DS having same name as his Daddy?

My dad had the same first name as hus father, but has always, from when he was tiny, been called by his middle name. As he has said many a time, "Why the fuck didn't they have the sense to put the names the other way around?" He hates it. He has been known to miss appointments at the GP before because they've used his "proper" name to call him in the waiting room, and he's more or less forgotten that that's what he's officially called.

I agree with other pp - you almost never hear of women insisting that their daughters carry on their name (just the Gilmore Girls!), so why is it a thing for men?

any post with our name on it, she would open. So nothing was private. She'd read all my bank statements, even post which was obviously not hers. I was president of a society and she would open that post and read it. Everything. Always said it's because she needed to be sure it wasn't for her.

How annoying!

Naff/old fashioned. Middle name yes, first name no.

I was 'Little Sisyphus' for a long time. I did not like it, and even less with hindsight.

Its awful. Please don't.

@saraclara I'm happy to help - it wasn't a conscious decision for us "we must name him after his father"!

It was more that it kind fell that way and I quite like the idea of the name carrying on through generations. My DH did have to be convinced though. I think he thought it would seem a bit boastful?

That being said, I don't expect the tradition to carry on to the next generation, unless our DC want to do it.

Thanks @Spaghettio It's kind of you to humour me! I try to be open minded and learn from other people's experiences, but I know that asking these questions can be high risk! Your explanation makes total sense.

@saraclara It's not traditional, or cultural for us.

My husband's middle name is his mother's maiden name so we wanted to use that anyway.

DSs short name is a name we really liked and wanted to use. We've got other children with longer names that are shortened on a daily basis so we are open to the idea of a "formal" name for documentation and a "day to day" name.

Unfortunately the traditional longer name of DSs short name is a name we couldn't use (for family reasons) but DHs name can easily be shortened to DSs name too. So we went with the whole name.

In my family, my brother, uncle and grandfather all had the same name so it's not unusual in our circle (although there was never any confusion there as they all lived on different continents!).

Hope that helps.

It's traditional in many places isn't it, my Irish colleague was telling me when she grew up all the boys were called after their fathers and all the girls were called Mary. Logistically awkward, I would have thought. If you do use it you're bound to end up calling him something else, Little X, it Junior, or something, just to distinguish them.

My husband has his father's name. He hates it.

My uncle has my grandfather's name, who had his father's name - they are/were all known by their middle names. It does cause confusion.

We have done this. Both my DH and my DS have the same full name (inc middle name)

@Spaghettio, can I ask why you chose to do this? I'm not being critical or disrespectful, I'm just curious to understand, as it's so far from my own feelings about naming babies.

OP, would you name your daughter your name?

I can kind of understand it if every first son / daughter has the same name so you’re just being traditional and not really naming after the dad/ mum but also after grandparent, great grandparents etc.
I find the idea of doing it without it having been done the last few generations odd and egotistical. Why would you want to name the child after yourself? Normally when you name a child after relatives it’s a bit of an honour so doing this for yourself seems a bit big headed.
I also note it’s almost always men that name their sons after themselves not women.

Guess what Donald Trump's eldest son is called?
I rest my case.

I have the same name as my mum, and no middle name. I hated it. Nothing was private. I lived at home during uni and any post with our name on it, she would open. So nothing was private. She'd read all my bank statements, even post which was obviously not hers. I was president of a society and she would open that post and read it. Everything. Always said it's because she needed to be sure it wasn't for her.

Sorry my phone ate my paragraphs!!
They were There as I typed

My dad and my brother have the same name. It's not but imagine it's Steven.
In the family we've also got an uncle Steven. So we tend to use... Alice's (mum's) Steven, Jane's (Aunt's) Steven and young Steven (brother).
In the house dad was referred to as Steve and brother got his full name by mum. (Different middle initials and in post terms dad was Mr and brother was master so we knew who was who)

None of them mind having the same name.

However my partner has his dad's full name. As in James Mark Lima and James Mark Lima Jr.

He hates it. The post always got mucked up and he's unofficially changed it years ago. ( Wants to deed poll in future but his mother keeps telling him how upset his dad would be so never got around to it)

So there you go. There's no answer as I have both. But if you do and your child feels like he's got no separate identify as an adult allow them to change it without the emotional baggage! (I love my mil but this one issue bring so much stress!)

Dull unimaginative egotistical

We have done this. Both my DH and my DS have the same full name (inc middle name) but they use different shortenings eg they are called William and one goes by Wills and one goes by Billy.

It's fine and there's no confusion day to day.

But it has caused major issues when booking tickets, especially for flights. Having two tickets in the same name causes all sorts of issues with airlines. We're seriously thinking of adding a "Junior" to DSs name.

I know someone who is named after his dad, everyone calls him 'little Paul' even though he's a grown man, he still gets called it. You could call him 'xxx junior' and call him junior for short, save the confusion but still have dad's name in there.
Personally I'd rather have my son have his own name and identity, but if you really like it then go for it, there's a lot worse you could call your children!

People seem to forget why we name a person or a thing - so they can easily be identified!!

I have the same name as my auntie and it's so annoying, one of us in known as big name and one little name - on age - we don't see each other all the time but family get togethers are a nightmare

How will they know whether a confidential letter is for the father or son if addressed to Mr John Smith?

Or will letters be addressed to Mr Little John Smith?

My DH has the same name as his father and grandfather.
It’s a logistical nightmare when talking about them. FIL changed his, and goes by his middle name instead and GFIL is no longer with us so DH is the only one using the name now.

Why would you do this?