That's about it really !

What are your opinions on DS's having the same name as their fathers ?

Contemplating it with DC3, always said no straight away previously (fortunately we had girls) but am finding myself actually consdering it should this one be a boy

I know it's probably a nice idea, but wouldn't do it myself. Too much confusion. ARe you doing it because you really like the name?

I would have loved to call a ds dp's name

But dp wasn't having any of it

Had dds anyway!

I think it is insane. And meglamaniacal. And American.

(because I love dp's name btw, not in homage to him or anything!)

Nope. Still insane, NNB.

Has anyone names a girl after themselves? Never heard of it myself.

Would you do with the 1 or 111 thing?

Bertrand Taylor the Third.

No, women aren't so driven by weird egos or desire to name offspring after themselves.

[makes v. enjoyable sweeping generalization]

No, in keeping with the American style I think I'd go with Jr. {grin]

DS1 has his father's middle name (which happens to be his dad's name and my maiden name).

DS2 has his father's name, but we use a shortened version.

We're happy with the choice we made.

Sorry, really don't like it.

They already get their father's surname.

They'll always be opening each other's post.

I think it shows lack of imagination. Use it as a middle name, maybe.

It's not really my thing - seems a bit of a wasted opportunity when there's so many great names going begging. Besides, my DP has the same first name as my dad, so it would just be too confusing to add another one into the mix.

DS has dh's name as a middle name. Ironically, DH's used name is actually his middle name, so they both have the same middle name but different first name. It's a bit if a tradition in both our families - the eldest boys have their dad's name as their middle name.

I really don't like it. Seems very egotistical on the dad's part, somehow.

Quite common in Irish families I think. I have some second cousins who live in County Derry - all the men are called John so you get "John", "wee John", "wee wee John" and so on and so forth until one of them shuffles off the mortal coil and so they all move up one in the pecking order of "wee".

(DH is the younger brother in his family- so our ds doesn't have his grandad's name, BTW)

My son has the same first name and surname as my dh. But we use different abbreviations for dh and ds, and ds has a different middle name to his father.

Tis a family name that has been used for the 5 generations or so

lol. My mum's scottish side of the family virtually alternate between Cathy and Margaret for all the girls- I find it incredible, given all the names out there.

I don't mind it. DS1 shares a middle name with DH. DH's first name is not one I'd inflict on anyone else .

Sixspot....do you think that they start to get a bit twitchy when they get to be just 'John'. Not long for this life by that point ?

Sorry, was I being a bit tactless there .

Well my dh is called Kevin so it never came up as an issue with me

I'm not sure I would do it anyway though, could cause confusion later in life with phone calls, post etc. Mind you, if there are two different abbreviations then no problem really, eg Bob/Robbie - each has his own distinct identity.

my dh and my ds1 have the same name its a name i always liked and he suited it but as dh is a strapping 6'2 ex para ex doorman hes ALWAYS been known as 'big nick' trucker style lolol and so ds1 was called baby nick hes now 14 and not so very keen on the baby name !! i call him Nicholas but several of his teachers told me if they refer to him as Nicholas he says 'sir/miss with all respect im called Nick theres only 1 woman in the world that calls me Nicholas and she gave birth to me' its caused much laughter in the staff room apparently (i had no idea he felt so strongly ).

i might call him weenick now tho lololor dh bigweenick .....am i gettting silly now?

Nowt to do with DH being egotistical - it was my choice, although obviously he agreed with me.

Bad idea. too confusing eg at GP s etc

I don't like it, usually they get called big or little on top, like 'big' simon and 'little simon.' Don't like it at all. Middle name Ok though.

Don't do it, you ask any of them to do something, and both pretend you are talking to the other one. Hugely frustrating!

snort at anyone having to be called 'wee wee john'

But to OP: would you call a dd after you?

I think it would cause unnecessary practical problems.

If you do it, you have to use a different name - middle name or nickname - for everyday life anyway. So what's the point, if you are considering it only because you like the name?

