Surnames as a first name

[Moominfan]

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

It’s horrible and very Americanised.

Porter. Yeah, let’s name him after a servant, etc.

You use Oliver in the OP but that’s a surname too! I have a Harrison, which appears to be disliked on here by the ‘it’s a surname’ers, but my dd is called Lara, and it’s never mentioned that about that being a surname. It’s not a new thing, I gather.

One of my sons is named Cooper. He's older than 10, and at the time, living in Scotland we got quite a lot of confused faces and asking us to repeat. A young family member (

Hudson is awesome. I liked it for DS2 after Hudson Bay in Canada.

Whether we like it or not our names go before us, and are often the first impression people have of us.
My friend is a primary school teacher and says that there are certain types of names which suggest certain types of families. The boys with surnames as first names and the girls with double barrelled first names (Ava May, Lilly Rae etc) tend to be from younger parents and working class families.
The more traditional names are favoured my older middle class parents.
Then there are neutral names which carry fewer ‘clues’.
This is obviously a big generalisation, but I didn’t want my child to be labelled into a class before people had met them, so I’d always choose a neutral name.

Yes, a huge generalisation, and not an assumption that anyone with an iota of sophistication or class themselves would make I should think.

Hudson is actually becoming quite popular (I know of 4 toddlers with the name) so don’t think you would have any issues.

I also work in a school and have never known paperwork to get completed incorrectly because office staff are usually capable of inputting data correctly.

Also my surname is actually a boy’s first name and my children have never had any confusion with that being their first name.

People are very accepting of name choices these days so I wouldn’t over think it

I am amazed that someone knows 4 Hudsons. There are less thn 200 a year out of 300000 baby boys born.....

Along the lines of Bradley Smith its pretty clear which is which

Do you follow MotoGP by any chance, Anditstarts?

I think it sounds awful sorry. I cringe when someone says their child is called Hunter/Logan/Spencer/Hayden etc.

@OneStepSideways How rude! Imagine having the bad manners to cringe when someone tells you their child's name.

I suppose you'd be ok with someone recoiling when they saw your baby if they thought it was ugly. Urgh.

How rude! Imagine having the bad manners to cringe when someone tells you their child's name

I don't visibly cringe, just inwardly. I say 'oh how cute'

And I'm sure you come across as so sincere.

My surname was a common girls name and my middle name was a common surname following my Scottish family tradition, it got 'corrected' by people a lot. Just two surnames should be okay though.

I've known two Hudsons. I quite like it. The whole surname as a first name isn't an issue. I mean think of William and Thomas both surnames and totally acceptable first names. I really liked Flynn as a first name for my son but another family member has it as a surname so it did slightly put us off. I'm not a fan of Riley or Cooper type names, no idea why but I think people just like the sound of names sometimes.

Hudson is a nice name, but I've known some wonderful Olivers and Olivias too.

My DS has a first name that can be either girl or boy, first name or surname. His middle name is my maiden name (that of a lovely actor who died whilst filming Batman) and can also be a first or surname. And in all fairness, i know of a comedien that has his surname as a first name! his dad is Scottish so its pretty commonplace.

Mother's maiden name as first name also very standard in rural northern families - plenty of Tysons around before Mike Tyson ruined it for everyone.

QueenOfMyWorld
I've got a Mason too. Lovely name. He's 24 now and it suits him even more as an adult

So anyone called Thomas, Alexander, James etc, have wanky, chav names. Someone better tell the Queen what a chav she is naming one of her sons Charles!

No one would bat an eyelid at those above names, so why not Hudson? Why are some surnames as first names perfectly okay, and others not? Makes no sense at all.

I'll only say yes to Hudson, if his middle name is Hornet. Otherwise, its a no.

Meh - I'm married to a Fraser, my brother was a Spencer and my kids are Carter and Sullivan.

Have a very Scottish surname. Couldn't give a rats ass if someone thinks they're chavvy names, we thankfully don't live in the UK where people are obsessed with a class system that doesn't tend to exist anywhere else...

I find it more appealing if I think of it as being named after the Hudson River, not a surname.

Not RTFT, but I don't think Toilet-Brush could ever be an approved MN name.

Well said @Strokethefurrywall! (A sentence I never thought I'd write ). Those are all lovely names. I was so happy to get away from the so called 'class lack of class system'!

Sometimes I love Mumsnet and other times there’s threads like this.
People can be dicks, if you like the name then absolutely go for it. I personally like it. Why anyone would have such strong feelings towards what someone else names their child, I don’t know