Are you going to be honoring with your names, or did you honor? Why/why not? Who are you planning on honoring, or who did you?
At the moment I’d like to give every child of mine at least one family name, more than likely in the middle spot. Of course, at the moment no one else has an input in my naming decisions so if I ever got married I’d have to contend with whatever names my husband would want.
[name]Helen[/name] is my favorite girl’s name; my daughter [name]Helen[/name] would be named after my great-grandmother. I have several family names on my list including a few family surnames/maiden names. [name]Helen[/name] would be the only child named after a particular someone.
As the family genealogist, I’m very big on family history and honoring heritage. Using family names is something I never questioned doing, and the more I learn about my family the firmer the decision to honor becomes. I think using family names is an excellent way to connect the new generations to the old, something that is quite important to me.
My reasoning also 
My brother and I were named family names, without any variation. Sometimes, changing the name a bit if it will be a first name can still honor the relative while creating a child’s identity. If you are trying to honor a [name]John[/name], the variations [name]Sean[/name], [name]Ian[/name] and [name]Jack[/name] are great. To honor an ancestrial [name]Hannah[/name], [name]Grace[/name] (the meaning of [name]Hannah[/name]) can be used.
Honoring family members can be done in a variety of subtle and not so subtle ways. Aunt [name]Susan[/name] can have a niece named [name]Susannah[/name]. Grandma [name]Florence[/name] can be a namesake for little [name]Fleur[/name], or even another botanical name. Great grandpa [name]Raymond[/name] can have a son named [name]Ray[/name] or a daughter named [name]Rachel[/name].
I am definitely going to honor my mother [name]Kelly[/name]. It makes a spunky middle, but if I were to use it as a first, I’d probably go with a name that meant ‘war’ or ‘warrior’, just like [name]Kelly[/name].
Couldn’t have said better myself.
I’m using my grandfather’s name for my son. I don’t have a lot of family. My entire father’s side I’m estranged from and not biologically related to (he was infertile and my bio dad was a donor), I have no siblings, my mom has one brother with no children. So living relatives are just my mom, grandma and uncle. My son is carrying on the family line all by himself, at least for now, so it seemed fitting to keep one of the family names alive as well.
I’m not a fan of honoring. My parents didn’t do it and their grandparents didn’t do it. I like having a unique name that I don’t share with anyone. It would be weird imo if I was named after someone I never met or knew and weirder if that person was still alive. So my children will definitely have their own unique names. And I will encourage them not to name their children after me if they have children because I’d rather be honored while alive than when I’m dead.
Family names are big in my family. My middle name has been passed down for 4 generations and I love that it has a connection to the strong, independent women that I am related to. I was super close with my grandmother, so sharing her middle name is special to me since she passed away when I was 13.
My son has the middle names [name]James[/name] [name]Edward[/name] after my grandfather who passed away when I was 14 or so, he was a great guy and it meant a lot to my dad that I use the names and they happen to be ones I love anyway. [name]James[/name] is also my brother and fathers middle names. I am very close to my father (who is very handicapped, so I don’t know how long he will be around, so I really wanted to use it).
For future children…
Girl - middle names [name]Elspeth[/name] [name]Johanna[/name] for a girl. [name]Elspeth[/name] is a very special name to us and it’s also a small nod to my grandmother [name]Betty[/name]. [name]Johanna[/name] is a combination of my sisters names whom I am very very close to and it’s also a feminine form of [name]John[/name], which is my other grandfathers name.
Boy - middle name [name]Henry[/name] for my maternal grandfather.
Family is very, very important to me and I think it’s a huge honor to have names of family members.
We’ve been debating this. My husband loves the idea of naming after family members. His brother and sister gave all their children honor names, so he’d like to do the same. However, it’s not really my thing. I was named after both my grandmothers, which is nice, I guess, but I never felt any special connection to them because of my name, and sometimes wish my parents gave me a name they chose just for me, not to honor somebody else.
It tough, though, because there are some family names I really do love. Like, for example, [name]Patrick[/name]. We’ve been thinking about the combo [name]William[/name] [name]Patrick[/name], but I’m hesitant to use it because my mother’s name is [name]Patricia[/name]. Now, if I was ever going to honor somebody, it would definitely be my mother, but if we use [name]Patrick[/name], then I think I’d feel obligated to use my dad’s name for a second son, which I don’t really want to do. [name]James[/name] is a nice enough name, but just so dull! (And I don’t like his middle name at all.) So lately we’ve been kicking around the idea of [name]William[/name] [name]Patrick[/name] [name]James[/name]. I like it, but not sure about going the double middle route. Besides, I like [name]William[/name] [name]Sebastian[/name] or [name]William[/name] [name]Balthazar[/name] a lot more. (And [name]William[/name] is actually a family name already, although I don’t consider it at all an “honor” name because he was my great-uncle who I only met at his funeral. Nobody in my family is going to think hear [name]William[/name] and think I named him after Great-Uncle [name]Billy[/name], who I obviously never knew.)
