Family Names

General Name Discussion
1

What family names/honor names have made it on to your list? [name_f]Share[/name_f] as much as you like, for example who you are honoring, if it’s their first or middle name, if it’s an homage (like [name_f]Daisy[/name_f] or [name_f]Pearl[/name_f] for an Aunt [name_f]Margaret[/name_f]), or if you have pulled it in from your family tree from a very old relative.

My faves:
[name_f]Josephine[/name_f] (for my great grandpa [name_m]Joe[/name_m], born [name_m]James [/name_m] [name_m]Joseph[/name_m])
[name_f]Frances[/name_f] (for my great Aunt [name_u]Frankie[/name_u] - born [name_f]Emma[/name_f] [name_f]Frances[/name_f])
[name_f]Hazel[/name_f] & [name_f]Winifred[/name_f] (for my great Aunt [name_f]Hazel[/name_f] [name_f]Winifred[/name_f] who recently passed)
[name_f]Adelaide[/name_f] (my great grandma’s middle name)
[name_f]Rose[/name_f] (my grandma’s middle name and an homage to other grandma, [name_f]Sharon[/name_f], as in [name_f]Rose[/name_f] of [name_f]Sharon[/name_f])
[name_f]Zuzu[/name_f] (nickname only. I don’t want to pass down my mom’s name, [name_f]Shari[/name_f] [name_f]Anne[/name_f], but her favorite movie is It’s a Wonderful Life)
[name_u]Marion[/name_u] (my fiance’s great grandmother whose engagement ring was given to me. also mother-in-law-to-be’s middle name)
[name_f]Mamie[/name_f] (fiance’s great great grandmother)
[name_m]Oscar[/name_m] (fiance’s grandfather)
[name_m]Axel[/name_m] (fiance’s great great great etc something lol. full name: [name_m]Axl[/name_m] [name_m]Ander[/name_m])
[name_m]Arthur[/name_m] (my great grandfather, [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] [name_u]James[/name_u])

One tradition I like that my great great grandma Mary Belle went with was to call all of her children by a nickname made from their middle names (James Joseph was Joe, Emma Frances was Frankie–two others I can’t remember). I could honor Hazel Winifred, use the tradition and call her Winnie.

2

I don’t have a lot of family names on my lists, so here they are.

[name_f]Alessandra[/name_f]/[name_f]Alexandrine[/name_f] - technically for my grandfather [name_m]Alexander[/name_m], but I never met him, so its more for all the males in my family named after him in some way.
[name_f]Marin[/name_f] - for my grandma, [name_f]Mary[/name_f]
[name_m]Gideon[/name_m] - this one is a stretch, but I could possibly use it for my grandpa [name_m]Gordon[/name_m]
[name_m]Leopold[/name_m] - for my dad’s surname [name_m]Leonard[/name_m]
[name_u]Lorne[/name_u] - for my mum [name_f]Lorna[/name_f]

I think the best family name I know of is my friend has a trio of [name_m]Lancelot[/name_m]'s in her ancestry

3

I’ve got several family surnames on my list, which I won’t share for obvious reasons. I have [name_f]Helen[/name_f] on my girls’ list to honor my great-grandmother. [name_m]Hamilton[/name_m] and [name_m]Jackson[/name_m] are on my boys’ list as possible middle names; these have been handed down in my family since the early 1800s.

4

I have more for girls than boys since there are so many more girls in our family and the boys we have are mostly named after one another in some way lol here’s just a few :slight_smile:

[name_m]Charles[/name_m] – my grandpa’s middle name
[name_m]Wiley[/name_m] – a name we found back in our family tree that we thought was a really cool name
[name_f]Dorothea[/name_f] – my great grandma’s middle name
[name_f]Kristiana[/name_f] – variation of my mom’s name, all her granddaughters so far have been named to honor her
[name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f] – there’s too many [name_m]William[/name_m]'s in the family and this name just seems so pretty