A mother and daughter with the same name live next door to me. I wouldn't do it - or even use the same initial twice - because I wouldn't want anyone opening the wrong post.

Wouldn't have done it myself -

when I had dd1 I was vehemently against naming people after anyone - felt it was like wishing something of that person on to them, IYSWIM, which is superstitious nonsense of course!

2 years later I had mellowed a bit, ds has my Dad's and dh's grandfather's names as middle names, but his first name is all his own.

With dd2, we chose several months before that she would have names from our Grandmothers if she was a girl. Then, 2 weeks before she was born, dh's Grandma died, and it seemed even more appropriate.

But somehow, naming after a parent, even if it is just becasue you love the name, seems egotistical even if it totally isn't.

both my ds have the same middle name which is my dh's first name - i was the one to want to name them that way - thought it would be nice - don't know if i would have given my name as middle name to girls if we had any but that's because i don't particularly like my name and it doesn't fit with any other name that i like either - anyway i would give them the name you like best

btw my ds1 is very proud to have his father's name as his middle name and likes the fact that ds2 (still too young to have his own opinion) also has the same middle name - no confusion however since first names are all very different

Too Many Daves - by Dr Seuss:
"Did I ever tell you that Mrs. McCave
Had twenty-three sons, and she named them all Dave?
Well, she did. And that wasn't a smart thing to do.
You see, when she wants one, and calls out "Yoo-Hoo!
Come into the house, Dave!" she doesn't get one.
All twenty-three Daves of hers come on the run!

This makes things quite difficult at the McCaves'
As you can imagine, with so many Daves.
And often she wishes that, when they were born,
She had named one of them Bodkin Van Horn.
And one of them Hoos-Foos. And one of them Snimm.
And one of them Hot-Shot. And one Sunny Jim.
And one of them Shadrack. And one of them Blinkey.
And one of them Stuffy. And one of them Stinkey.
Another one Putt-Putt. Another one Moon Face.
Another one Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face.
And one of them Ziggy. And one Soggy Muff.
One Buffalo Bill. And one Biffalo Buff.
And one of them Sneepy. And one Weepy Weed.
And one Paris Garters. And one Harris Tweed.
And one of them Sir Michael Carmichael Zutt.
And one of them Oliver Boliver Butt.
And one of them Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate . . . .
But she didn't do it. And now it's too late."

I'm not too fond of it to be honest. Especially as it can set up a precedent in the family. Do you remember an AIBU thread where the MNer had been pressured into calling her DS the name that had been passed down her DH's family, and then really regretted it?

We do do middle names after family members, but the first name is unique (within the family). After all, as my Dad pointed out, the whole point of a first name is to distinguish you from everyone else in the family!

sixspot, don't be I thought it was funnt!

I used to live next door to Big Neil, and Little Neil.

I wouldn't do it.

You think that's bad. I know a Big Willy and a Little Willy

No one ever refers to DH and DS2 and big and little anything.

The children however do sometimes get referred to as the big bang, middle bang and little bang.

That's just bragging miaou.

LOL, the funniest thing was, Little Willy was about 5'0" and Big Willy was ... smaller

I don't like the idea tbh; don't see the point of it when so many lovely names are available to choose from.

I LOVE that Dave poem; dd1 could recite it by heart when she was 4 - strange child!

My dh has the same name (including first and middle names) as his father and grandfather. In fact, after he did some genealogy research into his family, he was rather tickled to discover that he was 5th in a direct line all having exactly the same name and that skipping a generation back took him to another. He is known by the Gaelic version of the name, while his father and grandfather were each known by common, but different, diminutives of the same name.

That said, when we were choosing names for our bump (who turned out to be our dd), we decided to use his first name - and use still another popular diminutive - but not the same middle name.

I have a friend whose 2nd ds (first with her 2nd dh) has the same first name as his dad but within a month of his birth, they started calling him by his middle name because of the confusion it caused - but then they had a name without the vast fund of available diminutives that my dh's name comes with.

My dp is called Lee and so far we have 3 dd's but if dc4 (due october) turns out to be another girl i want to call her Darcy-Leigh after him. If its a boy we really like Finley so obviously cant have lee as a middle name.

