name length

messer1 · July 2012

We have a long Italian last name, 9 letters. I was in love with some longer first names until this week when I started thinking about when our future child starts schooo and has to start writing out their name. Should we try to keep it under, say, 7 letters or would it not really matter? I tend to over think things, si I didn't know if this was just one of those occasions.

messer1 · July 2012

**school***

**so**

stupid touch screen!

JaysonandKristin · July 2012

Let me preface this by saying, I'm not trying to be snarky...

BUT, you're already counting on your kid being unable to grasp spelling its own name? There is NOTHING you can do about your LN. Your child will learn to spell its own name by the time they're 5-7... they'll be 8-100 years of age for a lot longer than that tiny window in which they're learning to spell it.

They'll grasp how to spell their name for a majority of their life. Don't eliminate long names because it looks intimidating in the spelling category.

FWIW, the letter count in my given name is 7 FN 5 MN 11 LN. I walked into 1st grade knowing how to spell my full name. Give your kid some credit.

doremi29 · July 2012

I would not count out longer names. I'd want a short mn paired with it, but name length doesn't bother me.

aascaha · July 2012

my LO's last name is going to be 12 letters long, and i havent been considering length. the problem i think of is filling out forms and running out of space, but im not worried about it.

LexiSophie55 · July 2012

aascaha:
my LO's last name is going to be 12 letters long, and i havent been considering length. the problem i think of is filling out forms and running out of space, but im not worried about it.

I have a 10 letter LN. We worry about forms and things like that. Writing out my husbands 8FN, 10LN is a big pain on forms and other things. It's just such a long name. We plan on shooting for 5 or less. 6 we will allow, but that's as far as we're going with name length.

My husband also gets scolded by people for his signature. It's like two squiggles - no letters visible. Who wants to sit there and write out over two thirds the alphabet worth of a name?

TheWop · July 2012

People need to get over this name length worry. I grew up with a long, hard to pronounce last name. Nicole Elizabeth Di Xxxxxxxxx. I turned out just fine. Seriously. Sure I had to pronounce and spell my last name often, but it wasn't a big deal, like at all. Don't pass up on a name you love because you're worried about number of letters.

magpie1127 · July 2012

How is it such a pain to write long names on forms? It takes, like .4 seconds longer than someone writing out a short name. It's really not a big deal. My maiden name was Margaret Lynne McCxxxxxx, and I grew up just fine.

LexiSophie55 · July 2012

I guess it just must be my husband. He's a construction worker, hates school, hates writing, etc. Yes, filling out forms for him is a pia. I do not think it's as big of a deal for women.

Maybe it's because I went from a 4 letter LN to a 10.

plunderb · July 2012

My married name is 7 + 16 + 7. Yeah, sometimes I have to squish the mn in on forms, but it's worth it to have the name that means the most to me (and I usually just use the initials). (Just as a caution ? the Social Security Administration limits your middle name to 16 characters. Mine would be 17, but I had to truncate it for my SSA card).

Also, I chose to give my daughter a long name ? it's only 6 + 10 + 7, but it's 10 syllables. It's the right name, so I didn't care about length.

bawags · July 2012

I don't think it matters really, but if you are worried about it then just make sure you start practicing saying and writing the letters early with your little one.

I teach preschool and had a 4 year old student with a 12 letter first name followed by a 8 letter middle name and a 7 letter last name, but she learned how to write the whole thing before she went to kindergarten!

jennyann28 · July 2012

I have an 8 letter first name and a 9 letter last name. Sometimes it doesn't fit on forms, which is annoying, but not so much so that I hate my name for it. We did purposely give DD a short first name because our LN is so long, but were cool with a long middle name since she won't use it all the time.

cheeseheadmomma · July 2012

I had an 8 letter last name and a 7 letter first name and I did just fine. Both my sisters had 7 or 8 letter first names as well. I think it would be just fine.

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