Anyone else carry names on from their families?

BritDillinger · June 2015

I am sure this is not too uncommon, but my family tends to pass on a name or two into the next generation out of respect or a loving, influential connection. My first name was not inspired by a family member, but I have two middle names (Kathleen Marie) that were passed down namesakes from my great great grandmother and great grandmother. Two very lovely ladies that I miss dearly to this day. In fact, if we are having a girl this time around, our daughter's first name will be Echo and the middle will be Marie. The name Echo is actually a family namesake as well.

My first two kids, two boys, are named Chad Nicholas (names passed down from his biological dad's side) and Daron Douglass Lee (the middle names are inspired from both of our sides).

I'm remarried and this will be my husband's first biological child. They don't pass down names in his family. Like, at all. So the concept seems so foreign to him, haha. He's up for trying but has had a difficult time coming up with even a first name for if we have a boy. He wants an E name, too. We have an alphabet going on: A, B, C, D and then E. He had wanted Enoch for a while, but then backed out. I told him he does not have to pick a name from his family. Just to find a name that he enjoys and would love to have for his son. And don't worry, I didn't just pick the girl name without his consent. He absolutely loves the name and we talked for months before getting pregnant what he'd like.

Enough about me, though, I'm rambling. This was supposed to be a discussion about namesakes and such, haha.

Making the questions easier to see, bolded and dotted:

Do you pass on names?
Does your family pressure you to? ( My family personally doesn't pressure me and they were surprised and honored about the names that were passed on. )
Or are you against it? ( I know some names just don't flow right, so I totally get it. )
And how long did it take you to find a name that felt just right?

g8trkim · June 2015

You lost me at Echo.

BritDillinger · June 2015

g8trkim said:

You lost me at Echo.

To each their own. It's not a new, hip name variation going around - or completely made up. It's a name of my grandmother's elderly sister and a name of her aunt, haha. She was a huge influence in my life growing up and I am passing it on to my daughter if I have one.

Now, care to share in your opinions of the questions at the bottom? Or are you completely incapable of reading or participating in a discussion due to one controversial item you do not care for? This sounds more like a comment left for a space on 9gag. It's kind of like the passive aggressive version of tl;dr, you know?

Monilee1017 · June 2015

I am named after both my grandmother. All my siblings and all my nieces and nephews are in some way named after a family member. My boys middle names are after my godfathers. We don't know what this baby is but it will have our fathers or great grandmothers name involved.

g8trkim · June 2015

There are so many questions on here I wouldn't know where to begin. You said yourself you were rambling. Yes my kids have family names as middle names. I would encourage you to use Echo that way. My comment is nice compared to a lot of the feedback you will get on here.

BritDillinger · June 2015

g8trkim said:

There are so many questions on here I wouldn't know where to begin. You said yourself you were rambling. Yes my kids have family names as middle names. I would encourage you to use Echo that way. My comment is nice compared to a lot of the feedback you will get on here.

I edited the layout at the very end with the questions to be bolded and with the dots versus in paragraph form. That way it will be easier to see and answer. Hopefully that will help the discussions along with new readers!

As far as using Echo as a middle name, I politely decline. Echo has been a first name in this family for generations and I will continue to do so. Again, this is a to each their own thing and this is personally how our families are. Especially since here in the Midwest, this name is highly accepted and used. Along with the names Rita, Kathleen, Marie, Douglas, Chadwick, Gary, et cetera. Cultural influences, remember?

My first son is named Chadwick Nicholas with his biological father's surname Mattison (as with Chad's little brother). Chadwick and Nicholas are namesakes passed down from their biological father's uncle who passed away before any of us could meet him. Daron Douglas Lee Mattison is my second child. The first name is the inspiration from the System of a Down guitarist Daron Malakian and it happens to be the more common way to spell Daron here in the Midwest. The middle names are passed on from my father (Douglas) and their biological father's dad's middle name (Lee).

First names and middle names are commonly used in this family.

I never said your comment was not nice. I just said that it was more of a comment suited for a comical website than one meant for discussion. If other people do it or are worse about it doesn't mean it's anymore accepted.

BritDillinger · June 2015

Monilee1017 said:

I am named after both my grandmother. All my siblings and all my nieces and nephews are in some way named after a family member. My boys middle names are after my godfathers. We don't know what this baby is but it will have our fathers or great grandmothers name involved.

That's exciting! It's so neat to see the names pass down into the next generation or watch those grow with you. It's like being a piece of a memory. Or maybe I'm just tired and talking loopy. Will you be finding out the sex of the baby while pregnant? Or will you have the names picked out for when the baby is born? I've had friends who did that. It was fun.

