First names that are traditionally surnames

[dina3]

Things like:

Mason
Tyler
Hunter
Harrison
Riley

What's with the craze of giving first names that were better known as surnames not so long ago?

I don't care for it personally but I think it used to be quite a Scottish thing, eg Cameron, Fraser, Muir, Murray, Brodie etc, possibly as a way of perpetuating a surname in a family where it might otherwise have died out.
Anything else is just current fashion and so likely ultimately to become old fashioned, leaving the affected children forever linked to the early 21st century!

Doing this has been around for generations. It's not a new thing.

It was popular in the Victorian era and often it would be the mother's maiden name. Especially if she didn't have brothers.

I don't think it's a craze, it's been happening for many years.

Some of them seem ok, but I don't like the trend.
Some of them are unisex.

Names like Lindsay, Shirley and Leslie now seem dated

This has been happening for years it's not a recent craze I just think the sounds of some of those names have made them more popular today

It’s been around for centuries and is a normal way that names develop, especially male names.

Most boys' names are also surnames: Thomas, John, Philip, Andrew, Martin, Christopher, Arthur, Daniel, Joseph, Adam, David, William, Harry, Edward, Charles, Michael, Zachary, Ellis, George, Patrick, Francis.........

@Justkeeppedaling , some of those aren't surnames

Those can all be surnames. Which ones are you questioning?

@Justkeeppedaling Philip, Andrew, Christopher, Arthur, Joseph, William, Harry, Edward,Michael, Zachary

Sorry, Joseph is also a surname.

It’s not a craze, loads of boys names can be surnames. Although in some cases you would drop the ‘S’ at the end of the surname, such as Roberts, Williams, Andrews, Owens, Matthews, Daniels.

In addition to the ones where you would drop the ‘s’, you have:
James
Thomas
Lee
Cameron
Clarke
Gregory

@InTheNightWeWillWish , you'e got that the wrong way round. The surnames are boys' names with an s added.

Similarly, you get surnames like Mac-, Mc-, O'-, P-, B- and -son,where somewhere in the past a man's name was used as his child's surname

I think that it's always happened here but occurs a lot more in America and with social media etc and pop culture being one of Americas biggest exports the surname as first name thing is picking up over here at the speed of light. I know a 19 yo who has a Grayson and she's pregnant with DS2 and considering Hunter!!

There is a tradition of using the mother's maiden name as a first name for a child, usually a boy.

But the idea of using basically random surnames that don't have family significance is more recent. I think it has a lot to do with the influence of American pop culture. To me it's noticeable that the surnames are almost always British, and sometimes Irish. But nobody is interested in calling their child Papadopoulos or González.

Mortimer.

I know people with all of these surnames:
•Mrs Philip - teacher in DCs' old school
•Martin Andrew - bloke at work
•David Christopher - friend of DH
•James Arthur - singer
•Lesley Joseph - actress
•William - ok you've got me there, but Williams is common
•Christopher Harry - guy I was in school with
•Mary Edward - friend of DM
•Alun Michael - politician
•Susan Zachary - in school with me

You know all those people? Blimey.

There’s Cruz. And Rocco.

@Snowiscold I'm not sure about Cruz, but Rocco is more common in Italy as a first name than as a surname. It's a saint's name.

We've been doing this in Scotland for hundreds of years

Stuart
Cameron
Murray
Fraser
Graham
Lindsay
Kelvin
Gordon
Henry
Lewis
Ross

There was a little Mackenzie at school with DS. A girl - funny, I would have thought it was a boys name (Mac meaning son of…). She is American, so maybe it’s a namw out there.

Oh, Rocco is a saint? I had no idea.

I don't know, but I much prefer it to the craze of giving pretentious awful names like Hector, Magnus and Calliope.

Most of the boys I grew up with in Scotland, including my brother, had names which you would consider surnames. I’m in my 60s so hardly a new thing.