Family names (like [name]William[/name]) that I don’t really consider honor names and names that are less obvious honors seem to be a good compromise for us, like:
[name]Catherine[/name]/[name]Katherine[/name], nn [name]Cate[/name]: Neither of us has a [name]Catherine[/name] in the family (that I know of), but it satisfies my husband’s desire for a family connection because 1) my mother loves the name and wanted to use it for my younger sister, but my dad vetoed it, and 2) my paternal grandmother’s maiden name was [name]Cate[/name].
[name]Elizabeth[/name]: There are Elizabeths in my family, but they’re rather distant relations, like two of my mother’s cousins: [name]Elizabeth[/name] and [name]Mary[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name]. It’s also the middle name of one of my cousins, which is the closest connection I can think of, but since it’s only a middle, I don’t mind.
[name]Daphne[/name]: Means “laurel”. My sister’s name is [name]Laura[/name]. If she wants to consider it an honor, she’s certainly welcome to, but honestly, I just really love the name and only belatedly made the connection to her.
[name]Veronica[/name]: A great-aunt’s name, but she hates it and goes by [name]Vernie[/name], so it doesn’t feel like I’m honoring her to use [name]Veronica[/name]. ([name]Veronica[/name] was also my confirmation name, just because I really love the story of the saint.)
[name]Anastasia[/name]: My great-grandmother’s name. Again, she hated it and went exclusively by [name]Nancy[/name]. (Most of the family didn’t even know her real name until she died.)
[name]Alexander[/name]: The closest to an honest “honor” name because it’s a family surname on my hubby’s side of the family. It was also my great-grandfather’s name, who died before I was born. It’s one of my all-time favorites, though, so I don’t mind using it.
[name]Benjamin[/name], nn [name]Jamie[/name]: When I made a post about this, most people thought the nickname [name]Jamie[/name] was too much of a stretch to honor my father [name]James[/name], but I still think it could work if decided to go with [name]William[/name] [name]Patrick[/name] after all.
[name]Christopher[/name]: Actually, this would be a honor name, because it’s the middle name of my husband, his father, and his grandfather. I’ve always liked it, though, so I wouldn’t mind using it.
As a teenager I was always very set against using family names as middle names, I guess because I found them boring as they’re not exactly my normal style of names. But as I’ve got older, I’ve definitely warmed to the idea. If I ever have a son I’d definitely like to give him my father’s name ([name]William[/name]) as a middle name - I have 3 nephews and all of them have [name]William[/name] somewhere in their name too. I’d like all of my children to have 2 middle names and I think OH would like to use a family name from his family too. If I ever have a daughter I would love to give her my mother’s name as a middle name, but I know she hates her name, so I feel perhaps she wouldn’t like me giving it to my daughter. I’ve thought about asking her to pick a middle name for her or perhaps using a name that has a similar meaning to hers (although I feel the meaning behind this may get lost?).
My grandmother’s first name is my middle name, and I love being able to share that with her and our family.
I plan on honoring with the middle name spot, but I’ve got quite a few years until I want to even start thinking about kids. That said, I would love the opportunity to honor my grandmother and father, because they are two of the greatest people I know. I don’t think I’ve ever seriously considered not honoring them (or others), because that’s just how it’s done in my family and I never wanted to question it. That said, I’m not sure that I would just stick someone else’s name in the middle spot just to honor someone - the names I want to use honor people for intimate reasons that have nothing to do with family tradition. Additionally, I would not give any children of mine first and middle names to honor people - I think they should have their “own” name, too.
I never considered honoring, but I wouldn’t mind using my grandmothers middle names as possible first or middle names for my future daughters. [name]Cecilia[/name] (Maternal Grandmother) & [name]Anne[/name] (Paternal Grandmother).
My name is [name]Isabelle[/name] and I’m named after my Maternal grandmothers Aunt. My middle name [name]Marie[/name] honors the Virgin [name]Mary[/name] (since we’re practicing Catholics).
I would like to honor my twin sister! I was thinking of using her religious name [name]Davida[/name] [name]Marie[/name]. Her baptismal name is [name]Sabrina[/name] [name]Desiree[/name], but when she joined a religious order they gave her [name]Davida[/name] [name]Marie[/name] 
I might. The names I have on my list that would be honoring are:
[name]Daisy[/name] (grandmother)
[name]Walter[/name] (grandfather)
[name]Mary[/name] (and variants) (grandmother)
[name]Lucille[/name]/[name]Lucy[/name] (great-grandmother)
[name]Ora[/name] ([name]Ourania[/name], [name]Isadora[/name], [name]Aurora[/name]…) (great-grandmother)
[name]Jude[/name] (in honor of [name]Judy[/name], my aunt)
[name]Josephine[/name] (to honor my great-grandfather [name]Joe[/name])
[name]Ella[/name] (to honor my great-grandmother. I would probably go for a name with “[name]Ella[/name]” in it)
[name]Barbara[/name] (to honor my mother)
I am using family names i the middle with 2 in front:
First Names:
[name]Isobel[/name]: my grandma’s name
[name]Eloise[/name]: Seems like a combo of my sisters [name]Louise[/name] and my mums [name]Elspeth[/name]
Middle Names:
[name]Anne[/name]: My middle name
[name]Grace[/name]: Great grandmas
[name]Jamesie[/name]: Nanas name
[name]Mary[/name]: Grandmas second middle
[name]James[/name]: dads and brothers middle
[name]Bryan[/name] and [name]Harold[/name]: Grandfathers
[name]Smith[/name]: My current last name
My sister-in-law is expecting and wants to name him “[name]Joe[/name] [name]Travis[/name] [name]Louis[/name] Sawchuck”
The first and two middle names are all recently deceased family members. While I think it’s nice to honor people… this takes the cake. The poor kid is going to feel like a walking obituary. Not to mention she is naming him just “[name]Joe[/name]” (the former [name]Joseph[/name]'s nickname) rather than actually having is say [name]Joseph[/name] on the birth cert.
