Been a while since I’ve been on here: [name]Al[/name]'s almost 1 already! I was discussing a naming issue with a friend of mine and it struck me as something that may interest you all! She doesn’t want me to disclose her real name so I shall use similar alternatives. Basically her problem is that she has a surname that is a very commonly used classic boys name eg. [name]William[/name], [name]Thomas[/name], [name]Andrew[/name] etc. but her taste in boys first names tends towards surnames: [name]Murray[/name], [name]Logan[/name], [name]Abbott[/name] etc. So, what she wants to know is if they sound too backwards and she should look elsewhere or if you think that could work?
Well, my maiden name was a common boy’s first name. Think [name]Nicholas[/name] or [name]Daniel[/name]. My first name is a very obvious girl’s first name- let’s say it’s [name]Megan[/name]. You would not believe the amount of mail I get addressed to ‘[name]Nicholas[/name] [name]Megan[/name]’, or get called ‘[name]Nicholas[/name] [name]Megan[/name]’ by people who don’t know me but are reading my name off. I had a big mix up at the doctor’s office the first time I went because they called ‘[name]Nick[/name]?’ and of course I didn’t answer, so they moved on to calling the next patient’s name. I sat there for like a freaking hour or something. I also had files mislabelled at my doctor’s and my work. There was also a mixup when I went to get my taxes done with them again thinking [name]Nicholas[/name] was my first name. And that I was a man.
Maybe there are just a lot of stupid people in the world, but it was a massive annoyance for me, and I had a super obvious first name for a first name! If my name was something like [name]Abbott[/name] [name]Thomas[/name] I would expect the problem would have been far, far worse. Surnames as first names are more common now, but if it was me in her situation I would go for a more obvious first name as a first name.
Yeah, it’ll be an issue.
I have a very common first name as a last name, but luckily my surname is double barrelled (mom’s and dad’s) so I’m spared. But even my brother’s have issues, regardless of the double barrel. People just look once and assume their name is “[name]John[/name]”.
My dad gets it ALL THE TIME. Because his first name isn’t a common first name at all, so people assume that “[name]John[/name]” is his first name.
I’m afraid I’m going to have this problem when we have a child. My married last name is [name]Joseph[/name] and my DH gets things mixed up all the time when they ask for his last name and he says it.
The upside to that is that if someone calls and erroneously asks for [name]William[/name] [name]Murray[/name] instead of [name]Murray[/name] [name]William[/name] you can be pretty sure they are a telemarketer.
I dated a guy once who had two first names as a first and last name. eg. [name]Thomas[/name] [name]David[/name]. People ALWAYS got that wrong. It’s a bit annoying but it really shouldn’t dissuade you from using a name you love. Especially for a boy. [name]How[/name] many guys do you know that get called or nn’s by their last names anyway? (I think it’s like at least 60% of the guys I know) Maybe people will be confused enough to just accidentally call him by his actual first name then.
Hmmm, this is a tricky one but I guess there isn’t much she can do because people will be confused one way or another. Although to be honest I’d just read a name as it was written so if it said ‘[name]Abbott[/name] [name]Thomas[/name]’ I would just assume that was the name rather than ‘[name]Thomas[/name] [name]Abbott[/name]’ but that’s just me.
I wouldn’t avoid a name that I loved because of this because you may regret it one day and I think like the previous poster mentioned if your son has 2 first names as first and last then that will confuse people too so I’d just get on with it and pick a name that I loved.
[name]Logan[/name] is popular first name so that would work and other similar names like [name]Mason[/name], [name]Carter[/name], [name]Jackson[/name] etc. They would all work because they are recognisable as first names now too. If it’s something more unique like [name]Murray[/name] you might have a bigger problem.
There was a boy in my class who had this. First name was H@rv£y, which in itself is common as a surname but also as a first name. Same issue with his surname, L££. Amount of time substitute teachers called ‘L££’ out on the register was astounding.
I’d say if she loves the name I wouldn’t let it be a deal-breaker, but bear in mind he will have problems at some point in his life with it.
That said, there’s a few famous people who make it work. The actor [name]Paterson[/name] [name]Joseph[/name] is one, and there used to be a footballer playing in [name]England[/name] a few years back called [name]Collins[/name] [name]John[/name], so it’s not like it’s completely out there.
My father has a name like this. Our surname isn’t quite a [name]William[/name]/[name]Thomas[/name]/[name]Andrew[/name] – think more along the lines of [name]Neil[/name]/[name]Ross[/name] (i.e. a name that seems to be equally used as a first name or surname). But then his first name is virtually unheard of except as a somewhat uncommon surname. I can’t say that this seems to be a huge problem for him. By this, I mean it does happen occasionally that people confuse the order of his names, but it’s not something that he seems to find particularly annoying or problematic.
