How important are initials?

BrideNamedMeg · September 2013

One of my favorite girl names is Violet, I've liked it since our first pregnancy, but her initials would be VD. My sister in law had the same initials before she got married and thinks it was a terrible oversight on her parents part. I think VD is such an old term that my kids generation won't even make the connection. DH still doesn't like it. Thoughts?

Hrose7091 · September 2013

Eh I dunno, I do still here people use VD once in a blue moon. Usually in relation to a joke. With any name I've always made sure their entire initials don't spell anything weird. I had a friend with "ARM" as her initials in grade school and kids even made fun of that. Although you can't protect them from all forms of harassment or bullying as kids I think it's best to eliminate anything potentionally embarrassing. Plus, if your husband hates it I wouldn't really think its a name you can move forward on.

SomersIsles · September 2013

I'm guessing it stands for "Venereal Disease"? I'm assuming her peers wouldn't know that phrase so it's probably ok. Kids these days can create any ridiculous phrase with any arrangement of initials.

VD isn't as bad as BJ, that's for sure.

lvlichelle · September 2013

The first thing I thought of when I read VD was venereal disease. I personally wouldn't do it.

BrideNamedMeg · September 2013

He doesn't hate it, he actually likes the name just not the initials. I feel like it's no big deal...something like BJ or STD would be way worse IMO.

jh&kh · September 2013

My best friends DS has the initials ELF. They fell in love with the first name and the middle name has been passed on from his father so there wasn't any getting around it. It fits him though because he ended up being born on Christmas Eve!

PerkyErky · September 2013

I don't think the initials VD are bad at all. Plus I assume you'll have a middle name so her actual initials would be V-D. I think the actual name is more important. My last name was pronounced Hawk and there are no Mikes. Mike Hawk said out loud is not ok...

jh&kh · September 2013

PerkyErky said:

I don't think the initials VD are bad at all. Plus I assume you'll have a middle name so her actual initials would be V-D. I think the actual name is more important. My last name was pronounced Hawk and there are no Mikes. Mike Hawk said out loud is not ok...

Haha my last name is also pronounced Hawk and the "Mike Hawk" has been brought up before. Also no "Mo Hawk"

KariB509 · September 2013

Well DS's initials are OB... Or ORB with the middle in there. Whatever! It's just initials

MeganFrench120389 · September 2013

My husband and I like Lilith but with her middle name, she would be LAG... It bothered me to the point that I chose a back up name just in case.

flows912 · September 2013

Our last name starts with a Z. I told my husband if we had a girl, the name couldn't start with an E. He didn't get it until I spelled it out ... EZ aren't great initials for a girl.

linzerd · September 2013

I'm 33 and I know what VD is: venereal disease. Special.

You might be right though its more our parent's generation that used that term.

MH's cousin just had a baby girl in Feb. and named her Juliet Ava Perry. Her H is Jewish hence the initials JAP, which some ppl of the younger generations might also not know can stand for Jewish American Princess. He was against it but she's in charge and thought it was endearing. EVEN THOUGH it was explained to her that it is not considered and endearing term.

I also remember that when Britney Spears was pg w/her first son she decided against a name because his initials would have been PMS.

PerkyErky · September 2013

jh&kh said:

PerkyErky said:

I don't think the initials VD are bad at all. Plus I assume you'll have a middle name so her actual initials would be V-D. I think the actual name is more important. My last name was pronounced Hawk and there are no Mikes. Mike Hawk said out loud is not ok...

Haha my last name is also pronounced Hawk and the "Mike Hawk" has been brought up before. Also no "Mo Hawk"

My dad is the oldest of 9 and there are 6 boys. They came up with the ultimate name: William Ulysses Patrick Michael Hawk or Will U Pat Mike Hawk. Fortunately my grandparents were not impressed and did not choose that name for any future children haha.

ajdmama · September 2013

We have a friend who named their baby with the initials WTF...we jokingly call him "lil wtf", its not so bad but we thought it was an interesting name.

legallyginger · September 2013

Laura8388 said:
Initials are important but I also don't think VD (I'm 25 and knew it was some kind of disease but didn't know the name nor what it does).

