Naming after Family Member

Spence903 · May 2015

Which do you like best? And what are your thoughts on naming a child after a living relative? My family says it should only go in the middle name slot.

Beau
Gage
Dean
Rhett

bbiutmcph · May 2015

Dean and then Rhett. I respect that their are some religions that do not name after the living, but in my circle it's perfectly normal and ok. We used grandfather names in our middle spots and plan to do so with this child.

valeriemarie24 · May 2015

I have to agree with your family, if you want to name your child after a relative maybe put it in the MN spot. But I am also not a huge fan of JRs or having multiples of a name in a family.
Of your options I like beau and dean.

Spence903 · May 2015

Thanks for your input! Dean is my grandfather-in-law's name and he's in great health. I love the name but I'm torn between using it as a first name, choosing a name that works with it as a middle name, or scrapping it and choosing another of our choices.

LizWhiz87 · May 2015

Beau and Dean are my favorites. I think honoring a relative, dead or alive, is a lovely sentiment. I don't know that it matters if it is in the first or middle name spot.

wassuphoes · May 2015

Spence903 said:
Which do you like best? And what are your thoughts on naming a child after a living relative? My family says it should only go in the middle name slot.

Beau
Gage
Dean
Rhett

In order.

Dean

Beau

..

Rhett

...

..

...

Gage

As far as naming after living relatives, it depends on your culture/religion. Unless your family as a tradition of it, the middle name spot is probably best.

peppers1227 · May 2015

I love Dean, then Rhett but worry about the Gone With The Wind reference on a boy.

SmrBrd2012 · May 2015

Dean. Not a fan of the others.

DutchLucyLu · May 2015

I like Dean and Beau best (in that order).

I was named after both my grandmothers (who were both still alive at the time), so my full name is Grandmother Grandmother Lastname. It never bothered anyone. I never even knew my grandma was also a Lucy until after she died when I was five (she was always just Grandma and both my parents called her Mum).

Like PPs have said, it depends on your culture. It's perfectly normal to name after the living over here.

You could always discuss it with the person you might be naming your son after. They might be very flattered (I would be).

MagFranklin13 · May 2015

Dean!!! I think it's fine to name after the living, but my husband vetoed naming our baby after his brother because he thinks it's strange

Spence903 · May 2015

Thanks everyone! I live in Texas so it's not a cultural thing at all. It's just that everyone calls him Dean so they say it will be awkward having a Baby Dean around. And that the name doesn't sound very childlike. But you're only a child for 12 years! Dean is still in my number 1 spot, followed by Beau, a long time favorite. It's a shame that those two don't work together. I guess I'll be making a game time decision at the hospital :-)

Elsa1984 · May 2015

I like Dean the most out of the names that you listed.

I would have to say that to me, it doesn't really matter if the child has the first name as someone else in the family (that is living). In my family, everyone shares a name (most of us share a FN and a MN). It has never bothered us, and over the years, most of us have had nicknames for when the whole family it together. I wont use my real name, but lets just say my name is Beth Marie. My mom's middle name is Marie, and my aunt (her sister) has the FN of Marie. My cousin (not from this same aunt, but from another aunt), has two daughters, Beth and Marie. Sounds confusing when written out, but it isn't when we are around each other. My cousin (that I share a FN with), is only a year older than me. When we are all together, she goes by a nickname (that she has gotten over the years from family), and I go by "Little Beth".

Its not that big of a deal.

MixedBerries88 · May 2015

As the pp has said, I totally respect that some cultures do not name children after living people. From my perspective, I cannot imagine a greater honor than having my name given to a baby in my family! I think it would thrill your grandfather in law to pieces to have his great grandson named after him. It's a lovely think to do. I'd probably be double sure to give baby his own unique middle name if you use someone else's first name.

That said, I like Dean, Beau and Rhett. Gage is nms at all. Rhett does have some Gone With The Wind associations but it's fine. It's not quite as on the nose as naming him Rhett Butler Lastname.

g8trkim · May 2015

Personally, I'm not a fan of using the same FN, whether alive or deceased. So I would use it in the MN spot. All four names are nice, but I like them in this order: Dean, Rhett, Beau, and Gage.

Spence903 · May 2015

Thanks for your input. If we decide to use Rhett, we will actually use Everett as a fn, Dean as the middle, and call him Rett as a nn.

jnnfrrose6 · May 2015

I'm an outlier on this one. We've got a Jr and if we have another boy he'll be named after my father (first name and still living) and FIL (middle name and deceased). DS goes by his first name, same as DH, and it's not a name that can have a NN (Sean). There are very few times when it causes confusion, and it's only with DH because to DS that's "Daddy," not another Sean.

4N6s · May 2015

I like dean the most!

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