I love DH's name but would never name a child after him. It's just one name I couldn't use. IMO, it's naff to name a child after his/her parent.

I would however, use DH's name as a middle name.

I think it shows a lack of imagination.
Ok as a middle name but silly as a 1st name. That said, DS1 is the 7th in a row to have his 1st name and the 1st to use it BUT dh's passport, banking, official stuff etc is all in the unused 1st name and it is a PITA.

I really don't like it sorry foghorn

In our family my aunt is married to Big Dave (for eg) his Dad was called Old Dave and their son is called Wee Dave, Wee Dave is always going to be Wee Dave even though he is now a 6 foot plus 40 year old man. Luckily Wee Dave has only had girls or we could have had Wee Wee Dave.

If DD3 had been a DS he would have had DP's name as a middle name though I think thats quite nice.

Thanks everyone for your responses

I agree with the practical side of things and confusion with post etc. I literally just said NO simple as, the previous times but thought I would give it due consideration this time.

DH's name is Thomas which I think is a nice name but still very popular, theres quite likely to be 2 other Thomas' in the same class.

Plus .... I love the name we have chosen other than DH's

I know and like your boys name FL

I think it's a bad idea. Unless it's a name like Alexander where one was Alex and the other was Xander or Sasha.

Two members of my family have similar names, not Gus and Grace, but about that similar. It was still confusing at times "Gus! telephone!" and the other one would come running.

I think it is insane too

FWIW I do actually know someone who did this

People laughed

I joined in

Aww thanks SK

FIL's family are Irish and they have Patrick James as the family name, first born son on Patrick James is named Patrick James etc .... One is Patrick and the other is Pat or Paddy

I really hate the idea, my DP is beyond desperate to name a boy the same name as him and during my two pregnancies we have had very heated debates about it...luckily we have two girls.

I just hate the thought that my son would be in the shadow of someone else, not have his own name just for him, to always be 'little .....' or '.....junior'.

Oh and for those who asked Blu et al ..... there is no way on this earth I would give DD my name whether it be first or middle name. Just wouldn't enter my head !

I know a Rob and baby Robert, it is fine so long as you dont mix up the names. There was some confusion recently when another friend told his wife about the baby being sick on holiday but got the names mixed up, the wife thought the whole story was disgusting until she realised the mix up....

Also know a Robert and little Bobby,but then fathers names being used is quite common in our area.

I think its nice to give a child its own name but our children all have family names as middle names

Nothing against it in principle other than it's really confusing. DS has DH's name as a middle name. Would have liked it as first name if it wasn't DH's, but glad I didn't give either of them the extra excuse for not hearing me ("sorry, thought you were shouting for/at DH/DS, not me").

I don't like it. I can't understand why boys are named after their fathers but girls can have any old name. Seems rather sexist. My brother is named after my dad. It was my mother's idea, and she now regrets it (but that may be largely because they are divorced).

In my family the forst son gets called John. My mum broke with tradition and gave my brother a middle name!!!!!!!

Can cause confusion but only of an amusing kind. It doesn't help that my mum's uncle is john (there was another one by marriage), as is my husbands uncle.
Our boys have the same middle names as my brothers and g'dad's family but are named after their paternal g'dad and G g'dad (it elped that I like the names).

DH wanted to call our first by his name but I don't like his name so said NO! meany that I am.

S'pose it depends how much you like the name.

I don't like it.

i'm not keen because it's confusing, potentially slightly bigheaded and perhaps lacks imagination. however, if it's a nice name and you like it and if dh wasn't called it you would call your baby that if so go for it. i liked my dh's middle name but he would even have that (we had a dd anyway)

my uncle, grandfather and great-grandfather and further back afaik were the same.

a colleague at work was called a name her dh was the male verion (eg 'paul' and 'paula' - coincidence obviously) and they called their ds 'paul' as well - a bit much perhaps!

windygalestoday - your story made me laugh. My son has the same name and always felt it was up to him to decide as he gets older if he wants it shortened, he will always be Nicholas to me though

Anyway back to the question, am not so keen, to me it lacks imagination too.. middle name maybe but not first.