Honoring is pretty big in my family, especially my mom’s side. I plan on using family names from both my side and my husband’s side. At the moment, my favorite two family-inspired names are [name]Ellen[/name] (my [name]MIL[/name]'s middle name) [name]Marie[/name] (my paternal grandmother’s first name) and [name]Liam[/name] (a variation of my husband’s middle name) [name]Taylor[/name] (my paternal grandfather and uncle’s middle name).
Though the name I really want to use as a name is [name]Lola[/name] [name]Marie[/name], my paternal grandmother’s name switched around, but my husband has flat-out vetoed the use of [name]Lola[/name] ever lol
My family doesn’t have many family names, but two that I’d possibly like to use somehow are [name]Christopher[/name] and [name]Vincent[/name]. [name]Christopher[/name] was the name of my uncle that passed away before I was born, and on my mother’s side, there have been SO many [name]Vincenzo[/name]'s and [name]Vincenza[/name]'s, it’s almost hilarious. I’d probably sooner use [name]Vincent[/name] for a middle name, since I’m less fond of [name]Christopher[/name] (which has also already been used to honor this uncle).
I have a lot of tattoos. (This is going somewhere, I promise.) All of my tattoos are meaningful; they represent ideas and values, and represent different moments in my life. When my grandmother died I didn’t get her name or her face inked on my forehead. Instead I got a tattoo of a ruby-throated hummingbird drinking from a honeysuckle plant. [name]Every[/name] time I look at it I remember my grandmother’s love of birds. Her determination to fill her birdfeeder every.damn.morning no matter how much pain she was in. The honeysuckle she planted the year I was born, which is now a huge yellow bush. My favorite memory with her, when we sat on her window-seat and watched a hummingbird flit around her garden. All of those associations are contained within one simple, beautiful image that is stylistically cohesive with my other tattoos.
My attitude towards honor names is pretty much the same as it is towards tattoos. I want my kids’ names, like my tattoos, to honor the important moments or people in my life, but in a subtle way. I am not going to name my daughter [name]Monica[/name] because my mom’s name is [name]Monica[/name] (it isn’t, but for example). I would name her a botanical name to honor my mom’s love of gardening; I would name her [name]Matilda[/name] or [name]Eloise[/name] or [name]Alice[/name] or [name]Marigold[/name], all protagonists in books I have incredibly warm memories of my mom reading out loud to me when I was little. I would name her [name]Sailor[/name], to honor my mother’s maiden name and the importance of the sea in our lives, or [name]Ursula[/name], after our mutual favorite author. These oblique homages are far more personal and meaningful to me than just using my mom’s name.
That said, I would use the name [name]Jane[/name] after an aunt and mentor…so I think it also has to do with what names you actually love, suit your style, and will work for YOUR individual child. I am not going to use a name just because it’s been in my family for a few generations if I don’t genuinely like it. I also wouldn’t use a totally random name that I have no personal connection to whatsoever – just like I wouldn’t get some generic piece of flash inked on me. Names, like tattoos, are forever. You had better really like your child’s name, because you’re going to be saying it fifty million times a day. And when your kid asks why they have they name they do (all kids ask this eventually, in my experience) I think you should have a better answer than “Dunno, it sounded nice”.
I could never understand the ‘junior’ phenomenon of giving children the exact same fn as their parent. I think that everyone should have their very ‘own’ name (in the same vein I would never use a top 100 name) but I do like the idea of honouring someone special. [name]Both[/name] my daughters have mn’s that honour family (my mother & mother-in-law) but they are not completely obvious eg one is a maiden name. I also like the approach of a mn honouring the parents’ love eg a couple who met skiing giving the daughter the mn [name]Winter[/name].
My general approach to naming is that the fn should be something lovely and unique (not too popular) but fairly easily spelled & pronounced, then the mn is the opportunity to be more frivolous or unusual (if wanted) and ideally sentimental. I often wonder when I see people posting their baby name choices for polls etc and each name is completely different ie different fn & mn, so I guess they are choosing names purely for aesthetics. I think it is better to have something with a deeper meaning.