Would it be awful to re-use a name for sibling?

I'm pretty sure you could come up with a fresh name

I once had a French friend who had as a middle name a name that had already been given to her elder sister as a first name. Like, um, Pippa Middleton having Catherine as a middle name.

That did strike me as odd but I think in their case there were traditional family names which were used regularly so it seemed quite normal for them to be recycled.

One naming tradition I think is rather lovely is from Scotland - a Scottish family I know of always call first sons either John or James (i.e. if your father was John you'd be James, and you'd call your son John), but all the sons have a second name which is unique, so people are known by both names to differentiate them. As in 'Is that John Fraser or John Douglas?'. 'No, it's John Duncan'.

Does make life complicated but I do like the fact these old traditions are being kept up by some people!

The thing is, people get all hung up on names before the baby comes. But as long as you have chosen a name you like, you grow to love it because it is your baby's name. It's fine in the end.

My brother named his second child with his first child's middle name (different sex's) I found it a bit weird as there are gazillions of names, but the kids seem to like "sharing" the same name (age 3 and 4)

Calling one child Prince Michael seems fair enough. Calling a second son Prince Michael II was just plain weird.

Not weird at all for me. My younger sister has my first name as her middle name.

In our family middle names are used to name the child after someone else, not just another name that we like.

When my parents had me they named me (middle name) after both my grandmas (by coincidence they both had the same first name). This name was also my Mum's middle name.

When they had my sister they named her after me. (There is a big age gap between us.)

Never, ever been a problem. My sister said recently that if she ever has a girl she will use my name (and therefore her middle name) for her child's middle name.

Of course you can't! People on here are always going on about the right name for the baby and individuality and not giving your baby the same name as your boss's cousin one removed- and here you are taking one child's carefully chosen name and giving to to his brother!!!!! You are being unfair to both of them.

And for people who Arequipa citing George Forman, just because a bonkers person does something doesn't mean that it's ok for anyone else to do it. Frank Zappa called his child Moon Unit. And Michael Jackson called his, I think, Prince Michael. Doesn't mean it's right!

Did I ever tell you of Mrs McCave
Who had twenty-three sons and called them all Dave?

We were considering it if this baby had been a boy. DS2 is Levi Reuben and then DS3 has two names of his own, but, Reuben was still a huge favourite of mine and a name I wanted to be calling out in the playground IYKWIM? There was a good chance that if we had been having DS4 that he would have been Reuben and I didn't think it was that weird

I used my 'boy's name' on the dog, who was named first and had a moment when I thought about it, but DH was fairly insistent that it would be weird

just tell them it was a name you loved, rather than suggesting you couldn't be arsed. they'll ask you if that's what they think.

one of my best friends younger sisters has my best friends middle name, and two of dh's brothers have combinations of each others names - doesn't seem to bother any of them.

My DS3's first name is my DS1's middle name. To make it less a big deal ( we hope) we gave them both an extra middle name. It didn't cost much to add the names in.

I didn't want to give my DS3 a so-so name when there was a name we LOVED. And as frequently pointed out on other MN threads hardly anyone ever uses their middle name.

My boys are only 4 and 7 so still time for them to get arsey about it but they certainly don't mind for now.

My mother's middle name was her next sister's first name. I thought it was odd but, apparently, that kind of recycling was more common in those days. Personally, I would try to find something new that you both like.

He might feel like you couldn't be arsed but alternatively he might like it as a 'how funny/lazy are my parents' story (endearing emoticon)
Also you could just elaborate that if you had had more sons that they would have been given his middle name as their first name... HTH

Someone I knew kind of did this - she gave her 2nd son her 1st son name as a middle name in case the 1st son died - they would still have a bit of him in the 2nd. There was nothing wrong with the 1st son.

Please don't do this, similar things have happened in my family, especially as the chap who's middle name it is prefers to be called by his middle name.

Think Henry Alexander for person 1, and Alexander James for person 2.

Causes no end of drama especially as they're fairly close in age.

Really, think a bit harder.

A few people do it, but really, there are a lot of names.

What's the name?

Your DS2 may feel that there was a lack of thought if he doesnt get his 'own' name.

The poor boy will just wonder why he didn't get his own name. It'll piss him right off when he's older.