Ahundredtimes… I think what you meant is megalomaniacal but I don’t understand how having your fathers or mothers name means you have the enjoyment of power over other people and a craving for more of it or delusions of it. And how is it American? I just did my family tree and since 1838, every firstborn boy has been named Henry. They are all from Britain.

I don’t feel it lacks imagination. It’s nice to pay tribute to someone, but you have to like the name for it to work. We won’t be naming our first (potential) son after DH because we are naming him after my father and his… Henry Michael. If we have a second a boy, it’ll be Samuel Albert… after DH and his stepdad. If it’s a girl, Violet May… after my great-grandmother and the month we found out we were pregnant… DH’s idea. (surprise emoticon) And if there is another girl I would name her after a version of my name because it is nice and DH and I both l love it.

However, if I didn’t like the names to begin with, I would have issues using it as a first name.

i have not read all the thread but just wanted to add my response.
i would have named a son after dh, it was always what i would have done, and wouldd not thought of doing any other. anyway i had a dd!
around here it is tradition to call sons after fathers and no one bats an eyelid.

Wouldn't do it myself. I know two different families with a boy and girl named after the father and mother. Strikes me as a bit unimaginative...

However, DS (only grandson) has a name that has been used by DH's family for generations. MIL broke the trend with DH though!

I have 2 brothers who both named their eldest sons after themselves, it was a nightmare at family gatherings. Totally unoriginal. I named DS1 1st name after my late father, middle name after DHs dad (still with us thankfully) but me, DH, DS 1 and 2 all have same middle initial. If I havw any more (doubtful) we will give that child same middle initial too.

no, life has too much confusion why add to it?

For whoever it was that asked if a woman would name a girl after themselves, my mum did. Unimaginative maybe, but I like my name and don't know any other Eleanors in rl. It was also my great-grandmother's and great-great-grandmother's name, and I quite like knowing that it's come down the generations. One of my dds has it as a middle name too. My brother had one of my dad's middle names as his first name.

I wouldn't have a problem calling a ds after my dh, because I like his name, but he didn't want it. I certainly wouldn't write a name off just because it was already 'taken' by a dh.

Also, what if you have the baby and it just looks like it 'should' be called by a name that is already taken in the family?

I can't pick names for kids before they're born, I think they're born and they look like a name! If the name was already taken in the family, I don't know what I'd do; use a version of it or something maybe.

to be honest, even if my dh was called ivor, or derek i would still call them after the father, then use a nickname.

windy, I like your ds's style!

Personally I wouldn't use a dh's name for a son, too unimaginative/egotistical/confusing.

The nurse who took blood from me a few years ago when I was pregnant and we were discussing names, told me that she didn;t have to worry about any such fuss and nonsense with names when she was pregnant. She was called Frances and her dh was called Francis and they both loved the name Francis/Frances so whatever sex she had the baby (a dd in the end) got to be named after her parents!

I don't know what she would have done had she ever had a second child.

LOLOLOLOL Blu - My DH is a Dave!!!!

He gave my SS it as a middle and wanted to give our DS1 it as a middle too! HE says he feels it's his way of living on through his children.

I put my foot down though as I feel quite strongly that DC's should be individual. I would NEVER call a DD after myself!!!

Lol! I've never felt that I wasn't an 'individual' just because I have the same name as my mum.

spotty, did he not think passing his surname on was enough?

tigerfeet lol at Kevin!

That's the issue IMO - most DHs' names probably not one quite in fashion today for small boys - I know a lot of 40yo Marks, Martins, Daves, Jims, yes, Kevins (tho do know a 7yo Kevin), Keiths, Pauls etc. All fines names but not quite what one meets at the school gate amid the Matthews, Jameses, Thomases, Alfies and Joshes.

miaou lol at big Willy and little Willy

foghorn reading further I see that my point above does not apply - but there will be a lot of Thomases in his class.

