A current post in the boy”s forum brought up an interesting topic for me. Some posters referred to this as ”backwards names” or ”reverse name syndrome”. For example, if my last name is [name]Cooper[/name] and I chose the fn [name]Bennett[/name], there might be some confusion to whether it”s [name]Cooper[/name] [name]Bennett[/name] or [name]Bennett[/name] [name]Cooper[/name], and might set a child up for a lifetime of correcting people.
I am particularly interested in this topic because my last name is a very common surname that now ranks in the top 100 for both boys and girls and continues to rise. With the rise in popularity of occupational/surnames, I am sure many others face the same issue.
So Berries, what are your thoughts on this? Should backwards names be avoided? Or are there any rules or things you can think of that might make it okay?
I feel like this issue is more prevalent when naming boys. There are so many great boys names could be considered a last name.
It’s not so bad having a backwards name. You get used to correcting teachers, proffesors, and anywhere your last name is listed first on a form. Atleast that’s what a friend has explained to me. Her name is [name]Allison[/name] [name]Hannah[/name].
I think I’d avoid a backwards name. I know a [name]Kelly[/name] [name]Lynn[/name] and she is constantly correcting people who think her name is [name]Lynn[/name] [name]Kelly[/name]. And once she called someone and she overheard the person who answered telling the person she was calling, “[name]Kelly[/name] and [name]Lynn[/name] are on the phone.” I know she’s faced a lot of confusion over it.
I like some surname-type names, but as we have a double barrelled surname i wouldn’t use them as it will probably be hard enough reminding folk to use both parts of the surname, much less mixing it up with the first name.
I think if your surname is commonly used as a first, you should avoid surnamey firsts for your child. It would set them up for a lot of unneccessary trouble I think.
I have a friend named [name]Ranger[/name] [name]John[/name] who gets issues with forms, passports etc… his is an extreme example, but with surnamey firsts becoming more common, it might become more of a problem.
i have this same problem. Our last name is [name]Austin[/name], and I love surname first names, which is a huge bummer. When i met my husband I thought his name was backwards ([name]Brady[/name] [name]Austin[/name]). Because I’d only met people with [name]Austin[/name] as a first name and [name]Brady[/name] as a last name.
I agree with the previous posters. I would try to avoid it if at all possible.
I would avoid it too, and try to keep fns obvious first names with a commonly used surname LN. (i.e. [name]Victoria[/name] [name]Taylor[/name] instead of [name]Morgan[/name] [name]Taylor[/name])
Thanks for the feedback. I think I agree that I should stay clear of surnamey names. It’s unfortunate though because I really like some of these that might fall into that category:
As you can see, I am drawn to names that are short, 1-2 syllables. I am not sure what my style is, but I tend to like uncommon (not in top 200), southern and masculine names that are easy to spell and pronounce.
So what BOY names are clearly first-name names that might fit my style?
I think it depends on the surname you choose to place in the fn position. For instance I consider [name]Pierce[/name], [name]Dean[/name], [name]Vance[/name], [name]Drake[/name] and [name]Reid[/name]/[name]Reed[/name] to be more fn/mn names than surnames. However, I can definitely see there being some confusion if you used [name]Brooks[/name], [name]Archer[/name], [name]Cruz[/name] or [name]Thatcher[/name]. That being said, if the name you fall in love with is [name]Thatcher[/name] then I say you should go for it. I once had a doctor whose name was [name]William[/name] [name]Williams[/name]. As long as you don’t do something like that I’d say you’ll be fine.
lizzyq: Thanks for the suggestions. I actually like a lot of these names and most of them flow well with my last name, but I’m afraid most of these are too popular for my taste, especially since my last name is so common too.
caty_beth89: I wonder if others agree with you on the names [name]Pierce[/name], [name]Dean[/name], [name]Vance[/name], [name]Drake[/name] and [name]Reid[/name]/[name]Reed[/name]. I wonder if it makes a difference when you hear the flow with my actual surname.
[name]Do[/name] any of you Berries know of a website to check popularity of last names?
Also, I would love more suggestions for true first-name names that are uncommon and fit with some of the criteria I mentioned.
I thought you’d like [name]Rex[/name] the most out of those. Here are some more:
[name]Guy[/name] (not in top 1000)
[name]Rufus[/name] (not in top 1000)
[name]Amos[/name] (Not in top 1000)
[name]Gus[/name] (not in top 1000)
[name]Burt[/name] (not in top 1000)
[name]Angus[/name] (not in top 1000)
[name]Leon[/name] (417)
[name]Alvin[/name] (524)
I think you might have been a little closer to my style with the last group of suggestions. I don’t know if I’m brave enough to use something that’s not in the top 1000. [name]Leon[/name] is interesting though…something to chew on. But [name]Alvin[/name] always takes me to chipmunk territory.
Thanks for the help though. I’m starting to get my list together.
Question, does the name [name]Crew[/name] sound like a surname to you? Other than being a word name, I think it was originally derived from last name [name]Crewe[/name] or [name]Carew[/name].
But if you heard the name [name]Crew[/name] [name]Reed[/name], would [name]Reed[/name] [name]Crew[/name] get thrown around? Would it make a difference if it was spelled Cru or [name]Crewe[/name]?
[name]Just[/name] curious…DH likes this name but I am not sure how I feel about it yet.
[name]Crew[/name] does sound like a surname right off the bat. When you paired it with [name]Reed[/name] I think [name]Crew[/name] [name]Reed[/name] flows better than [name]Reed[/name] [name]Crew[/name], so I don’t see people getting the two confused. Maybe ‘flow’ is the answer to our question?
This is also very frustrating when it comes to gender ambiguity.
For example, [name]Ellis[/name] [name]Reid[/name] may be a girl but [name]Reid[/name] [name]Ellis[/name] is all boy.
Good point…maybe it’s all about flow. And you’re right about gender ambiguity which is why I like a more masculine first. Well then, I might as well come out with my real last name so I can test it on some of my favorite surnamey names. Could any of these work without the reverse/backwards problem?
When I see all these written out, I think I’m really leaning towards a true first-name name, like [name]Rex[/name], [name]Hugh[/name], [name]Enzo[/name], etc. Hmmm…lots to think about. Any other suggestions?
[i]http://howmanyofme.com/[/i] is a good website for checking the popularity of last names (along with first names and fn/last name combos) http://www.namestatistics.com/ is another one. They only do popularity in the US though.
[name]Pierce[/name] [name]Riley[/name] and [name]Reid[/name] [name]Riley[/name] are the only two on your list I wouldn’t want to try to switch around if the order wasn’t clear. They’re just flowy enough that it works. [name]Vance[/name] [name]Riley[/name] is not bad.
I associate [name]Riley[/name] more with boys than girls, so I don’t see a gender ambiguity problem with any of your names. Each [name]Riley[/name] I know is male.
I’m noticing these are all one syllable names - which is great because you love short masculine names!