Speaking of grandmother names, both of my grandmothers are named Kathleen and both of my grandfathers are named Gary. I always thought that was funny.

g8trkim · June 2015

Here's the thing. You put Echo out there on a public forum. There will be a lot of people who don't like it. These are opinions you will get IRL behind your back. If you like the name, don't go on and on trying to show me how "incapable I am of reading and participating." You've been on this board for all of 5 minutes but you will learn how it goes. People are not going to only comment on the questions you have bolded and listed (which by the way are not seen on mobile), they will give you their feedback on other things in your post. FYI, really wordy posted get passed by, so if you want feedback, slim it down. Also, we are strangers, try not to take things so personally. You don't have to justify all your name choices to us.

Monilee1017 · June 2015

@BritDillinger we did not know the sex for my sons but we went in with both boy and girl names picked out. We are not sure what we are going to do this time. My husband got to decided for the first two when we would find out the sex and I get to decide this time. I don't know what I want.

beaarthur4 · June 2015

As far as I know, no one on either side of my family named a new generation for a member of an older generation. I gave my daughter two middle names - one for my grandmother and the other for my S.O.'s grandmother. Maybe we'll start a new thing?

I like Echo. It was on my list for my last pregnancy. Didn't have much support for it though. I didn't know it was more popular in the Midwest. That's interesting!

BritDillinger · June 2015

g8trkim said:

Here's the thing. You put Echo out there on a public forum. There will be a lot of people who don't like it. These are opinions you will get IRL behind your back. If you like the name, don't go on and on trying to show me how "incapable I am of reading and participating." You've been on this board for all of 5 minutes but you will learn how it goes. People are not going to only comment on the questions you have bolded and listed (which by the way are not seen on mobile), they will give you their feedback on other things in your post. FYI, really wordy posted get passed by, so if you want feedback, slim it down. Also, we are strangers, try not to take things so personally. You don't have to justify all your name choices to us.

I have no issue with you not liking the name Echo. As I've said two times now, to each their own. What I had an issue with was you putting "You lost me at . . . ". This is stuff I dealt with in Junior High School and with those on comical web forums where people try to be funny and cute. It's not funny and it does nothing to promote a discussion. If one thing in the entire discussion deters you from being able to participate then why the two minutes, yourself, to be snarky versus beneficial?

I am hoping people respond with more than I bolded, haha! I want people to give their opinions and I hold no issue with a retort on the names that I have in mind. I've actually had a woman online tell me I'm a terrible mother for naming my son Chadwick considering how old it is and that he'll be teased mercilessly in school. I just laugh, shrug it off and claim that it's "to each their own" because it totally is. At least it's not a made up name or some absurd spelling that makes one look illiterate.

I haven't just been on this forum for "all of five minutes". Do you really believe this is the first online community I have participated in? I have dealt with actual trolls and am not as thin-skinned as you would take me to be. Just because I reply with "wordy" posts as you put it does not mean I am defensive, sensitive or deflecting. That's a projection on your part.

bbiutmcph · June 2015

So many words

Yes we use family names in the middle as I think that's what you are asking.

jnnfrrose6 · June 2015

We do family names, though I'm actually the exception in my family ( not named after anyone despite my mother and grandmother sharing names, my father is a junior, and my brother has my mother's maiden name). All of that said, I like using family names. My son is a junior. My daughter's MN is my mother and grandmother's name. If we have another boy, he'll be named after both of our fathers. A girl will probably get my MN for a MN. We get no pressure one way or the other to do this. As as far as how long it takes to settle, boys names have always been easy/set. Girls names not so much. Team Green last time around and DD went unnamed for 2 days until the right name stood out (had a short list at least).

BritDillinger · June 2015

Monilee1017 said:

@BritDillinger we did not know the sex for my sons but we went in with both boy and girl names picked out. We are not sure what we are going to do this time. My husband got to decided for the first two when we would find out the sex and I get to decide this time. I don't know what I want.

My husband's in that boat right now, haha. He's not sure what he wants for a name and I offer my to cents, but I want to make it fair so that he has more of an influence over it than both names being what I've picked. I hope you update us on what you've picked. It's fun to see the new names.

BritDillinger · June 2015

bbiutmcph g8trkim

This is interesting. If it's personally offensive to your eyes or a bit too annoying for you to participate in then why take the time to do it or complain? That's what I don't get. Obviously, it's posted on a public forum to post in, but if I saw a thread I wasn't interested in or found pretentious, I just wouldn't post - as that is also an option, you know? I take and welcome all opinions, but complaining about the way it's worded won't change anything.