6

I’m actually not fond of using family names for the most part, but there are some I like enough to see myself placing on a birth certificate
[name_u]Addison[/name_u] (distant cousins name, though I prefer [name_f]Addie[/name_f] by itself)
[name_u]Reed[/name_u] (sister’s middle name)
[name_u]Tyler[/name_u]/[name_u]Cameron[/name_u]/[name_u]Mason[/name_u] (all would be honouring boys, but I prefer them on girls. Two of my brothers and a first cousin) I also have a soft spot for [name_u]Aiden[/name_u], another male cousin’s name. Though we have too many [name_u]Aiden[/name_u] names in my family.
[name_f]Baylie[/name_f]/Baelye (unfortunately the person this would be honouring only likes it [name_u]Bailey[/name_u]. Another sister)
[name_f]Caylin[/name_f]/[name_f]Cae[/name_f] (another sister, [name_f]Kaylyn[/name_f])
[name_f]Morgana[/name_f]/[name_u]Morgan[/name_u] (same sister as [name_u]Reed[/name_u], plus a bil’s name)
[name_f]Brianna[/name_f] (my middle is [name_f]Breann[/name_f] and [name_f]Brianna[/name_f] is a very “distant” cousin’s name. I use distant literally here)
[name_f]Cadie[/name_f] (honouring a sister, [name_f]Katelyn[/name_f] “[name_f]Katie[/name_f]”)
[name_u]Harlie[/name_u] (I have a male cousin named [name_u]Harley[/name_u])
[name_f]Marie[/name_f] (filler middle name used a lot in my family that I still sort of like)
[name_f]Cora[/name_f] (cousin’s name)

[name_m]Matthew[/name_m] (not sure what this is honouring, just know I have a relative name [name_m]Matt[/name_m])
[name_m]Wiatt[/name_m]/[name_m]Wyatt[/name_m] (I prefer [name_m]Wiatt[/name_m]. I have a cousin named [name_m]Wyatt[/name_m])

7

[name_u]James[/name_u] - after my great-grandfather, [name_u]James[/name_u]. I know it’d mean a lot to my mom and my grandma if I used it, plus it’s super classic. It’s a mn for me, though, unless I’m allowed to use the nn [name_u]Jay[/name_u] and go a little overboard with the middles.
[name_f]Susanne[/name_f] - after my grandma, [name_f]Laura[/name_f] [name_f]Sue[/name_f]. It’s the [name_m]French[/name_m] version, which is why I like it so much.
[name_m]Wayland[/name_m] - after my uncle and my grandpa (and my dad, but that whole thing is :confused: right now), who share the same middle name. My grandpa is such a wonderful man. It would also be a mn with a name that I’m more comfortable with in the front.
[name_m]Adam[/name_m] - after my stepdad, who is incredible.

8

I hesitate to love any first names currently being worn by relatives because I’ve got a lot of duplicates in my family and it can be confusing enough as is without adding a third [name_u]Michael[/name_u] or [name_m]Jack[/name_m] or [name_f]Anna[/name_f] to the mix. But I like to find variants or vague connections that honor them in some way.

[name_f]Francesca[/name_f] is for my grandparents who are both [name_f]Frances[/name_f]/is and inadvertently a cousin who I’m not too fond of at the moment.

[name_f]Carmina[/name_f] is for my great grandfather [name_u]Carmine[/name_u] who emigrated from Naples to [name_m]New[/name_m] [name_m]York[/name_m] when he was my age.

[name_f]Magnolia[/name_f] could be an honor for my sister [name_f]Maggie[/name_f], now that I’m thinking about it.

[name_f]Colette[/name_f] is for my mom [name_f]Colleen[/name_f], who often times is called Col.

[name_m]Giovanni[/name_m] is me taking a bit of creative liberty with my paternal grandmother’s maiden name. And subtly pointing out that I am in fact Italian despite my very Irish name.

[name_m]Wilder[/name_m] gives me the same vibes as [name_u]Everett[/name_u] which was the middle name of both my maternal grandfather and his father.

