I have always been really close with all of my extended family, so the only reason I would ever name my child one of their names would be to honor them. It never really occurred to me that this just doesn’t matter to some people who aren’t close with their relatives. In casual discussions about names, my boyfriend pointed out several that are already in his family. [name]One[/name] name would honor his grandfather who he is close with, but he cousin who he doesn’t speak to was also named after his grandfather. He definitely wouldn’t want his child named after this cousin. Another name he has always loved happens to be an uncle’s name who he doesn’t talk to. Another one of his favorites is my cousin’s name. I’m close with my cousin but he is quite a bit younger than me. This isn’t an issue that’s too important to us right now, but I am curious what other people think, and for the future.
I wouldn’t give my child the name of one of my cousins purely because in my family it would cause fights.
I do like honouring family in names though. My daughter’s middle name is [name]Heather[/name], which is my mums name and also the flower of [name]Scotland[/name] (which is why mum got it).
I like the idea of honoring family, but I would only put it in the middle so the baby would have their own name too.
The only family I’d want to honor are immediate family, so I think I would honor them by using the same initials, or make their name the middle name.
I see nothing wrong at all about using an actual name, but I prefer names that are related somehow and there are so many ways I think work: meaning, sounds, letters, initials, related names. If it evokes the feeling to you, and, if you’re trying to honor a living person and they wouldn’t prefer to have their actual name used (and vice versa!) to me that’s enough!
I love the idea of honoring family! I’ve rarely considered using a family name just because I like the name, though! I mean, I do like some family names but I would only use them because I want to honor family, for the most part, especially as a FN. If your mom was [name]Catherine[/name] and you name your daughter [name]Catherine[/name] [name]Lily[/name] or something I would think the majority of your family would assume that you were trying to honor your mom, you know, not that you just liked the name [name]Catherine[/name]. The only name that I would consider using and wouldn’t necessarily want to honor family is [name]Joshua[/name]. It’s my cousin’s name and I don’t really want to honor him, but I love the name, especially in the mn spot. Right now I have [name]Everett[/name] [name]Joshua[/name] [name]Charles[/name] and [name]Zane[/name] [name]Christian[/name] [name]Joshua[/name] on my list, but it’s more to honor my faith than my cousin.
I also have really distant cousins who have children now, and I might use their children’s names as MNs or something, especially since we only see each other a few times a year, and probably even less in the coming years. Otherwise, I think family relations would just get a bit weird at family reunions and holidays and such.
[name]Both[/name] my girls have a family name in the middle, and I think its a beautiful way of honouring family. My DH wants to name a hypothetical 3rd daughter after me, but so far I’m not caving. I don’t like the idea of juniors.
I like using family names because it’s like a connection to my family’s history! I don’t know a whole lot about my family’s past but I have always been curious, I just don’t know how to go about researching it.
Family names I would use:
[name]William[/name] - This is one I will most likely use. This is a name that has been used in every generation on my mother’s side. My great-grandpa was [name]William[/name], my grandpa is [name]William[/name], my uncle is [name]William[/name], and my cousin is [name]William[/name] (my brother was almost [name]William[/name] but my mom’s brother beat her to it).
[name]James[/name] - This was my paternal grandfather’s name and it’s my brother’s middle name. I didn’t really know this grandpa that well before he died, but I figured since my parents used his name for my brother then it’s good enough to be passed on further.
[name]Anne[/name] [name]Marie[/name] - This is my mother’s name as well as my fiance’s mother’s name. At first I thought my fiance’s mother’s name was just plain [name]Anne[/name], but I recently learned (as in like 2 days ago) that her middle name is [name]Marie[/name], too. Well technically [name]Anne[/name] [name]Marie[/name] is my mom’s full first name, but she has always used [name]Marie[/name] as her middle name so whatever. I may or may not use [name]Anne[/name] exactly, but my current combo with this name is [name]Georgiana[/name] [name]Marie[/name] and I think the -ana part works for [name]Anne[/name], plus [name]Marie[/name] as the middle name and it’s almost like [name]Anne[/name] [name]Marie[/name].
[name]Elizabeth[/name] - My sister’s mn, as well as a few other family members. I prefer the [name]Elisabeth[/name] spelling, though.
[name]Helen[/name] - My mom’s favorite aunt is named [name]Helen[/name], and I met her a few times and she is really nice. But I prefer [name]Helena[/name] to [name]Helen[/name].
[name]Auguste[/name] - My mom’s dad’s mother’s name. She immigrated to [name]America[/name] from Germany with my grandpa’s dad ([name]William[/name]) and two older sisters, [name]Wilhelmina[/name] and [name]Helen[/name]. My mom almost named my sister [name]Emily[/name] [name]Auguste[/name], so in honor of that I like the combo [name]Emilia[/name] [name]Auguste[/name].
I just called my mom (literally as I was typing this up) because I realized I didn’t know my mom’s grandma’s name, and she told me it was [name]Hazel[/name] [name]Etta[/name]. [name]How[/name] adorable!! I might need to come up with some new combos for that one 