I’m pregnant with my second son. My first is [name_m]Henry[/name_m], and he has two family middle names (four names total). We are toying with the idea of giving our second son two first names, or just one, but then using his first and middle name as his name.
For instance, one of the names we are considering is [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Dayton[/name_u] (both are also family names) and actually calling him [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Dayton[/name_u]. We live in [name_u]Texas[/name_u] now where double first names for both boys and girls are common. In fact I know a [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_m]Weldon[/name_m], and a [name_m]William[/name_m] Stead who are in 1st and 3rd grade and have always been called that.
So my questions for you are:
Should I place [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Dayton[/name_u] as two first names or place [name_m]John[/name_m] as first and [name_u]Dayton[/name_u] as second yet still call him John Dayton?
Does anyone know any adult males who still go by two names?
Any other comments?
Thanks in advance Berries!
Mom to [name_m]Henry[/name_m], born Oct 2013.
Boy #2 due in [name_u]November[/name_u] 2015.
I have a cousin who goes by his fn and mn. [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_m]William[/name_m]. He is in his 20’s (maybe early 30’s) and still uses both. I think it is very handsome. In his case, his parents chose to give him one fn and the other as a mn so he could drop down to [name_m]John[/name_m] or [name_m]Johnny[/name_m] etc if [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_m]William[/name_m] was becoming cumbersome.
[name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Dayton[/name_u] is handsome and I could definitely see a child and adult going by the full [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Dayton[/name_u]. As for whether it should be fn: [name_m]John[/name_m] mn: [name_u]Dayton[/name_u] or all the fn…I think that is really up to you and dependent on the rest of his name.
I like [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Dayton[/name_u]. Its an unexpected double name. I also really like [name_m]Henry[/name_m] and [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Dayton[/name_u] as a sibset too! I know an adult male whose mid twenties who is named [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_m]Calvin[/name_m] and goes by that full name about 90% of the time. The other 10% he goes by JC.
I love double first names and [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Dayton[/name_u] is really nice. [name_m]Even[/name_m] though its a double first, it is only three syllables so not more onerous than a [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m] or [name_u]Everett[/name_u].
And though I do not live in [name_u]Texas[/name_u], the one adult I can think of who has a double first name ([name_m]John[/name_m] [name_m]Paul[/name_m]) is actually from [name_u]Texas[/name_u].
I know a three-year-old boy named [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Michael[/name_u], and it is super cute on him. We’re in the Midwest, so it’s not a southern influence - he’s a junior, and they wanted to distinguish him from his father, who goes by “[name_m]Johnny[/name_m]”. [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Dayton[/name_u] is a handsome-sounding name to me, and I agree with the poster who remarked how it sounds wonderful with your son [name_m]Henry[/name_m]'s name, as well.
I know a boy in his late teens who goes by [name_u]Michael[/name_u] [name_m]John[/name_m], and I’ve never heard him called anything else, so I think it works
I really like [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Dayton[/name_u], it’s very gentlemanly and southern sounding, I like how the very sensible [name_m]John[/name_m] is balanced by the more unusual [name_u]Dayton[/name_u]
[name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Dayton[/name_u] is great! I love the idea of calling your child by his first and middle name. I might be a bit biased though, my #1 pick for a boy is [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Sawyer[/name_u] (first and middle, would call him both.) I’ve also had [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Parker[/name_u] on my list.
We are also starting to like [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_m]Tucker[/name_m], and maybe even calling him [name_m]Tuck[/name_m] or [name_m]Tucker[/name_m] as a nickname. What do you all think?
Much prefer [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Dayton[/name_u]. [name_m]Tucker[/name_m] is not as handsome, imo.
I used to have a 5 syllable double first name! I dropped the second name of it legally when I grew up, but not because I didn’t like having two names, but the second name had bad connotations for me.
As a child almost no-one used the second name, but maybe that was because my first name ([name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f]) is pretty unique and long on its own.
The only other people I know with 2 first names either
only ever use the first name as adults OR
are [name_m]French[/name_m] and have the hyphens ([name_u]Jean[/name_u]-[name_m]Yves[/name_m]; [name_u]Michel[/name_u]-[name_u]Claude[/name_u]; [name_f]Marie[/name_f]-[name_f]Josephine[/name_f]) which I think make it easier to keep using the two names.
My suggestion would be to make [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_u]Dayton[/name_u] his first name, that way teachers/doctor offices etc will know that’s his name and what he goes by even just reading a piece of paper. He can always choose to go by [name_m]John[/name_m] down the road if that’s what he wanted. I think it’s a handsome name and he could go by it, or just [name_m]John[/name_m] or even J.D. It has options and I like that.