Would you use a supposed 'girl's' name as a middle name for your DS?

[flightattendant]

I thought I'd made it up but apparently it's already a (rare) girls' name. (nooo! panic!) Nobody I know has heard of it btw...

Its meaning is defined in Webster's 1913 dictionary as 'evening' and it's also supposed to mean 'evening star' (an old fashioned name for Venus) and there are a few ships used to be named it as well.

I thought it was dignified and beautiful, would have used it for a girl or a boy - but as a middle name, which we are really stuck for, would you think it respectable enough for DS? DS1 has already got used to the two names together, so have I and can't think of anything else...

Name is Hesper. (First name William)

Yes, no one cares about middle names

well i you had to look it up, doubt if anyone ele woudl bother, sounds very poshe ..

I haven't heard of it, and would assume that it was a boy's name, if anything.

You can't use these names if your surname is Smith, coz then the boy will be called WH Smith.....

Excellent!!!! That was one of my favourite shops when i was a kid...fond memories of when they used to sell lego!

No, our surname begins with R. Oh, glad to know nobody would laugh.

I had about 300 great girls names lined up and of course it had to be a boy!

I think we'll just have to use it anyway because I have no other ideas...

Bit girly sorry!
I think middle names can matter very much. i remember at school dreading it when I had to say in class what my middle name was... and I was teased rotten.... strange thing is now I have called my daughter that awful middle name.... Matilda!
(at the time it was considered truely horrendous by my class mates)

Yeah, that was my worry, don't want him to get hassle over it - a bit like Hester I suppose.

Should I stick my Dad's name in first, ie. William Stephen Hesper, then he only needs to admit one of them!?

Btw Matilda is nice

(but I shan't nick it)

I think people are more likely to assume that it's a family surname than a girl's name. I have a surname as my middle name which is also a boy's name but I was never teased.

I like Hesper, why did you make it up? Is it a combination of your and dh's name or something?

If he doesn't want to admit to it, he doesn't have to. Unless it's an official document, then he'll have to admit to both middle names.

Unless you want him to have your dad's name, I wouldn't bother. Lots of kids don't have middle names at all (Neither my dp or my two littlies have them)

I reckon some parents give their offspring a 'wacky' middle name, cos they arent brave enough to give it as a first name! There is something secretive and therefore potentially more embarassing about revealing a middle name... whereas, if you just called DS Hesper... then he would have nothing to hide! And everyone would just go... ok, that's a bit odd... and then get on with it!
(well maybe!)

I'm not too keen about too many names... gets a bit of a mouthful IMO.

Good luck with your decision!

Thanks - Bran, I can't remember now, must have been a few years ago but I just kind of liked it. The meaning more than anything.

I expect he'll be born at midday though just to spite me

BTW My DS has an 'odd' first name and a very dull middle name... if he can't stand his first name when he is older!
Most people on first hearing it say... "oh that's unusual...how do you spell it... where does it come from?"... and then forget what his name was, and call him something else!

HA - same about too many middle names, DS1 only has the one. I suppose you're right about the acceptance thing, but I just prefer William as a first name. At least if I stick the weirdy one in between, he will have the option to lie about it!

I like it.