My husband and I recently found out we are expecting a girl (in [name]August[/name]).
The ONLY name we can agree on is [name]Iris[/name], which I love. Her middle name must be [name]Claire[/name], in honor of my husband’s maternal grandmother; there is no way around this. So far, so good, right? [name]Iris[/name] [name]Claire[/name] is a perfectly mellifluous combo.
But her last name will begin with K making her initials ICK.
My question: [name]How[/name] bad is it to have ICK as your initials? I have a long list of names I love, but my husband hates them all. He has a few names he likes, and I just can’t bring myself to love them. I can’t really see a way around our dilemma, so how big of a burden are we placing on this little gal?
I would hate it myself. But full intials aren’t used that often. Only on official documents.
I’d definitely look for another first name, but if you can’t agree on anything, then it’s not the end of the world for her.
[name]Iris[/name] [name]Claire[/name] will eventually marry out and have new initials anyway if she chooses. ICK will only be temporary and it’s not something offensive or otherwise. It’s just Ick. [name]Iris[/name] [name]Claire[/name] is a beautiful name.
I dont think its that bad, besides her monogram will be IKC, looking back I dont remember knowing any of my classmates initials and even if her name was [name]Iris[/name] [name]Irene[/name] K___ or [name]Iris[/name] Kelly___ it would sound like “ick” technically I guess a kid could make “ick” out of IK and I dont think thats a huge thing to worry about. I met a guy with the last name “Dicks” the other day and yes I giggled a second to myself but I got over it…I imagine that wasnt an easy last name to grow up with.
I think because berries put a lot into names we also over think them sometimes. [name]Iris[/name] [name]Claire[/name] sounds pretty, if you like it go with it or ask some close friends about the initials and just sub names if you dont want to share your exact combo.
Also, thetxbelle has made some great points! Especially that us berries are over thinkers. If you love the name, seriously go for it, unless you find something you absolutely love more, you’ll likely end up regretting not having [name]Iris[/name] [name]Claire[/name].
Not a fan of ICK as initials.
Totally agree with the strategy petra.j mentions.
My last initial has made for some annoying initial combos too. So I can have the mn I want I am planning 2 mns.
A pretty suggestion:
[name]Iris[/name] [name]Sophie[/name] [name]Claire[/name] K… ISCK
I’ve chucked out some lovely ideas over the initials. Mine spell out a lousy word and my family had a lot of fun with it when I was a kid (though as an adult no-one has ever mentioned it). I would throw in a mn before the [name]Claire[/name] and break it up.
I admit that ICK isn’t the greatest as far as initials go, but I think it could be a lot worse. I think some of the pps made a lot of great points–she could marry one day, you might regret not going for [name]Iris[/name] [name]Claire[/name], and a lot of times we Berries overthink things. It honestly sounds like [name]Iris[/name] [name]Claire[/name] (so gorgeous, by the way!) is the best option for you so I would just go for it! I can always remember wanting my initials to spell out something when I was little (although I’m not sure I would have wanted them to spell ICK, lol).
I love the simplicity of [name]Iris[/name] [name]Claire[/name], but if you want to change the initials, what about something like Eirys [name]Claire[/name]? Eirys is a Gaelic form of [name]Iris[/name], I believe, and can be said EYE-riss or [name]AIR[/name]-iss. [name]Don[/name]'t quote me on that–the site I would go to to check my info is currently down for maintenance–but that’s how I remember it, anyway. ECK isn’t as bad as ICK, at least, I don’t think so! Or something like a second MN might help. My first idea was [name]Iris[/name] [name]Claire[/name] [name]Evangeline[/name] but I think something like [name]Iris[/name] [name]Ophelia[/name] [name]Claire[/name] would be lovely, too. Or maybe attach a second family name, if it could work?
My favorite name also has problem initials…actually considerably worse than ICK…they spell out ASS. In order to avoid this we are throwing in a pretty (but kinda filler) second middle name. Normally I dislike fillers but in this case it serves a worthy purpose - I get to name my baby girl the name I love! So now her initials will be ASBS. (Not awesome, but not offensive). Any time there is only space for one middle initial on a document I have to fill out for her I will just use the B rather than the S. [name]Iris[/name] [name]Claire[/name] is pretty and if you can’t find something you love just as much I would encourage you to add a second middle rather than discard the name you just cant get over.
Wow, thanks everyone for your very thoughtful responses.
I am considering adding my maternal grandmother’s name as a middle name, so her name would be [name]Iris[/name] [name]Lyla[/name] [name]Claire[/name]
Opinion amongst family seems to be split as to whether having three names is worse than having ICK as your initials. But I feel like I can live with one of the two options, and the more I think about [name]Iris[/name], the more I love it, so I think it’s sticking around.
I love [name]Iris[/name] [name]Lyla[/name] [name]Claire[/name]…so pretty and sounds like problem solved.
Yeah, ICK would make me change my plan too. Initials matter, whether it’s having them written out in school, an email account for college/work, or just mean kids figuring them out. [name]One[/name] of my favorite names spelled PMS, that was clearly out.
