Why are children given the same first name as their parents?

[ClickClackClock]

Why do people do this and why is it (almost) always a male thing e.g father called John so son is called John?

Tradition ??

Tradition.

We skip parents and use grandparents names in our family either as first or middle names.

Tradition which is lovely.

Tradition, tribute?
My mum bucked the trend and wouldn't use my dad's name for my brother, despite this going back generations. She don't like the name.
Im on the fence about it - it's nice to have family names if you love the person whose name you are using.
My kids have links to my siblings' names (male and female siblings).

I do think though that a woman who names her child after herself would somehow be seen as a bit arrogant, whereas it's a norm for men and no one thinks twice!

Not happened in any family I know since the 1980s.

I don't agree with it. Give the lad his own identity FFS.

As the OP said, no-one ever does it with women/girls! It's just the menz who want their big important first name to carry on. 🙄

I would never. I think it's a really boring thing to do.
My ex was named after his dad and he hated it.
I think kids should have their own names.

Exactly. Can’t stand it, it gets so confusing

You'd be in for a shock if you met a gypsy family. I've got probably 15 family members with the same name. First and last.

Yeah it’s tradition but use the name as a middle name.

we have a big Peter and a Little Peter in the family. It’s ridiculous, give the child their own name rather than the dads. It’s as if their ego needs to have their first born named after them .

Dhs family all have the first born named after their dad, we stopped that fad. I wanted our child to have their own name.

I knew a family with 4 generations called the same name. It was their tradition.
Personally it isn't for me. I like a kid to have his or her own identity. However I did give my daughter my gran's name as a middle name as a tribute to her.

Yeah, my DH's brother was named after his dad. He was John David Jones. His dad was also called John David Jones! Gave him both - the first name AND the second FFS! 😆 From the age of 7 or 8, he told people to call him David, and by 11 or 12, he said to call him Dave.

DH got away with being named after his grandfather's middle name! His grandfather had a first name that DH's mother would NOT allow DH to have (think Percy! That type of name.) So he had his grandad's second name Matthew, and they gave DH the second name 'Lee.'

(Not real names, but examples....)

.

Like the actor George Hamilton the FOURTH! LOL!!!

I mean, really?!

It was a thing amongst my dad's sisters so there were 3 called John who were known as John, Ian and Jack to differentiate

My daughter called her baby after his dad and he's the 4th generation. Now we have to say big X and wee X. I wasn't keen buf not my business.

I'm named Helen after my mum and gave the name as a middle name to one of my daughters, I like it as there's not a lot of Helen's around.

In our family DH's side- all the boys are given the same middle name. On my side all the girls are given the same middle name. I like it. It's more discreet than another part of what my family does (below)

Same first name as a tradition I am less sure about. In one branch of my side all the oldest girls are given the same first name, but know by their middle name until they are 18 and then have an elaborate re-naming ceremony where they officially become known by the first name. I find that a bit . The original first name was an eminent ancestor and it seems just a bit- i don't know.... bandwagon hitching? The 'tradition' has only gone on for 60-odd years and the eminent person in question only died about 50 years ago. I get they are proud though.

Some extreme macho thing I expect. The dh of someone I know HAD to have a son with the same (common) name, and that son went on to demand the same for his firstborn son.

The first dh wasn’t IMO very nice, and the second turned out to be a useless husband and father, and was eventually banged up for a serious offence.

I know of 3 generations of men in a family with the same (uncommon) name. Youngest is going to be a dad soon, I wonder if he'll continue the tradition if it's a boy.

My grandfather was one of 4 boys- all of whom used the name of their grandfather for their first born boys ( it was his name too).
I have a photo of them all- with all these boys called the same thing!
Ancestry can’t cope with it!
My son has the same name too- ha!

Narcissism and ownership of children.

I once knew a woman who worked for a DV charity, she mentioned that lots of abusive and controlling men demand that their children (especially sons) are named after them.

Incorrect. I have known several females who were named after their mothers

I worked with a guy whose brothers and him all had the first name John. As the oldest he was actually called John, all the others went by their middle names. Bizarre.

In some families it’s tradition. On my paternal side the first born son is given his father’s name. My son has my husband’s name as his middle name. My choice.
My nephew has them same name as his dad so we have bigxxx weexxx even though he’s an adult!

It's a tradition in some families. My maternal grandfather's family used the same pattern for over 300 years:
First born son and daughter named after mother's parents
Second born son and daughter named after father's parents
Third born son named after the father, third born daughter named after the mother
Any subsequent children were named after an aunt or uncle on either side or a different name.

We named our eldest after DP. But DP goes by a diminutive of the name and DS1 gets the full name. We both had grandfathers with the name too, in DP’s case a much loved grandfather who helped raise him, so it was also a tribute to him. It’s a classic name that never goes out of fashion. DS2 is named after my dad, who died shortly before he was born. DP’s dad complained a bit, but soon shut up when I said we would have used his name if he’d died first😆 DS2’s name has been consistently popular for about 20 years. I don’t understand this thing about ‘giving them their own identity’. They are a whole separate person with their own unique personality and identity.