I have a friend who's initials are APE.

We tossed out a name we were considering because the initials would have been APE. We also tossed another one that would have been PEE.

Personally, initials are on the low end of the totem pole when considering a name, but I also wouldn't want to stick my kid with something truly awful, like ASS or PEE.

Sidenote: for some reason this reminded me of a high school teacher I had whose last name was Dick. Her name started with C, so her door sign said C. Dick. Her husband was also rather unfortunately named Richard.

HappyWife01 · September 2013

I think it does matter a little. I just realized that if we have a boy his initials will be ELK. Which isn't bad. I just think at sometime in their life they will probably have something monogramed. I would not want a towel monogramed with VD or STD.

BrideNamedMeg · September 2013

HappyWife01 said:

I think it does matter a little. I just realized that if we have a boy his initials will be ELK. Which isn't bad. I just think at sometime in their life they will probably have something monogramed. I would not want a towel monogramed with VD or STD.

She WOULD have a middle name, lol. Probably VND or something along those lines. I also figure if she gets married, chances are it'll change. My SIL is VH now.

jh&kh · September 2013

legallyginger said:

Initials are important but I also don't think VD (I'm 25 and knew it was some kind of disease but didn't know the name nor what it does). I have a friend who's initials are APE.
We tossed out a name we were considering because the initials would have been APE. We also tossed another one that would have been PEE. Personally, initials are on the low end of the totem pole when considering a name, but I also wouldn't want to stick my kid with something truly awful, like ASS or PEE. Sidenote: for some reason this reminded me of a high school teacher I had whose last name was Dick. Her name started with C, so her door sign said C. Dick. Her husband was also rather unfortunately named Richard.

My parents have a neighbor named Richard Dick. And for some odd reason he chooses to go buy Dick instead of Richard, so he is "Dick Dick". It's awful.

amsat · September 2013

I'm from the south where we monogram any and everything. Initials are very, very important.

That being said, I do not think VD is bad.

BrideNamedMeg · September 2013

bmerr said:

FarmBoysWife said:

Maybe I'm to young to know what vd is.. (I'm only 24) so those initials mean nothing for me.. Maybe it's my own ignorance. People even use BJ still and it has other connotations. I could also be over tired this rendering my advice useless.

I'm 23 and had to ask DH, who's 27, what it meant lol

DS's initials are OH.

You guys are making me feel old

I didn't know what VD was until I was well into high school and I rarely hear it anymore, so I definitely think it's of our parent's generation.

MH is big into initials though, our DD has his initials (ELD) and DS is XLD which I guess he thought was cool...I just liked the name Xavier and we knew we'd use MH's middle name because it's his, FIL's and my Dad's middle name so that was going to be the same no matter what.

My main issue is that there are precious few names we both like, for boys and girls and I hate having to cross names off the list for lame reasons.

taurus424 · September 2013

Only thought is ....if you wouldn't monogram her book bag with it then probably wouldn't use it.

coldenka · September 2013

I don't think initials are THAT big of a deal (DS's are EW), but I'd stay away from VD.

linzerd · September 2013

My parents have a neighbor named Richard Dick. And for some odd reason he chooses to go buy Dick instead of Richard, so he is "Dick Dick". It's awful.

Rich Dick would have been funnier.

mamamia866 · September 2013

Initials are not that important to us. But I would be worried if they were something like ASS or FUK, etc. if we have a boy, his will be WAR. H actually likes it.

LeanneOfHonour · September 2013

VD means nothing to both me and DH.

However if it bothers you I'd avoid it. I'm LEG. And I got poked fun at. Meh.

Hrose7091 · September 2013

I used to do graphic design for a portrait studio/church directory company. There was a man named Richard long. He went by the name dick so his name next to his church directory photo was Long, Dick. We even called to make sure it was okay and he definitely wanted Dick and not Richard. Old people......

