Junior

TheDon'sPrincess · May 2011

DH is leaning towards naming our son after himself. Honestly, I think I am ok with it. We have a nickname picked out that we have called our son the whole pregnancy "Ben" And yes this name relates to the name we will give him. Just wanted some thoughts on juniors.

Would it be weird for my son to be called Ben but have a completely different first name? Does it become too confusing for the child as they get older? Any thoughts, suggestions, reassurances are welcome. Thanks ladies!

StrawberryAlarmClock · May 2011

Wait. I'm confused. Ben relates to the name but isn't it? Is it the MN? And how does this tie in to being a Jr. (which, btw, is NMS but legit)?

Ella85 · May 2011

I'm kind of confused is Ben the MN?

I don't really like Junior,s but my Dad is one and he went by his middle name is whole life as to not be confused with my Grandpa.

SnoopyLuv · May 2011

I think it's pompous to name a baby after yourself. Give the kid their own name!

And yes, as someone who grew up being called by her MN and legally changed it at 18, it is a total PITA and stupid to call him Ben if that is not his name.

austenreader85 · May 2011

I'm also confused.

DH is a II, so a Jr but FIL decided before DH was even born that there will be a dynasty named after him. Lamesauce. Upon hearing the name we chose he said "Oh, you can always name the next one X".

It's a pain. Things get mixed up all the time. DMV only had one file for both of them for quite awhile, a clerk made a mistake and a debt judgement against FIL got put on DH's credit instead and we didn't know about it for months until we were applying for a car loan.

ctygrlstl · May 2011

SnoopyLuv:
I think it's pompous to name a baby after yourself. Give the kid their own name!
And yes, as someone who grew up being called by her MN and legally changed it at 18, it is a total PITA and stupid to call him Ben if that is not his name.

I have to agree here. I've always found juniors/2nd and 3rd's to be a little self centered and completely unimaginative. My side of the family has a tradition that instead of being completely named after someone, you just use their initials. So the honoring of the family member is still there, but the child gets to have their own name. Less confusing. I mean heck, Junior didn't even work for Indiana Jones :-)

TheDon'sPrincess · May 2011

Just to clear up the confusion Ben is not the MN but relates to an old family nickname. I know it is kind of confusing, but since we found out it was a boy we have been calling him Ben.

I hadn't really thought about naming the baby after my husband as self-centered but I guess I do agree somewhat. My little brother is just like my dad but my dad refused to have a junior.

I really appreciate the input ladies, especially about the DMV mix up, not something I thought about.

pajahbear · May 2011

My DH is a Junior and it has caused him nothing but problems in his adult life. When he was 19 we went to get a new car. When they pulled his credit report all his dad's stuff came up. Even though it is obviously a dif. SS# it pulls up his dad's credit history. We were told he had too much credit out in his name even though none of it was his. It is a HUGE PITA everytime we do anything that involves credit. We have to write letters and show proof that he is a Jr. not just scamming the system with 2 dif. SS#'s. It sucks. I told DH that we were NEVER going to do that to our son. We chose to give him DH's name as a MN so he was still being represented.

katcarls · May 2011

I'm not a fan of Juniors either and I don't like giving your baby one name while knowing that you're going to call him something else entirely. If you know what you want to call your baby, you should come up with a first name that works it in, Benjamin for example.

AlphabetFish · May 2011

I had a friend whose first name was Gary, but who was called by his middle name, Travis. When I asked him why, he said "My parents wanted to call me Travis, but wanted me to BE Gary."

Okay, whatever, but he didn't seem to mind it and had no intentions of changing his name. It CAN work out, if you really want to try it.

HannahO28 · May 2011

DH has said before that he wants to use his FN as a MN for our sons and I don't even like that.

You should totally just name your son Ben.

rubyjem00 · May 2011

I really have a problem with juniors, thirds, fourths, etc. I think that each kid could should have their own name. Plus, I have several friends that are juniors and it has caused them nothing by problems. I wouldn't do it.

sweetpea2003 · May 2011

I think that issues with credit history and things of that nature are something our generation really needs to think about. A few generations ago it wasn't an issue because credit cards were rare and life was simpler. Now there is a huge "system" in place that is there to protect us, but can be EXTREMELY difficult to navigate if something goes wrong. I wouldn't want to risk it these days.

