DS having same name as his Daddy?

[babynumber2onboard]

We haven't found out what we are having yet, but if we are having a boy, I'd love him to have the same name as his Daddy!

What are people's experiences of the logistics of having father and son with the same name?

DPs name can't be shortened as it only has one syllable, so just wondering how the two could be distinguished if I were telling a story about them etc.

Thanks!

Please think it through properly op.

I'm named after my mum, am now 41 and still hate it ( and the name too ) and it has caused endless problems over the years.

I've seriously considered changing it.

I have a male relative named after his father who is, in turn nam d after his father. We solved it by calling Grandad "Big [name]", Dad -"Young [name]", Son "Little "[name]". It was a a pita. It meant a lot to the Grandad why never knew his own father and was born into extreme poverty in the late 1910s.
When the Grandad died, they all got moved up, so to speak. The youngest is about to hit 30 and is a senior manager. No kids but it will be interesting to see what he and any partner chose if they do. Hope they break the cycle.

My dad had the exact same name as his father and his grandad and great grandad. They all had the same name as it was tradition. When I had my first child he told me to never name my child after him, myself nor my husband. He said they both were often mixed up for all sorts, letters would get opened by the other one. Also he felt that he lacked any individuality. He wished that he had his own name. So my advice would be, to not do it.

It’s tricky as you would automatically be attaching the “Young XXXXX” moniker to him all his life. Even when he’s 50 he’ll still be “Young XXXXX” in the eyes of your family

HOWEVER

My DH has one of my all time favourite names and if we have another boy I’d love to call him the same name as my husband (note I didn’t say “I’d like to give him my husbands name”).

Sadly DH has ultravetoed that happening so Gary it is.

Awful idea. He needs his own identity

The men in my family have done this for generations...
My brother:Kevin Gary, known as Gary
My Dad: Kevin John known as John
My Granddad: Kevin Alfred, known as Alf
My great Grandad: Kevin James, known as Jim.

Dont do it!

Why can’t you let your child have their own identity? I think it’s rather sad.

My sister did this with her son. We all hate it. If you are talking about child you have to say little Eddie all the time. If you are talking about dad & want to be clear you have to say Big Eddie. His brother & sister only call him Little Eddie. I know it annoys her now but it was oldest son got dads name. Carried in a tradition.

I can't think of anything worse, I wouldn't do it. It seems really unimaginative there are millions of names out there. You must be able to think of another you both like.

Why would you do this?

My DH has the same name as his father and grandfather.
It’s a logistical nightmare when talking about them. FIL changed his, and goes by his middle name instead and GFIL is no longer with us so DH is the only one using the name now.

How will they know whether a confidential letter is for the father or son if addressed to Mr John Smith?

Or will letters be addressed to Mr Little John Smith?

I have the same name as my auntie and it's so annoying, one of us in known as big name and one little name - on age - we don't see each other all the time but family get togethers are a nightmare

People seem to forget why we name a person or a thing - so they can easily be identified!!

I know someone who is named after his dad, everyone calls him 'little Paul' even though he's a grown man, he still gets called it. You could call him 'xxx junior' and call him junior for short, save the confusion but still have dad's name in there.
Personally I'd rather have my son have his own name and identity, but if you really like it then go for it, there's a lot worse you could call your children!

We have done this. Both my DH and my DS have the same full name (inc middle name) but they use different shortenings eg they are called William and one goes by Wills and one goes by Billy.

It's fine and there's no confusion day to day.

But it has caused major issues when booking tickets, especially for flights. Having two tickets in the same name causes all sorts of issues with airlines. We're seriously thinking of adding a "Junior" to DSs name.

Dull unimaginative egotistical

My dad and my brother have the same name. It's not but imagine it's Steven.
In the family we've also got an uncle Steven. So we tend to use... Alice's (mum's) Steven, Jane's (Aunt's) Steven and young Steven (brother).
In the house dad was referred to as Steve and brother got his full name by mum. (Different middle initials and in post terms dad was Mr and brother was master so we knew who was who)

None of them mind having the same name.

However my partner has his dad's full name. As in James Mark Lima and James Mark Lima Jr.

He hates it. The post always got mucked up and he's unofficially changed it years ago. ( Wants to deed poll in future but his mother keeps telling him how upset his dad would be so never got around to it)

So there you go. There's no answer as I have both. But if you do and your child feels like he's got no separate identify as an adult allow them to change it without the emotional baggage! (I love my mil but this one issue bring so much stress!)

Sorry my phone ate my paragraphs!!
They were There as I typed

I have the same name as my mum, and no middle name. I hated it. Nothing was private. I lived at home during uni and any post with our name on it, she would open. So nothing was private. She'd read all my bank statements, even post which was obviously not hers. I was president of a society and she would open that post and read it. Everything. Always said it's because she needed to be sure it wasn't for her.

Guess what Donald Trump's eldest son is called?
I rest my case.

I can kind of understand it if every first son / daughter has the same name so you’re just being traditional and not really naming after the dad/ mum but also after grandparent, great grandparents etc.
I find the idea of doing it without it having been done the last few generations odd and egotistical. Why would you want to name the child after yourself? Normally when you name a child after relatives it’s a bit of an honour so doing this for yourself seems a bit big headed.
I also note it’s almost always men that name their sons after themselves not women.

OP, would you name your daughter your name?

We have done this. Both my DH and my DS have the same full name (inc middle name)

@Spaghettio, can I ask why you chose to do this? I'm not being critical or disrespectful, I'm just curious to understand, as it's so far from my own feelings about naming babies.

My husband has his father's name. He hates it.

My uncle has my grandfather's name, who had his father's name - they are/were all known by their middle names. It does cause confusion.