9

[name_f]Francine[/name_f] - This is my favorite in honor of my Great Grandmother [name_f]Frances[/name_f] and my Aunt [name_f]Francesca[/name_f]
[name_f]Rosalie[/name_f] - For my Great Aunt [name_f]Rose[/name_f]
[name_f]Juliette[/name_f] - In honor of my Mom [name_f]Julia[/name_f]

[name_m]Samuel[/name_m] - In honor of my Uncle and God Father
[name_m]Joseph[/name_m] - This name would honor my Great Grandfather. I’d also use his nn [name_u]JoJo[/name_u] :slight_smile:
[name_u]James[/name_u] - This is an honor middle for my Grandfather

These are the only ones that I’m very sure of …

10

Omgoodness, I rarely use literal family names, and honoring family is important to me, so this list is going to be huge. Plus, my list is sort of in shambles right now, so it’s a huge list anyway!

[name_f]Grace[/name_f]/[name_u]Grey[/name_u]: My grandma’s middle name ([name_f]Grace[/name_f]. [name_u]Grey[/name_u]/[name_m]Grayson[/name_m] is about as close as I can get, for a boy).
[name_f]Daisy[/name_f]/[name_f]Lily[/name_f]/[name_f]Violet[/name_f]/[name_f]Iris[/name_f]/[name_f]Poppy[/name_f]/[name_f]Lilac[/name_f]/Fiala/[name_f]Zara[/name_f]/[name_f]Rosina[/name_f]/and any other floral name I can possibly find an excuse to add to my list: for my mom. She used to garden a lot when I was very little, so my earliest (and fondest) memories of her are her in her garden. [name_f]Lily[/name_f] in particular is in honor of my paternal grandma–her last gift to me before she was laid to rest was a lily. It’s very sentimental to me.
[name_f]Olivia[/name_f]/[name_f]Liv[/name_f]/[name_f]Livia[/name_f]/[name_f]Olive[/name_f]: My great grandpa was [name_u]James[/name_u] [name_m]Oliver[/name_m]. I don’t like [name_m]Oliver[/name_m], but I love the feminine [name_f]Liv[/name_f] names!
[name_f]Violet[/name_f]/[name_f]Lilac[/name_f]: My grandma’s favorite color was purple (as is mine).
[name_f]Anneliese[/name_f] (and other [name_f]Anne[/name_f] variants): my grandma’s MN was [name_f]Grace[/name_f], and [name_f]Anne[/name_f]/[name_f]Anna[/name_f] means “grace/favor”.
[name_f]Sofia[/name_f]/[name_f]Liliane[/name_f]/[name_f]Magdalena[/name_f]/[name_f]Elodie[/name_f]: my sisters’ “names” in foreign language classes. :slight_smile:
[name_f]Eleni[/name_f]/[name_f]Helena[/name_f]/[name_f]Helene[/name_f]/[name_f]Elena[/name_f]/etc.: other variants of my sister’s MN, [name_f]Eileen[/name_f].
[name_f]Jane[/name_f]/[name_f]Giovanna[/name_f]/[name_f]Claire[/name_f]: [name_f]Jane[/name_f] and [name_f]Giovanna[/name_f] are feminizations of my dad and brother’s FN ([name_m]John[/name_m]), and [name_f]Claire[/name_f] has the same meaning as their middle ([name_m]Robert[/name_m]).
[name_f]Poppy[/name_f]: in addition to the floral significance for my mom, it’s also to represent/honor the veterans in my family. My dad, brother, grandfather, and baby sister are all either former [name_f]Air[/name_f] Force or current [name_f]Air[/name_f] Force, plus more family members in other branches.
[name_f]Kate[/name_f]/[name_f]Kaja[/name_f]/[name_f]Kaia[/name_f]/[name_f]Caterina[/name_f]: variants of my mom’s, great-grandma’s, and great-aunt’s names ([name_f]Karen[/name_f], [name_f]Katherine[/name_f], and [name_f]Cathleen[/name_f]).
[name_u]Wren[/name_u]/[name_f]Lark[/name_f]/[name_u]Robin[/name_u]/any other bird name I may use: in honor of my maternal grandma’s love of birds.
[name_f]Hope[/name_f]/other virtue names: loosely honoring my grandma’s own virtue name, [name_f]Grace[/name_f].
[name_u]Dagny[/name_u]/[name_m]Soren[/name_m]/[name_f]Kaia[/name_f]/[name_f]Liv[/name_f]/other Scandinavian names: to honor my newfound Scandinavian ancestry.
[name_f]Tessa[/name_f]/[name_f]Tess[/name_f]: variant of my grandma’s aunt’s name. I guess that would make her my great-great aunt?
[name_f]Amelie[/name_f]: variant of my great-grandma’s middle name ([name_f]Amelia[/name_f]) and my best friend’s name who passed away in 2010.
Pasqualina: I like it as an unexpected way to honor both my and [name_f]Millie[/name_f]'s separate faiths–she was a Jew and I am a [name_m]Christian[/name_m]. Pasqualina comes from a word that has come to mean both [name_f]Easter[/name_f] and Passover.
[name_f]Cara[/name_f]: sounds similar to [name_f]Karen[/name_f] (mom’s name) and is the same meaning (or one of them) as my paternal grandma’s name, [name_f]Ruth[/name_f].
[name_f]Amelia[/name_f]: Great-grandma’s middle.
[name_f]Liliana[/name_f]: [name_f]Lily[/name_f] honors grandmother’s last gift (mentioned above); [name_f]Ana[/name_f] means “grace”, like my other grandma’s middle name.
