To ask would you find it odd

[betweenmarchandmay]

If you knew parents who lost a baby aged eighteen months and a few years later had another baby of the same gender and called them the same name?

No judgement - genuine question.

I knew someone 70ish who had the same name as their brother both alive. I think it was very common in the past, if it feels ok to them why not.

I think it's unusual in our time, but it was common until about 80 years ago. My great aunt was named for an elder sister who died.

Having done my family tree it used to be completely normal - with high infant mortality and most people passing down family names it really wasn't uncommon.

My Dad's name is not the same as his older brother who died shortly before he was born but it was chosen as a link to him and I think that's quite sweet.

If they really loved the name or it was a proper family name I can understand it even if I wouldn't do it.

I would feel sorry for that child growing up and potentially always feeling like in his parent's eyes he isn't a person in his own right, but just an attempt to replicate his brother.

Yes. I know in the past it was quite common and things were different then, with higher infant mortality rates etc. But I've always found it odd when I've read about (for example) Henry VIII having 3 sons all of whom were Henry, Duke of Cornwall. It comes across as like the children weren't individuals in their own right.

However, I have never been in that situation so I can't really make the call. I guess it could be like naming a baby after a deceased grandparent or aunt/uncle and is a way of honouring their brother/sister.

I wouldn't do it myself. I just asked my husband and he said it wouldn't be for him either. It's none of my business if someone else does it.

I don't like to use the word odd but yes, I would wonder what their reasoning was for making that choice and whether it was in grief and whether it was going to be ok for them all.
It does feel a bit like trying to bring him back. I would feel so so sorry for their loss.
I would also wonder if it wouldn't turn out to be more painful, not less, as the years went by.

I'd feel for the parents as I think you would have to be in a dark and painful place to do it.

I'd feel massively for the child in the future.

Sad all round.

This is interesting.

I was named after an older sister. I never met her as she died three years before I was born. We have the same first names but different middle names.

I wonder if having a second named after the first would actually make it harder to keep memories of the first alive. I think it would for me as I'd want to talk about them. It could be confusing

I wouldn't

But it used to be very common. I think because names were more often family names, and so if eg John died, you would loose that name form the family.
I think it used to be done in a similar way as naming after grandparents/parents.

I think the culture is also relevant. My dh and his brother and sister all have family names, in fact all three of them have the same name, dh as middle name and then his sister has female version as a middle name and then the grandparent complained it hadn't been used as a first name and so his brother was given it as a first name. he is dutch and it was very common to recycle names in the family

OP have you ever asked your parents about it?

Between, I am in the same boat as you. I was named after my elder sister who died shortly after birth, same first name, different middle names. I have never thought of it as odd (until this thread!!) and have never felt I was a replacement for her. If anything it made me feel special, that I could bring joy to my parents after their loss.

I wouldn't find it odd at all. How people choose their children's names is their business, losing a child is incredibly difficult and if they choose to honour their baby in this way then good for them.
My very-much-alive GFIL has the same name as my late dear-uncle (he was buried yesterday, oddly enough) and when my son is born he will be named after them both :)
If that makes me odd then so be it xD

Mmmm, I'm not sure I'd think it was odd but more a way of keeping the child who passed's memory alive and 'celebrating' their existence.

People deal with loss in such individual ways. If it's right for those parents, that's good enough for me. I pray it's not something I will ever have to experience.

Not odd. Perhaps coping, perhaps a desire to carry a family name forward.

When my DD1 passed, I swore her name was sacred. When I became pregnant with DD2, we seriously considered using DD1's name as her middle name.

While we finally decided against it, it was something we both considered for quite some time.