My dad and his dad etc going back years all had the same first name and an alternating second name (ie Albert George/Albert Edward etc) but my parents wisely imo broke that tradition when naming my brother.

do not like it

It's very American. DP Jr.

I always thought it would be weird to name my son after the person I have sex with. Odd perspective maybe but it's how I feel.

Really, really hate it.

It seems like a bloke is trying to create a"mini me" .
(its totally ok for a mum to do it though!)

My daughter has her great grandmothers name (dh paternal gran) as her first name - her great grandmother was called X but known as Edna.
She has Y as her middle name which is both of my grandmothers middle names. When she got confirmed SHE choose her confirmation name and blow me, she chose her dads mternal great grans name as her confirmation name. In other words all of her names are from her 4 great nans. Its ok but none of them are HERS.

Aaaaargh, hate this. DH + FIL share a name - makes for v.annoying conversations with MIL "do you mean your x or my x?" and when DH lived at home, ridiculous postal mix-ups. Thankfully we had a daughter.

My mum and her sis each married men with the same name. They each had a son and named him after his father. So, I have a brother, cousin, uncle, and father with the same name.

To some extent it depands on the name and how many varietions there are. Like, if the name is Derek there's not much you can do with that. But if it's Andrew I guess one could be Andy and the other Drew or something.

But, I still find the whole practice very sexist.

Well, I had a name 'bagged' for any potential ds.

Then I married a man who happened to be called that.

So ds has a similar name (eg. Robert/Robin - not those but similarly similar! ) with the same possible diminutives.

It doesn't confuse us but has led to various family & friends thinking it hilarious to speculate whether dd1 & dd2 were going to be Roberta, Robyn, etc...

LOL Edam - you'd think eh?! Bloomin egotistical men!

That said - my DS ended up with my grandad, my bro and my cousins/DH grandad's names! I only chose his 2nd name to be after my brother on purpose - the others were purely coincidence though coz we liked them!

In Scotland it is extremely common to do this. For hundreds of years there has been a pattern- i think its oldest son after paternal grandfather, next after maternal grandfather etc and the same for girls. Even in my generation almost everyone i know has one of their grandparenst names as a middle name and/or their mother's maiden name

Its considered completely normal still and not at all egotistical. And no, they don't have numbers

Sixspot - you were funny!
Like the Dave poem.
Family middle names here too but a first for the family first name. If that makes sense. We had a dd but I wanted to use DPs name as the middle name if it was a DS.

There are 'traditional' names in my family. I used them as middle names to keep them going, but used the names of my choice as given names That way I'm keeping the tradition alive without feeling pressurised into using a name I don't want to use every day.

I hate it. I am half Irish and its really popular thing over there...cant keep track of all the Johns, Martins, Paddys, Liams etc. (and I think, being called "wee johnny" when you are 58 is a bit silly)

Have just found out I am expecting another boy in September and really like the name Harry, but then my SIL pointd out that her grandad was called Harry so people would think he was named after him (he died about 20 years ago)

So, should I still name the baby Harry and let people think what they want???

(My dh wanted to use his name as my ds middle name, but I hate that too. They are their own person! Plus his mum and dad did it with him and my SIL and I just think its a bit naff tbh.

Yes use as middle name

If you use it for first name, baby would alwyas be "little joe"

Mind you, the family names in my family are hideous!!!

Royston
Brian
Launcelot (no, I'm not joking!)
Dennis

My cousin called her baby Derick (shudder)

We have done it for ours - boys and girls. But we are Greek and probably really strange. It's also traditional for us .

my exH had same first name as his dad & grandfather - different 2nd name so he was always known as first-second.
his dad had same first AND second name as his dad
I have always found this weird & confusing.

ended up calling my exH "my first name" so his mum knew I was talking about him

we didnt call DS either name - why would I want him to be "first" name the 4th or junior?

thankfully my exH agreed and his parents never questioned the fact we didnt name him the same

incidently exh's sister has a name made up of his mum & dad - I kid you not!
fortunately its a normal name BUT weird when you know why they chose it!