I'm just curious about the thought process here.

g8trkim · June 2015

@BritDillinger it is clear you would love to go back and forth about this forever but I cannot. Best of luck to you.

BritDillinger · June 2015

beaarthur4 said:

As far as I know, no one on either side of my family named a new generation for a member of an older generation. I gave my daughter two middle names - one for my grandmother and the other for my S.O.'s grandmother. Maybe we'll start a new thing?

I like Echo. It was on my list for my last pregnancy. Didn't have much support for it though. I didn't know it was more popular in the Midwest. That's interesting!

I guess the Midwest caters more towards older names than other states. My husband, who is from California, definitely was not used to the amount of Kathleens and Garys in the area. It was funny.

Aw, that'd be cool if you did start something new. The beginning of a new family tradition! Not that names picked for any other meaning mean any less, I just always thought it was cute to be able to go back and see exactly where the name came from.

oneblessedmess · June 2015

This baby will have the middle name Marie after both her grandmothers. First name Gianna. Actually my middle name is Gian Marie, hubby came up with Gianna Marie and it stuck so in a way she's named after me too.

BritDillinger · June 2015

vineheart137 said:

This baby will have the middle name Marie after both her grandmothers. First name Gianna. Actually my middle name is Gian Marie, hubby came up with Gianna Marie and it stuck so in a way she's named after me too.

Aw, that's so neat and sweet.

erinnlou · June 2015

Honestly I thought everyone used family names. I think it's great. My mn is my grandma's first name. All of my siblings and most of my cousins, nieces, and nephews all have family names.

BritDillinger · June 2015

erinnlou said:

Honestly I thought everyone used family names. I think it's great. My mn is my grandma's first name. All of my siblings and most of my cousins, nieces, and nephews all have family names.

I thought the same thing growing up, but it seemed I was wrong! My husband is still wrapping his mind around it.

nurse714 · June 2015

bbiutmcph said:

So many words

This made me LOL because it was just what I was thinking.

BritDillinger · June 2015

nurse714 said:

bbiutmcph said:

So many words

This made me LOL because it was just what I was thinking.

To each their own! I hope you find a discussion that has less words then. Big community out there.

ashleyandely · June 2015

A lot of people use family names. I like too many other names more, that I personally didn't want to use any family names in my daughters name.

Born and raised in the mid west and have only met Darren's by the way, but to each their own!

BritDillinger · June 2015

ashleyandely said:

A lot of people use family names. I like too many other names more, that I personally didn't want to use any family names in my daughters name. Born and raised in the mid west and have only met Darren's by the way, but to each their own!

Perhaps it's more in the South Dakota/Minnesota/Wisconsin regions, haha. Those are admittedly the majority of the places I have traveled and then grown up in Minnesota. Practically lived in Wisconsin in the Polk County area. That's awesome to find another Midwestern individual! Whereabouts, if you don't mind me asking. I seem to meet many from California or those closer to the West Coast on websites like these - or other community boards in general!

My husband may be going that route, too. The more he thinks about it the more he isn't too fond of the many names in his family, or the people themselves, to want to pass on with his child. It's such a delicate thing to find that name you find just right for the child. And no matter what, it's special to the parents.

wassuphoes · June 2015

Numbers wise, Echo is a very rarely used name. Even Gary's current use is 5 times that of Echo's most use ever. I don't think it is comparable to Kathleen (currently 4 times higher usage) or Gary as far as usage

I, personally, would middle name it, because to people that Echo is not a family name it comes across as Super Stoner Hippie.

BritDillinger · June 2015

wassuphoes said:

Numbers wise, Echo is a very rarely used name. Even Gary's current use is 5 times that of Echo's most use ever. I don't think it is comparable to Kathleen (currently 4 times higher usage) or Gary as far as usage

I, personally, would middle name it, because to people that Echo is not a family name it comes across as Super Stoner Hippie.

Flower power, man. Peace and love! I'd use a heart emoticon if I knew how to use them.

assyn · June 2015

Echo was the name of a character in a hit cult tv show. I used to have a kitten named it. I quite like it.