CharlestonVal · September 2013

I wouldn't worry about it much! I was VS growing up, and now I'm VD with my married name and never thought about the "other" connotation till this thread started. Still doesn't bother me. I'm happy to be VD married to DD! Haha.

karacakes98 · September 2013

Kids are mean enough. I wouldn't give bullies one more thing to potentially be mean about.

Kewii · September 2013

I'm trying to think of the last time I sat down and thought about another person's initials. Yup, can't think of a time. Even growing up, never thought about it. Or if I did, it was a passing thought.

I don't think it's that big of a deal, but I guess if you plan on monogramming the shit out of her stuff, then I'd avoid it. Otherwise, I really don't think that many people will notice.

jjt616 · September 2013

DDs initials are EAT. Family mentioned when we had her and shared her name "oh it's EAT hehe" but No ones mentioned it since. I did go to school with a kid whose initials were PMS. Poor kid got ripped on for years! The boys never grew tired of laughing about that.

ufsandra85 · September 2013

i think they are kind of important. i knew someone with the initials std and they got made fun of. i am also in shock so many people dont know what vd is... wow i must be old

DTNZ4Ever · September 2013

Initials caused us to struggle with DS middle name. If we used a family name at the middle name the DS' initials could have been BLT, BJT, BDT all of which we couldn't go with. We ended up with BTT.

maryhale333 · September 2013

Barack Obama is BO and it hasn't seemed to harm him in life!

Mellie212 · September 2013

legallyginger said:

We tossed out a name we were considering because the initials would have been APE. We also tossed another one that would have been PEE.

Personally, initials are on the low end of the totem pole when considering a name, but I also wouldn't want to stick my kid with something truly awful, like ASS or PEE.

Sidenote: for some reason this reminded me of a high school teacher I had whose last name was Dick. Her name started with C, so her door sign said C. Dick. Her husband was also rather unfortunately named Richard.

I also knew an elementary teacher whose name was A. Dick. Unfortunately her first name was Anita. Poor woman would start every school year saying, "My full name is Anita Dick, my husband is Harry. You have ten minutes to laugh at how funny this is and then we are never talking about it again. Ever." If you did, you were immediately kicked out of class.

Katrina89Marie · September 2013

I think you only need to worry if they are extremely bad like some mentioned. I know my sons are CAB but we loved his name more than we cared bout the initials in this case. So definitely can depend on the craziness of the initials.

corbsmom · September 2013

eh...I wouldn't worry about the initials VD at all. The kid's generation likely won't ever make that connection. I think initials are kind of irrelevant anyway unless it's something glaringly stupid like ASS.

BrideNamedMeg · September 2013

The thing I think about now too, is that they're coming out with new acronyms all the time so what's fine today might be weird tomorrow. I'm sure there are people with the initials like WTF, LOL, etc. that had them before the internet

erind0213 · September 2013

I was Originally thinking Sophia Olivia "B" last name, and her initials would have been SOB.... they are COB instead, which looking back I may have avoided due to DH's dumb aunt who calls her Corny Cob

sweetpeasmom315 · September 2013

DH and I love the name William, however the middle name we like starts with T and our last name starts with F. I don't think I could give my child the initials WTF!

avigailandcharlie · September 2013

I don't think it's the worst, but if DH is opposed to it, could you settle on violet for a middle name so her initials are something else, but call her violet?

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Want a personalized experience?

How important are initials?

Re: How important are initials?

"Dear Lord, I would have loved to have held my babies on my lap and tell them about You, but since I didn't get the chance, would You please hold them on Your lap and tell them about me?

BFP #4 6/26/13, EDD 3/8/14, Delivered @ 40w6dBethany Elizabeth born on 3/14/14 @ 6:48am weighing almost 8lbs 1oz and measuring 20 1/2 inches.

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BFP #4 6/26/13, EDD 3/8/14, Delivered @ 40w6d
Bethany Elizabeth born on 3/14/14 @ 6:48am weighing almost 8lbs 1oz and measuring 20 1/2 inches.