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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

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Original poster

I really want to honour my DH's granddad by giving our son his name as a middle name but his name is....

82 replies

GoodEggy · 11/07/2016 20:02

Donald

He's the loveliest man ever and I'd really like to honour him like this but I'm just not sure I can do that to my son!

How bad is it?

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HappyHeart87 · 11/07/2016 20:22

I love Donald! Though Lorcan Donald is quite the moniker.

wigglesrock · 11/07/2016 20:19

Lorcan was top of the list for all 3 of my daughters . Its hands down my favourite of your first name list. With regards to Donald - its not my cup of tea but the sentiment behind it is lovely, middle names are so very rarely used. I heard my 5 year olds middle name said out loud by passport control last week, I honestly think its the first time its been uttered since her christening! I'd go for it.

Twinklestar2 · 11/07/2016 20:19

I quite like Donald!

Hassled · 11/07/2016 20:18

I really like Donald. Somehow it's so much better than Ronald - bizarre how that works. Anyway - Donald is a classic, solid sort of name. Nothing wrong with it at all.

Lovelydiscusfish · 11/07/2016 20:16

I really like Don, as an abbreviation. My friend's dad is called Don - it's a great name.

iseenodust · 11/07/2016 20:16

I'm with Bluesky, Donald is much better than your shortlist which have that trying too hard to be different feel.

MrsJoeyMaynard · 11/07/2016 20:16

As a middle name, it's absolutely fine.

People rarely use middle names, rarely know the middle names of friends / acquaintances, and besides, the worst you can say about Donald is that it's a bit old fashioned. So someone seeing an old fashioned middle name is likely to assume "family name" rather than anything else.

I did momentarily wonder when I saw the thread title whether his name had been something like Dick (I have met a few elderly Dicks, presumably named before Dick had the connotations it has now). Now that really would be awful.

MrsHathaway · 11/07/2016 20:14

We used DH's grandad's name as a middle name for DS2 who was born less than a week after DGFiL died.

But the name really didn't go with our surname. So instead of replacing the middle name we'd previously chosen, we added another. The family absolutely took it as a tribute to DGFiL but it made the whole name flow better.

So if you had been thinking of James Matthew Smith, why not go for James Matthew Donald Smith?

MewlingQuim · 11/07/2016 20:14

Saying that, I gave DD her grandmother's name as a middle name and DD loves it and DMil is very happy. It's not a name I would even consider for a first name but I love the connection to a well loved family member so I used it.

Other people probably think it is horrible, but I couldn't care less

almostthirty · 11/07/2016 20:13

We used my dfs middle name for dc2 and dfil middle name (also dhs middle name ) for dc 1.
As long as your surname isn't duck I think Donald would be lovely.

Raines100 · 11/07/2016 20:13

It's fine as a mn. Just do it. Could be a lot worse

blueskyinmarch · 11/07/2016 20:13

I like Donald better than your current first name contenders

FlowerOfTheWest · 11/07/2016 20:12

I like Donald. But it doesn't really go with any of those first names IMO. Except perhaps Lorcan.

user1466260191 · 11/07/2016 20:12

I think Donald is quite cute! But then I love all old man names! Besides most babies look like little old men anyway. I'm sitting here staring at my 8 week old Alfred and he could easily be a Donald! X

Original poster

GoodEggy · 11/07/2016 20:10

This is our 2nd DS and we used the only first name we could agree on last time so we haven't decided on a first name yet but these are our contenders (according to me anyhow)

Tristan
Dexter
Milo
Lorcan

OP posts:

MewlingQuim · 11/07/2016 20:10

Don is good. Not fond of Donald, sorry.

NataliaOsipova · 11/07/2016 20:09

I don't mind Donald. It's not that bad - and people will just assume it's a family name, I think. It's a nice thing to do for the whole family - and middle names very rarely get "used" once a child is out of the baby stage. Not at school, not at work - just something for forms and passports!

Pemba · 11/07/2016 20:08

Not wonderful, but not horrible either. I've heard far worse. I think it would be fine as a middle name.

Ineedmorelemonpledge · 11/07/2016 20:08

I like it. And the sentiment really touches the family. It certainly did when we gave DS the middle name of my grandad who died the week he was born.

EccentricPickle · 11/07/2016 20:08

I actually like it. It's one of those names that should have been revived in the old man chic trend, along with Archie, Arthur etc but I fear that it might have been ruined by a Mr. Duck and that's why it hasn't.

It's fine as a middle name or how about Donnie instead? Still as a middle name I mean.

blueskyinmarch · 11/07/2016 20:08

Donald is a very fine name. If you live in Scotland no-one will bat an eye. I know many Donald’s over all age groups. I say go for it.

Notthisnotthat · 11/07/2016 20:08

Donald isn't bad at all, maybe because I'm in Scotland though.

Somerville · 11/07/2016 20:07

Not a problem as a middle name.

Donal and Domhnall are other forms of it, if you prefer. (Those are the Irish versions - there must be Scottish ones too.)

PotteringAlong · 11/07/2016 20:07

As a middle name? Not a problem.

ChocolateButton15 · 11/07/2016 20:07

Don or Donny if you don't love Donald?

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