Back on point, we don't do family names AT ALL, I dislike the idea (for our family). But I know plenty of people who especially do the middle name thing. (In Australia as an aside)

BritDillinger · June 2015

assyn said:

Echo was the name of a character in a hit cult tv show. I used to have a kitten named it. I quite like it. Back on point, we don't do family names AT ALL, I dislike the idea (for our family). But I know plenty of people who especially do the middle name thing. (In Australia as an aside)

That sounds awesome! I had no idea about a cult tv show. That's too cool, haha. We named our kittens after Supernatural characters: Castiel and Lilith.

I have friends from Australia and my husband's cousin is from there. I've seen quite a few Glenn names from Australia. Is that a popular name in those parts?

assyn · June 2015

BritDillinger said:

assyn said:

Echo was the name of a character in a hit cult tv show. I used to have a kitten named it. I quite like it.

Back on point, we don't do family names AT ALL, I dislike the idea (for our family). But I know plenty of people who especially do the middle name thing. (In Australia as an aside)

That sounds awesome! I had no idea about a cult tv show. That's too cool, haha. We named our kittens after Supernatural characters: Castiel and Lilith.

I have friends from Australia and my husband's cousin is from there. I've seen quite a few Glenn names from Australia. Is that a popular name in those parts?

I don't personally know a Glen/n but I'm familiar with the name

4N6s · June 2015

Nope. It seems like everyone in the family chooses names they like... No meaning, really.

BritDillinger · June 2015

4N6s said:

Nope. It seems like everyone in the family chooses names they like... No meaning, really.

Aw, a chosen name may still hold a meaning to the individual.

I don't mean to make it sound as if the name wasn't from family that it held no significance. My son Daron's name was chosen because my ex loved the band member Daron Malakian from System of a Down because he was the person who inspired him to play guitar.

Some people have such beautiful names, haha. I wonder sometimes what it could be inspired from or where it was found.

LizWhiz87 · June 2015

Ummm TL;DR. Use Echo as a middle name. Too hippie-dippy as a first name. Sorry bout ya.

whit3183 · June 2015

When I first saw Echo, I immediately thought of Mr. Echo from LOST and was like "Noooooo!" but then I read the rest of your post, and I think it's cool that it's a family name you're passing down. My family has a history of passing down some names, but it's kind of random, whereas DH's family has a couple names that have been passed down consistently. We are naming our son after my husband (and his dad, grandfather, etc.) and then using my grandpa's first name as a mn because he was a big influence in my life.

I much prefer family names (even unique ones) to just picking whatever is on the top 5 baby name list at any given time. Honestly, when I was a teen and in my 20s even, I thought I would NEVER use family names and didn't understand why people would use "weird" or "uncool" names just because they were a family tradition. Now, I understand that the people who are a big part of your youth will unfortunately not be around forever, so passing on their name is a nice way to remember them. And the names that you think are "so pretty" at any given time are always influenced by trends to some degree, even if you pick classic names; the names I selected for my future kids when I was 15 have already exploded in popularity and fizzled out, even though I thought they were so cool and classic at the time.

BritDillinger · June 2015

LizWhiz87 said:

Ummm TL;DR. Use Echo as a middle name. Too hippie-dippy as a first name. Sorry bout ya.

I thought for sure I replied to a bunch of comments here yesterday. Did some vanish? Didn't I reply to this and the comment below? Weird . . .

Anyway, to each their own and I politely decline. I will be using it as a first name. It's Greek. Would you care to add on to the discussion by answering the bullets in the beginning of the thread or anything else you want? I'd like to keep the discussion moving.

BritDillinger · June 2015

Okay, I know for sure I replied to these comments. What the heck happened? Do comments just delete or did something happen on my end? This is weird.

jnnfrrose6 · June 2015

BritDillinger said:

Okay, I know for sure I replied to these comments. What the heck happened? Do comments just delete or did something happen on my end? This is weird.

They did some "software update" or something last night and several posts and response were messed up.

BritDillinger · June 2015

jnnfrrose6 said:

BritDillinger said:

Okay, I know for sure I replied to these comments. What the heck happened? Do comments just delete or did something happen on my end? This is weird.

They did some "software update" or something last night and several posts and response were messed up.

Well, that sucks, haha. Because there were some more posts in here and I replied to them. I hope the people don't think I just ignored them.

Thank you for the response!

LizWhiz87 · June 2015

BritDillinger said:

LizWhiz87 said:

Ummm TL;DR. Use Echo as a middle name. Too hippie-dippy as a first name. Sorry bout ya.

I thought for sure I replied to a bunch of comments here yesterday. Did some vanish? Didn't I reply to this and the comment below? Weird . . .