[name_u]Delaney[/name_u]: technically not a family name, but is in honor of a little [name_u]Delaney[/name_u] “[name_u]Laney[/name_u]” who saved my life when she was three and then passed away from a rare form of leukemia approximately 8 years later. She was my light and my joy.
[name_f]Mary[/name_f]/[name_u]Ash[/name_u] names: in honor of me. Both my grandmas passed down their names to their oldest daughters ([name_f]Arlene[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] -> [name_f]Karen[/name_f] [name_f]Arlene[/name_f]; [name_f]Ruth[/name_f] [name_f]Mae[/name_f] -> [name_f]Jacquelyn[/name_f] [name_f]Ruth[/name_f]), so I feel kind of like I missed out by not being [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] [name_f]Grace[/name_f], [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] [name_f]Karen[/name_f], [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] [name_f]Arlene[/name_f], [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] [name_f]Ruth[/name_f], or [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] [name_f]Mae[/name_f]. :frowning:
[name_f]Emerald[/name_f]/[name_f]Pearl[/name_f]/[name_f]Opal[/name_f]/[name_f]Garnet[/name_f]: family birthstones. [name_m]How[/name_m] convenient that they make nice names–my own (aquamarine) is not quite so nice, haha.
[name_f]Emilia[/name_f]: sound-alike of my great-grandma’s middle, [name_f]Amelia[/name_f].
[name_m]Joseph[/name_m]: [name_u]Christmas[/name_u] name, like my middle ([name_f]Marie[/name_f]/[name_f]Mary[/name_f]) and my sister’s first ([name_f]Natalie[/name_f]).
[name_u]Elias[/name_u]/[name_m]Elijah[/name_m]/[name_m]Lion[/name_m]/[name_u]Ellis[/name_u]/[name_u]Elliot[/name_u]/[name_m]Elihu[/name_m]/[name_m]Eliam[/name_m]/[name_m]Eliab[/name_m]/[name_m]Elian[/name_m]/etc.: similar-ish to my sister’s middle, [name_f]Eileen[/name_f].
[name_m]Charles[/name_m]: my mom always wanted a [name_u]Charlie[/name_u], but never was able to convince my dad.
[name_m]Conrad[/name_m]: the name of a street I grew up on.
[name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m]: as similar to [name_f]Natalie[/name_f] as you can get, pretty much, on a boy!
[name_m]Casper[/name_m]/[name_m]Gaspard[/name_m]: another [name_u]Christmas[/name_u] name.
[name_m]Jack[/name_m]: nn for [name_m]John[/name_m], my dad/brother’s name. It was also my grandpa’s nn (my dad is exclusively [name_m]John[/name_m] and my brother’s [name_m]John/name_m).
[name_u]Avery[/name_u]: a name far back on my maternal grandpa’s family line.
[name_m]Zane[/name_m]: rumored to be a form of [name_m]John[/name_m].
[name_m]Boaz[/name_m]: the husband of [name_f]Ruth[/name_f] (my nana’s name) in the Bible. I figured it’s a fun way to honor her.
[name_m]Benjamin[/name_m]: little second cousin’s name. I figure he’d get a kick out of having a cousin named after him.
Initials RM ([name_u]Rory[/name_u] [name_m]Maximilian[/name_m], [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] [name_m]Matthias[/name_m], etc.): my grandmother’s initials ([name_f]Ruth[/name_f] [name_f]Mae[/name_f]).
[name_m]Daniel[/name_m]: this has got to be my favorite inventive honor ever! My mom would drop us off to school and yell “Dare to be like [name_m]Daniel[/name_m]!” as we ran off toward the front entrance; meaning, essentially, dare to stand up for what’s right, no matter what the consequences are; it’s better to please God rather than man, etc. I figure once I explain it she’ll love it.
[name_m]Sebastian[/name_m]: I played a piece by [name_m]Johann[/name_m] [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m] [name_m]Bach[/name_m] at my grandmother’s memorial service this summer. [name_f]Lily[/name_f] is to one grandmother what [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m] is to the other.
[name_u]James[/name_u]: Great-grandpa’s name.
LB initials ([name_m]Lachlan[/name_m] [name_u]Bay[/name_u], [name_f]Lilac[/name_f] [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f], etc.): Grandpa’s actual name. He didn’t have names, just a set of two initials.
[name_m]Ian[/name_m]/[name_m]Ianto[/name_m]/[name_m]Johannes[/name_m]/etc.: forms of [name_m]John[/name_m].
KA initials ([name_u]Mackenzie[/name_u] Kuiper [name_m]Andrew[/name_m]/[name_u]Mackenzie[/name_u] Kuiper [name_m]Adam[/name_m]): my mom’s initials, [name_f]Karen[/name_f] [name_f]Arlene[/name_f].
[name_m]Christian[/name_m]: sort of for my uncle, [name_m]Christopher[/name_m] “[name_u]Chris[/name_u]”. Sort of because I just like it. And sort of because of [name_m]Hans[/name_m] [name_m]Christian[/name_m] [name_m]Andersen[/name_m].