My son shares my husband's middle name. DH is John Patrick and DS is Connor Patrick. It gives them a connection without causing identity problems.

sweetpea2003 · May 2011

What about naming him Benjamin with your DH's first or middle name as your son's mn?

maddiemoon43 · May 2011

My dad is Robert (Bob), and my eldest brother is Robert (Rob or RJ), FIL is David, and eldest BIL is David (Dave). I also have an uncle(in-law) Lachlan and a cousin Lachlan.

I have never heard my brother or BIL complain about mix-ups with credit, etc. I think that's the purpose of having a unique social insurance number/social security number, no? We have to provide that unique SIN here...otherwise how do you not get confused with a John Smith across town you've never met in the first place?

I guess the one thing that I think would be nice about it is, that assuming most DH's don't have super-trendy names and if the alternative is giving DS their own "unique" name that 18 other kids in their class have, I prefer a "Jr" with a traditional name. (OP - I really like Ben, so that's more of a general statement).

manda326 · May 2011

I think it would be fine. I am ok with juniors just so long as both people don't go by the same name. Its confusing. My cousin has the same name as my grandma, Pauline Elizabeth, but she goes by Beth. I don't think it was a big deal for her.

zaramarie81 · May 2011

I have friends where the same first name is used through the generations. They then call the boys by their middle names. Same with my sister's IL's.

I think juniors are fine. Some don't like the concept but I know plenty of grown male juniors or even thirds who want to continue the tradition. I think a lot of guys feel a special bond over sharing a family name. My own Dh wants to incorporate his dad's name (also his mn) into our name list. So yeah, if you are okay with it, go for it.

ETA: Fwiw, my dad is also a jr and loves being named after his dad. He even chose the same profession and both still work in that profession and their similar names are NOT a problem. Dad goes by a nn related to his name (and also has jr on his business cards) whereas my grandfather goes by the formal name. I also love the name and hope to incorporate it into our own name list.

zaramarie81 · May 2011

maddiemoon43:
My dad is Robert (Bob), and my eldest brother is Robert (Rob or RJ), FIL is David, and eldest BIL is David (Dave). I also have an uncle(in-law) Lachlan and a cousin Lachlan.

I have never heard my brother or BIL complain about mix-ups with credit, etc. I think that's the purpose of having a unique social insurance number/social security number, no? We have to provide that unique SIN here...otherwise how do you not get confused with a John Smith across town you've never met in the first place?

I guess the one thing that I think would be nice about it is, that assuming most DH's don't have super-trendy names and if the alternative is giving DS their own "unique" name that 18 other kids in their class have, I prefer a "Jr" with a traditional name. (OP - I really like Ben, so that's more of a general statement).

Also, this. There are several other women in my city who share my maiden name. I have never, never, never had a mix-up with them.

stahlop · May 2011

maddiemoon43:
My dad is Robert (Bob), and my eldest brother is Robert (Rob or RJ), FIL is David, and eldest BIL is David (Dave). I also have an uncle(in-law) Lachlan and a cousin Lachlan.

I have never heard my brother or BIL complain about mix-ups with credit, etc. I think that's the purpose of having a unique social insurance number/social security number, no? We have to provide that unique SIN here...otherwise how do you not get confused with a John Smith across town you've never met in the first place?

I guess the one thing that I think would be nice about it is, that assuming most DH's don't have super-trendy names and if the alternative is giving DS their own "unique" name that 18 other kids in their class have, I prefer a "Jr" with a traditional name. (OP - I really like Ben, so that's more of a general statement).

My mom and I don't have the same name or even similar names and our credit stuff gets mixed up all the time. It took years to straighten out (although we both have great credit, so it's not that big of a deal), so being a jr isn't the only way that can get mixed up.

I say if you want to do it, go for it, but there are so many great names out there. And if you're calling him Ben, go for a name that uses that as a nn. It seems odd to have a nn that doesn't have anything to do with the real name.

Quizzle · May 2011

DH is a junior, and it causes all sorts of confusion. Two people in the house with the same name. He thinks it's sort of self-centered too and flat-out refused to do a junior if we had a boy (I wasn't interested anyway.)

Actually, right now we don't even have anything of ours delivered to the house unless it's in my name; we're living behind FIL right now and it would be a HUGE mess when we moved.

DH is also a teacher and has had trouble with his students prank calling his dad!

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