Anyway, to each their own and I politely decline. I will be using it as a first name. It's Greek. Would you care to add on to the discussion by answering the bullets in the beginning of the thread or anything else you want? I'd like to keep the discussion moving.

I thought TL;DR was indicative that I did NOT want to answer your questions or even read your whole post, but I guess that wasn't clear. Thanks for the assignment. Here goes:

Do you pass on names? Yeah, as long as they make sense as names and are stylistically appealing/won't make my kid a laughing stock.
Does your family pressure you to? ( My family personally doesn't pressure me and they were surprised and honored about the names that were passed on. ) My family has always encouraged the use of appropriate family names but does not pressure me. My father would never pressure to me to use the name Wanda for a daughter born in this century despite it being his mother's name because he understands it is dated.
Or are you against it? ( I know some names just don't flow right, so I totally get it. ) Not against using family names, but I would only use those that I deem appropriate and would not choose a name solely because it belonged to a family member.
And how long did it take you to find a name that felt just right? Still TTC but DH and I have names picked out for the future and have for a couple of years now. Didn't take long at all, as we have similar taste in names.

May I be excused to go to the restroom now?

CaboBride2015 · June 2015

LizWhiz87 said:

BritDillinger said:

LizWhiz87 said:

Ummm TL;DR. Use Echo as a middle name. Too hippie-dippy as a first name. Sorry bout ya.

I thought for sure I replied to a bunch of comments here yesterday. Did some vanish? Didn't I reply to this and the comment below? Weird . . .

Anyway, to each their own and I politely decline. I will be using it as a first name. It's Greek. Would you care to add on to the discussion by answering the bullets in the beginning of the thread or anything else you want? I'd like to keep the discussion moving.

I thought TL;DR was indicative that I did NOT want to answer your questions or even read your whole post, but I guess that wasn't clear. Thanks for the assignment. Here goes:

Do you pass on names? Yeah, as long as they make sense as names and are stylistically appealing/won't make my kid a laughing stock.
Does your family pressure you to? ( My family personally doesn't pressure me and they were surprised and honored about the names that were passed on. ) My family has always encouraged the use of appropriate family names but does not pressure me. My father would never pressure to me to use the name Wanda for a daughter born in this century despite it being his mother's name because he understands it is dated.
Or are you against it? ( I know some names just don't flow right, so I totally get it. ) Not against using family names, but I would only use those that I deem appropriate and would not choose a name solely because it belonged to a family member.
And how long did it take you to find a name that felt just right? Still TTC but DH and I have names picked out for the future and have for a couple of years now. Didn't take long at all, as we have similar taste in names.

May I be excused to go to the restroom now?

I think you're my favorite person ever.

BritDillinger · June 2015

CaboBride2015 said:

BritDillinger said:

LizWhiz87 said:

Ummm TL;DR. Use Echo as a middle name. Too hippie-dippy as a first name. Sorry bout ya.

I thought for sure I replied to a bunch of comments here yesterday. Did some vanish? Didn't I reply to this and the comment below? Weird . . .

Anyway, to each their own and I politely decline. I will be using it as a first name. It's Greek. Would you care to add on to the discussion by answering the bullets in the beginning of the thread or anything else you want? I'd like to keep the discussion moving.

I thought TL;DR was indicative that I did NOT want to answer your questions or even read your whole post, but I guess that wasn't clear. Thanks for the assignment. Here goes:

Do you pass on names? Yeah, as long as they make sense as names and are stylistically appealing/won't make my kid a laughing stock.
Does your family pressure you to? ( My family personally doesn't pressure me and they were surprised and honored about the names that were passed on. ) My family has always encouraged the use of appropriate family names but does not pressure me. My father would never pressure to me to use the name Wanda for a daughter born in this century despite it being his mother's name because he understands it is dated.
Or are you against it? ( I know some names just don't flow right, so I totally get it. ) Not against using family names, but I would only use those that I deem appropriate and would not choose a name solely because it belonged to a family member.
And how long did it take you to find a name that felt just right? Still TTC but DH and I have names picked out for the future and have for a couple of years now. Didn't take long at all, as we have similar taste in names.
May I be excused to go to the restroom now?

I think you're my favorite person ever.

Actually, it wasn't. It's been many years since I've been in junior high and I don't really deal with passive-aggressive behavior. Instead I will attempt to invoke people into either participating in the occasion or they can just excuse themselves. I'm going to assume the yellow highlighted sentences and responses are more passive-aggressive shots at me in a way? I find it funny that one post and one opinion has inflicted such a strong emotion out of you.

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