I figured it was much easier to do it this way than to list each combo individually, since my list is exorbitantly long right now!

11

[name_m]Henry[/name_m]- my grandfather’s name
[name_m]Kenton[/name_m] and [name_m]William[/name_m]- my FILs 1st and MN
[name_f]Marissa[/name_f]- variation of [name_f]Mary[/name_f] and [name_f]Marilyn[/name_f] my mom and [name_f]MIL[/name_f]

I totally thought about using a nn of my top mns! Hubby only likes [name_f]Penelope[/name_f] in the mn spot but I love the nn [name_f]Pippy[/name_f].

12

Mostly all of the names would be used as middle names because I don’t like using the same first name as someone else in the family unless they had passed away, as in the case of [name_m]Zenon[/name_m].

[name_m]Joseph[/name_m]: a middle name for if I have a boy next, after my grandfather who is sick
[name_m]Zenon[/name_m]: the first name of my first son, after my husband’s grandfather
[name_m]Samuel[/name_m]: middle name for a boy, the name of my uncle who died
[name_m]Victor[/name_m]: middle name for a boy, my husband’s first name

[name_f]Josephine[/name_f]/[name_f]Josefina[/name_f]: middle or first name for if I have a girl next, after my grandfather [name_m]Joseph[/name_m]
[name_f]Mariana[/name_f]: middle name for a girl, for my grandma [name_u]Marion[/name_u]
[name_f]Daisy[/name_f]: middle name for a girl, for my grandma [name_f]Margaret[/name_f]

The following names aren’t necessarily honoring people, they just happen to be names I like that are similar to names in family tree.

[name_f]Adela[/name_f]: my grandma’s mother was named [name_f]Della[/name_f] (never met her)
[name_f]Elena[/name_f]: version of [name_f]Helen[/name_f], my great grandma’s name who died when I was young
[name_f]Priscilla[/name_f]: my grandma’s grandma
[name_f]Magali[/name_f]: similiar to my grandma’s ([name_f]Margaret[/name_f]) and aunt’s ([name_f]Maggie[/name_f]) names
[name_f]Rosalie[/name_f]/[name_f]Rosina[/name_f]: similar to my aunt [name_f]Rosemary[/name_f]