When does the trend of surnames as first names go too far?
I like that trend on little gentlemen a lot but usually not little ladies.
Example- De La [name_u]Vega[/name_u], [name_u]Porter[/name_u], Ducard, Devevreux, [name_m]Hawthorne[/name_m], [name_m]Mulligan[/name_m] etc.
I think if it’s a two part last name that’s a place to start being on the too far side of the spectrum.
What do the berries think?
I really don’t like it in general, unless the name has a history as a first name as well, and/or it’s a family name. [name_u]Walker[/name_u] is one of my favorite names, but it’s been used as a first name for centuries (including for one of my favorite late 20th century writers, [name_u]Walker[/name_u] [name_u]Percy[/name_u]), and it’s my mother’s maiden name and my middle.
Usually when these kinds of names are used as female names, it’s part of the “giving masculine-sounding names to girls” thing that I hate. Especially bad are -son and Mc-/[name_m]Mac[/name_m]- names for girls (like [name_u]Madison[/name_u] and [name_u]MacKenzie[/name_u]), because they mean “son of ___”!
I generally don’t mind that trend. My own name is [name_m]Bennett[/name_m], a surname. One of the names I like is [name_f]Blais[/name_f] or [name_u]Blaise[/name_u], which is my mother’s maiden name. It is traditionally both a first and last name (like [name_u]Blaise[/name_u] [name_m]Pascal[/name_m], the [name_m]Pascal[/name_m]'s Wager guy). I would personally use it for a girl.
But I don’t like it when it is so obviously a last name. Anything that starts with Mc or [name_m]Mac[/name_m], or ends in “-son”. For any gender.
Something that doesn’t sound like a first name to me at all, along the lines of, and the focus lies on the suffix here: [name_m]Lockwood[/name_m], [name_m]Lancaster[/name_m], Greenberg, Goldsmith, Winchister, Whitfield, [name_m]Burroughs[/name_m] or Buckingham, Musgrove, Middleton, Troutman or [name_m]Fairchild[/name_m].
These are all great! I was just wondering where everyone felt the line was.
For me it completely depends on the situation. I’m from the southern US and love seeing family surnames passed down as first or middle names. I have several family surnames on my own list. You won’t find me on an active campaign against surnames as first names – it’s a centuries-old tradition, not a trend – but I do find it odd to hear of parents giving their kids names like Worthington and [name_u]McKinley[/name_u] just because.
I quite like the surname trend. A lot of these surnames make great first names. I tend to dislike it on girls though, because I often find that they sound too masculine to be used on a girl. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, it’s just not something I like personally.
I do feel that the name should at least sound like a first name, but that’s hard to define.
I also love this surname as firsts trend and think the best examples can sound adorably distinguished. I also much prefer it on boys but there are examples I like on girls.
I would have perhaps said where surnames exceed one word they’re not great as surnames, but then again O’[name_m]Brien[/name_m] and O’[name_u]Shea[/name_u] I think are lovely up front
Then again I’d feel a bit odd using a using an irish surname like that because they just have no history of use as first names in their country of origin at all. You’d never go to Ireland and meet a little Rafferty or Nolan. But they’re still lovely names so perhaps this shouldn’t matter