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AIBU?

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Original poster

Surnames as a first name

103 replies

Moominfan · 22/04/2018 09:58

I know they usually don't go down as well as Oliver and Olivia on here but I really like the name Hudson for a boy

OP posts:
VladmirsPoutine · 22/04/2018 10:02

To be honest its your baby and therefore your choice. I'd always urge a parent-to-be to employ a degree of common-sense about naming their off-spring as the child will be the one that needs to live with the name.

To that end, if you are Kim Kardashian or Gwyneth Paltrow you can get away with calling your child 'Toilet-Brush' as that child will never really need to write a CV or do the interview rounds.

ghostyslovesheets · 22/04/2018 10:02

good for you

HappyLollipop · 22/04/2018 10:02

I'm not a big fan of surnames as first names even though my last name is used rather a lot as a first name these days! But as long as you love it other people opinions don't matter.

Original poster
Moominfan · 22/04/2018 10:03

Yea my worry is that they'll be "saddled" with their name. Our first has fairly ordinary name. Not massively popular but not unusual. Hudson was on the short list then but I just wasn't brave enough

OP posts:
LakieLady · 22/04/2018 10:06

I rather dislike it, even with names that have been around for ages, like Lee and Bradley.

I can envisage a certain amount of confusion with official records, esp. if confronted with, say, a Bradley Lee and a Lee Bradley.

hidinginthenightgarden · 22/04/2018 10:07

Depends on your surname. I work in a collage and we often get people who have names like "Hudson Connor". It is hard to know which is the first name and they often get paperwork with the wrong name.
This is the only reason I wouldn't do it. It would be tiring dealing with constant mistakes.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 22/04/2018 10:10

I quite like it. It's not ridiculously out there.
Also most first names can also be surnames eg. James. Paul. George. Alexander. Charles. Clare. Lacy.Connor.
Caroll. Francis. Lucy

VladmirsPoutine · 22/04/2018 10:14

To be fair with the records thing 'Thomas James' would still face similar issues. And a bit of bureaucracy isn't really good enough reason to avoid a name unless the name includes half the consonants in the alphabet.

Catsize · 22/04/2018 10:16

I’m not a fan. I also think that the name tends to end up sounding like a solicitor/accountancy firm or an estate agent. Harrison Jones. Jackson Smith. etc.

iffyjiffybag · 22/04/2018 10:19

Or a funeral directors, Catsize Grin

VladmirsPoutine · 22/04/2018 10:21

iffyjiffybag You've pissed on my chips! Grin I was about to respond to catsize that if nominative determinism is a thing then solicitor or accountant isn't a bad bet!

Flapdoodles · 22/04/2018 10:26

My DS has a surname as a first name, we have never had any issues with mixing up of names and have had nothing but compliments about how nice it sounds. Hudson was also on my shortlist but in the end decided on something else.

I never thought of it as being brave, it is a lovely name, we liked it and so we used it.

Anditstartsagain · 22/04/2018 10:28

My son has an uncommon surname as his first name and never had any problem though he has a surname that couldn't easily be mistaken as a first name.

Along the lines of Bradley Smith its pretty clear which is which people are unlikely to assume his name is Smith Bradley of course it could be but its unlikely.

Allmyshilldren · 22/04/2018 10:29

Wanky. Sorry.

EB123 · 22/04/2018 10:30

I like Hudson, i know one born just this week.

mintbiscuit · 22/04/2018 10:30

I think it only works if the surname is a proper surname (hope that makes sense). DS1 has a surname as a first name but he also has a very obvious sounding surname. So no mix ups.

SemperIdem · 22/04/2018 10:30

I know of a young Hudson. I don’t have particularly strong opinions on it, it wouldn’t be my choice is all.

BertrandRussell · 22/04/2018 10:32

“I know they usually don't go down as well as Oliver and Olivia on here but I really like the name Hudson for a boy”

Yep, you’re super quirky and edgy, not like us “mundanes”. That’s what you wanted to hear, I assume?

Aprilmightbemynewname · 22/04/2018 10:34

Ds is Taylor, never given it a thought it is a surname tbh!! It's just a name I loved!! Call him Hudson it's lovely!!

Witchend · 22/04/2018 10:36

Hudson is fairly popular round here. In fact I've known it more as a first name than a surname, so. I tend to think of it as a first name.

Not a huge fan of most of them though. Partially I suspect that DM was very against as her middle name was a surname type name and she hated it.

Sixgeese · 22/04/2018 10:40

I know 2 boys named Hudson, I quite like it but it does make me smile as it's my maiden name. Funny thing is I know a few people with my married named as their first name too.

StoorieHoose · 22/04/2018 10:43

Surnames as first names always remind me of that Billy Connelly joke about upper class Scottish men “Crawford have you seen Farquhar? yes he was with Findlay in the Billiards room”

hipposarerad · 22/04/2018 10:43

Don't ask for opinions on names unless you are prepared for the responses. Ds1 has my surname as his forename - my dad only had a daughter and I wanted to honour him, when dp and me finally get around to marrying I will be taking his name (my choice, freely made) so my late father, in a very small way, gets to live on (kind of, in a way that's only significant to me).

I'm well aware that some people may think it's 'wanky', luckily I don't give a shiny shit.

BertrandRussell · 22/04/2018 10:45

Of the 3.5m baby boys born in the last 10 years, 1612 were called Hudson. Hard to see how that could be called “fairly popular”!

eloisesparkle · 22/04/2018 10:55

I like surnames as a first name. Why not ?

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