Family Names

General Name Discussion
1

I have quite a few family names that I strongly wish to use… And a few others I’m strongly pressured to use but no way will I name my child after a seletively abusive, possible sociopath? Which is kind of harsh, but I don’t want to start family drama by bringing up all the horrible things she has done?

[name_m]Kenneth[/name_m] [name_m]Charles[/name_m] - I love [name_m]Kenneth[/name_m] for a middle name, but do you think it’s okay to use names that start with [name_m]KEN[/name_m]? Or is that too far removed? [name_u]Kennedy[/name_u], [name_m]Kenneth[/name_m]? [name_u]Kendall[/name_u], [name_m]Kenneth[/name_m]? And I am happy to use [name_m]Charles[/name_m], [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] is a cute but common nickname. [name_m]How[/name_m] about [name_f]Charlize[/name_f] for a girl? What other female derivatives of there of [name_m]Charles[/name_m]?

[name_m]John[/name_m], [name_m]Bill[/name_m]/[name_m]William[/name_m].

[name_m]Vincent[/name_m] - my grandfather is heavily, heavily involved in a charity with this name, and it became a pillar of strength for him after [name_f]Nan[/name_f] died… And I really would like to honour Grandad, his hard work, his helping others and all the good that came from him throwing himself into charity work after he lost nan. Its totally okay to name a child [name_m]Vincent[/name_m] for that reason, right?

[name_f]Norma[/name_f] - but instead [name_f]Nora[/name_f]?

I also have female family names that I would like to use… but I’m not 100% on any of them as none of them really grab me. [name_m]How[/name_m] did you decide who you would and would not name your children after? Were there relatives that you were expected or pressured to name your baby after, but based on the person, no way would you name your child after them? (I’m a little in that boat… A LOT).
It’s not that I don’t love my other family members, and there are other ways to honour them, but its just that their names are not names I would use.

2

[name_m]Charles[/name_m] feminine variation is [name_f]Caroline[/name_f], [name_f]Carolina[/name_f], [name_f]Carol[/name_f], [name_f]Carlotta[/name_f], [name_f]Carrie[/name_f] which is also a separate name from [name_u]America[/name_u] meaning song, melody

i dont like [name_f]Charlize[/name_f], reminds me of [name_m]Theron[/name_m], as well as [name_f]Charmaine[/name_f] - they both feel cheap to me

[name_f]Norma[/name_f] reminds me of [name_f]Norma[/name_f] [name_u]Jean[/name_u] = [name_f]Marilyn[/name_f] [name_u]Monroe[/name_u]…she changed her name hint hint

i love [name_m]Ken[/name_m] names, [name_u]Kennedy[/name_u] is my favorite DONT USE IT IF YOU USE [name_f]NORMA[/name_f] FOR OBVIOUS ADULTERY CONNOTATIONS

your reasons for [name_m]Vincent[/name_m] are great and very nice, sounds like its for yourself and not for someone else. can always use [name_m]Vince[/name_m], i happen to love this name

if you dont have a relationship with a relative that makes you feel like naming your child is an honor to not only the relative BUT ALSO THE CHILD, dont use the name.

best advice in order for everyone to be treated equally, equally reject all of them and DONT NAME YOUR KID AFTER ANYONE

ps since you mentioned your [name_f]Nan[/name_f] you can try [name_f]Nancy[/name_f] or [name_f]Nanette[/name_f] as well or use her name as inspiration

3

[name_m]Kenneth[/name_m] – I personally am not a fan of the name, but I would be okay with seeing it as a middle. I don’t think names that begin in [name_m]Ken[/name_m] are too far removed. You already mentioned [name_u]Kennedy[/name_u] and [name_u]Kendall[/name_u]; there’s also [name_m]Kendrick[/name_m], [name_m]Kent[/name_m], and [name_m]Kenyon[/name_m]. You could also use [name_u]Mackenzie[/name_u] or [name_f]Kenna[/name_f], as they’re both derived from the same Scottish name as [name_m]Kenneth[/name_m].

[name_m]Charles[/name_m] – [name_m]Charles[/name_m] nn [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] will always be a classic. [name_f]Charlize[/name_f] is NMS. Some feminine variations are [name_f]Caroline[/name_f] and [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] ([name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] is also very cute with the nn [name_u]Charlie[/name_u]). Other names that have a similar look/sound: [name_f]Chantal[/name_f], [name_u]Chase[/name_u], [name_f]Charity[/name_f], [name_f]Charisse[/name_f], [name_u]Chauncey[/name_u]

[name_m]John[/name_m] – Classic. Variation ideas: [name_m]Ian[/name_m], [name_f]Johanna[/name_f], [name_m]Jonathan[/name_m], [name_m]Sean[/name_m], [name_u]Shane[/name_u]

[name_m]William[/name_m] – Also a classic. Variation ideas: [name_m]Wilhelm[/name_m], [name_f]Willa[/name_f], [name_m]Willem[/name_m], and [name_m]Willis[/name_m]. Other names that have a similar sound: [name_m]Willard[/name_m], [name_m]Wilson[/name_m], [name_u]Willoughby[/name_u]

[name_m]Vincent[/name_m] – I’m okay with this name, but again I’d personally be happier seeing it in a middle spot. There really aren’t any variations of this.

[name_f]Norma[/name_f] – Not a fan. Another name that doesn’t really have any variations, but [name_f]Nora[/name_f] is nice.

The only names that we’ve considered are immediate family members, and they’re all classic names ([name_m]Andrew[/name_m], [name_u]James[/name_u], [name_m]David[/name_m]) so we haven’t really had the same issue as you. We haven’t felt any pressure to name our kids after any family members, but both of our families do have a tradition of giving the first son the father’s name as a middle. We’ll probably do that too, but I don’t think anyone would be offended if we didn’t.

4

[name_m]Both[/name_m] of my children are named after family members. The only person who encouraged us to name after somebody else was my grandfather-in-law [name_m]Werner[/name_m] who wanted us to use my FIL’s name instead since he didn’t feel like he deserved it. We disagreed and used it for [name_m]Patrick[/name_m]'s middle name anyways. For us it’s been pretty easy to choose which names/family members. We both loved the name [name_m]Patrick[/name_m] and the fact that it was my husband’s middle name just gave it a nice family connection. [name_f]Mary[/name_f] is named after my mother along with my [name_f]MIL[/name_f] and four great-grandmothers all named [name_f]Mary[/name_f]. However many don’t go by [name_f]Mary[/name_f] (either middle names or referred to by everyone as Grandma) so it’s really not confusing at all.
If we have a third then we’ll probably struggle a lot more with picking a name and possibly facing resistance from other relatives. We’ve done the exact name for the correct gender so far. They are also both names my husband and I love for the name itself. So I never felt like we were compromising on a name that I loved to honor a family member. If you’re not crazy about the name then I would make it a middle name. I think you can use variations if you would like but it might not seem as obvious of a honoring somebody if you start to veer off to far from the actual name.