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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Middle name as first name

17 replies

Fredisbest · 08/12/2020 08:38

My sons middle name I want for DS2 is this strange?!
Hubby wouldn’t let me have it as first name for DS1

OP posts:
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latheritup · 08/12/2020 08:49

I know someone who has done similar. For example, DS1 name is Arthur James and DS2 is called James Arthur. It's bloody bizarre considering how many names there are in the world!

TheFormerPorpentinaScamander · 08/12/2020 08:50

I know someone who's dd1 is called (for example) Katherine Louise. Then her dd2 is called Louise Jane

FelicityPike · 08/12/2020 08:53

Yeah I don’t like that.
I knew someone who did this with her middle of 3 dds...she gave the baby the middle one’s (very unusual, but gorgeous) middle name as her first name. I felt so sorry for the middle one. It was almost like she’d had her identity stolen.

Fredisbest · 08/12/2020 09:19

DS1 middle name would have been his first name if I had the choice though! It is a family name not a name I like

OP posts:
Ohalrightthen · 08/12/2020 09:25

Yeah, you've already used it, can't use it again.

DS1 will feel like you don't like his first name and prefer his middle name
DS2 will feel like you couldn't be bothered to choose a name just for him, so reused one you'd already given DS1.

Let it go.

Growingyou · 08/12/2020 10:48

Go for it! How many people's middle name's do you know?! He will be known to most of the world as 'first name + surname'. By the time he's an adult, many people will never know his sibling's name let alone his sibling's middle name! Plus, if it's already a family name, it will be lovely they both have that common thread.

emmathedilemma · 08/12/2020 10:50

Not ok IMO.

Fredisbest · 08/12/2020 12:12

@Growingyou

Thank you I thought it was a nice idea obv not everyone does tho ha.

The other option is Francis nn Frank

OP posts:
Antonin · 08/12/2020 14:47

OP I really can’t see any problem with doing this. Consider whether you, yourself feel proprietary about your middle name. Would you personally have felt you’d had your identity undermined? I know of a family in Australia, where each child after the first has the previous child’s name as a middle and the last has all their names. The siblings love it and feel it is a bond, a compliment.
No doubt you will talk to DC1 when it comes to naming the baby and it will be explained in a way that won’t affect the way he feels about his first name. Most families have little stories about how their children came to be named. The most obvious thing to tell DC1 is that when he arrived you just knew he was an X and that name really suited him — a strong name etc. This new baby looks just like a Y and you fee l he’ll feel happy to share that name with his little brother.

YoniAndGuy · 08/12/2020 15:32

No don't. Give it as the middle name again, and then they'd have a lovely connection? But no as the first name.

However, Francis is really awful!!!!!

yikesanotherbooboo · 08/12/2020 15:47

I know a couple of families who have done this. My thought as a child was that the parents couldn't be bothered to think of a name for DC2.

CatRamsey · 08/12/2020 15:52

I don't really think it matters. Could you use a variation of it?

I know someone whose eldest had Rose as a middle name and her younger sister was called Rosie.

Himawarigirl · 08/12/2020 16:26

My friend did this. Loved the name Idris but was talked into only using it as a middle name for her first. She was still stuck on it by ds2 so they called him that.

Lulu345 · 08/12/2020 20:09

Go for it. I know people who have done this and there's never an issue. And if the younger one ever wants fake ID he can just use his older brothers and say he goes by his middle name 😂

IamnotwhouthinkIam · 08/12/2020 20:19

If it's a family name (ie. one that's already been used elsewhere already in the family) then I don't see why it's a big deal that it's already DS1's middle name. It will be a nice link between family members - DS1 middle name, DS2 first name, plus other male relative/s. I do think that DH needs to like the name too though, as it's a joint decision.

FippertyGibbett · 08/12/2020 20:23

I think it would be nice that they share a name.

CharitySchmarity · 10/12/2020 10:32

I don't love the idea, but if it's good enough for the Queen, I don't see why not.

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