'm telling you, it's a friggin stigma. I'm used to my name now, but I hated it for the reasons above until I was an adult. Jody isn't a bad name, but it was a dogs name. If people knew you had a dog named Maddie before, the connection is always there. Take it from me, it sucks being named after a dog, even if it's a nice name.