to think it's a bit weird to call a father and son by the same name?

[MardyBra]

And refuse to give them different nns?

I know it's traditional in some families in Victorian times or maybe if you're an aristocrat, but surely a bit odd, not to mention confusing, especially when it's not even an old family name.

It's not Victorian or aristocractic. I know quite a few families where the father and son have the same name.

I don't think you can choose a 'nickname', can you? It's given to you by friends/family and you have no part in picking it.

We lived next door to a family once where the father, and three sons were ALL called Carlos. Confusing as hell. They didn't seem to mind though...

I have the same name as my mum but we are both known by different shortened versions of it, but I know a couple whose son and daughter are called the same as them and their names can't be shortened.

In the family I know, both the mother/wife and MIL insist on using the same name, although most other people distinguish between them - e.g. Bert for Dad and Albie for son (not real names).

Once when the mum/wife said, "Albert wet the bed last night", my DH piped up: "Which one?"

My grandfather, his son (my uncle) and his son (my cousin) are all Peter. It drives me insane!

My dad and his dad also have the same name.

Makes for very long, confused conversations!

Yes indeed op, i agree. Its also unfair to the child who if they have a very famous or successful father, are then expected to match the father in that way. Usually they just end being a much weaker version of the father and never seem to have their own identity.

In my ex-H family there are loads of men/boys all with the same name.

Leads to Old X, young X, wee X, big X, X from y place, ..... and so on

Very very confusing

Not really, in some families it's traditional to give the first born son the father's name. Not what I would do but not as weird as some of the rdiculous names people use. My grandad had the same name as his oldest son and my uncle (not the one named after grandad) also has the same name as his oldest son. We used to call them big x and little x to avoid any confusion.

I've never heard of a mum and daughter having the same name before.

And both parents is very odd.

In my family too one son and one daughter share our parents first name. No problem really.

I have friends who have done ths and to differentiate they call the son the name and call the father Mr Surname.

I think it's still pretty common, certainly not weird. I personally wouldn't do it for first names but DH's family do and my family in Ireland share about 3 names between all 97,000 of them :) There's never been any mix up to my knowledge.

I once went out with a man who has the same name as his brother. He explained that it was okay because they both had different middle names. So they were known within the family as e.g. Michael John and Michael Pat.

I've known lots of families who do this, including my dads family, but its usually been a family tradition

To me, there is a certain egotism in giving your offspring the same name as you - sort of creating a "mini-me".

In the family I know who have done it, there is no family tradition, and the name isn't traditional to the family either - just a standard 60s/70s name.

The brothers example is odd - how did they get on at school?

Very common in all walks of life in Scotland, with both parents. My dad even had 2 brothers with the same name, as they were named after different people with those names... but they did get nicknames - the younger one was known as Big A, as that was the nicknames of the one he was named after. And one of my uncles has 2 sons with the same name as him, but one is in English and one in Gaelic. Never caused any confusion.

I think the practice has decreased in the last 30 year though? Certainly, none of my 1st cousins has named their kids after them (and that's quite a large number of kids!).

lol @egotism .... its a popular traditional thing to do in ireland. and also to christen kids with grandparents name or have them as their second names. i christened my ds with his dad's name as his second name. its nice to be named after your mum or dad.

Seems sad to me-as if you can´t be bothered to think of a name for your child.

I am about to do exactly that, DC2 (who is a boy) is due in four weeks and will have the same name as his father, which is traditional for DH'a family

But I don't think it's strange, as I come from a family where that is the norm. My brother, my father, grandfather and so on all have the same name. And just for kicks, all boys in the extended family have it too. Unless they are the first born they get called by their middle name.

Agree, diddl. Either can't be bothered or lacking in imagination to think of a different name.

I know two brothers called Andrew and Andy, I can never remember which is which

"all boys in the extended family have it too. Unless they are the first born they get called by their middle name."
Wow - so what you're saying is that you've married into a family where ALL the boys have the same name. You have NO CHOICE what to call your child.

Sorry but I would be rebelling if I were in your position!

And another relative had a 2 year old who died in an accident, and then had another boy shortly after, named the same name, as they'd been named after grandfather. That one has always seemed hard to me.

It seems from this thread that it's more common in Ireland or Scotland, than from an English perspective (which I'm writing from).