My husband wants to call our son [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m], exactly the same as his name. Has anyone done this? Firstly I don’t even like the name, but I’m sick or arguing and I named our other two sons so I’m starting to think maybe I should let him have his way for once if it means so much to him (it was a flat out no from me the other two times). I call him [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] and I’m thinking it would get confusing. I don’t like the idea of calling the baby junior, b.j or any other form of [name_m]Ben[/name_m]. I think if I said yes I’d have to call him “excuse me?” And call the baby [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m].
Then there’s the whole “why did it take you to the third to call it that?” I don’t know.
Other names he likes- dirk, sterling, riker, [name_m]Charles[/name_m]
Other names I like- [name_m]Theodore[/name_m], [name_m]Frederick[/name_m], ebenezer, [name_u]Douglas[/name_u].
It would be confusing calling both of them [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m]. My favourite from your list is [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] so naming him [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] would be handsome, but calling him by his middle name [name_m]Theodore[/name_m].
My dad had that sort of thing. His father was [name_u]Douglas[/name_u] [name_m]William[/name_m], and he was [name_u]Douglas[/name_u] mark, so his siblings called him mark. Then when my brother was named mark it got confusing for us because we knew him as doug but our uncles and aunties would call him mark. I like [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] [name_m]Theodore[/name_m].
My husband’s family had 8 generations of this before his grandfather cracked it and gave his kid a middle name (None of them had middles previously. [name_m]Just[/name_m] the same first and last for eight generations. Ugh) which he still goes by. That kid is my husband’s dad, and he went one better and moved the family name into the middle spot so my husband had the first original first name in ten generations. o.0
If we have a son, he will also have this middle name. It’s a cool tradition if you get it far enough, but it’s such a boring biblical name. (I like biblical names, but not the tired old ones!)
So anyway, I feel your pain!
Maybe you can say yes on the conditions that no one actually calls the baby [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] and that you get to pick the middle name? It seems to mean a lot to him, and baby name regret can be a big deal.
My other son has already got the middle name [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m], im thinking I just won’t go there. Seems like not too many people are actually happy with it.
I was going to suggest just using [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] as a middle name. That’s what we are doing. Our son will have his father’s middle name. But I see that your other son already has the middle name of [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m], so I would just tell your husband to drop it because you don’t want to steal another child’s name as a first name. You’ve already named one child after your husband.
My son shares his father’s middle name, which also happens to be both grandpa’s middle names as well. (Made everyone happy with that one) I second the idea of using [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] as a middle, or if he insists on it as a first, at least calling your son by his middle to avoid confusion.
I never liked this tradition of naming, not only because it’s confusing, but I also feel it’s unfair for the other kids. Like “why did [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] get to carry the family name and we didnt” kind of thing.
also i think if your son already has the mn [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m], don’t use it as a first for your next son. that seems a little too repetitive. there are thousands of amazing names for you to choose, no need to repeat the same one!
I haven’t, but my parents have. My dad is [name_m]John[/name_m] (goes by just [name_m]John[/name_m]), and my brother is a combination of [name_m]John[/name_m] and [name_m]Johnny[/name_m]. My dad was a II, so my brother is the III. My grandfather went by [name_m]Jack[/name_m], and then my dad was [name_m]Johnny[/name_m] until he was about 9, and then he refused to go by anything but [name_m]John[/name_m] after that. My brother went by [name_m]Johnny[/name_m] pretty much through high school, but after he came back from the military he gets about half and half. My dad pretty much just calls him [name_m]John[/name_m], but everyone else in the family calls him [name_m]Johnny[/name_m]. Otherwise, it’s just too confusing. Have you thought about the nn [name_u]Jamie[/name_u]? A little bit of a stretch, but I’ve heard it enough times that I wouldn’t be confused by it, and [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] nn [name_u]Jamie[/name_u] feels very different from just [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] or even [name_m]Ben[/name_m]. Or you could always call him by his nn.
Personally, I’m not a fan of the III, [name_m]Jr[/name_m]., etc. thing, and would agree to use my future hypothetical husband’s FN or MN as my son’s MN, or even pass down his initials, but there will be no [name_m]Jr[/name_m]. or III or whatever in my household. Maybe you could get him to agree to [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m], or even use [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] [name_m]Theodore[/name_m], but call him by his middle, to avoid confusion of having two Benjamins who go by just [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] under the same roof? But if you don’t want to have a [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m], you shouldn’t have to have one. This baby is as much yours as it is his.
[name_m]Charles[/name_m] [name_m]Frederick[/name_m] is so handsome. [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] always strikes me as a child’s name (or a bunny). But I guess [name_m]Ben[/name_m] works for the adult.