We’ve had one front-runner name for our baby boy since we found out the gender in [name_f]February[/name_f] - N@thaniel Fr@nk. My husband loves it, I love it, it has a combination of family connection and literary association which our daughter, M@rgot J0sephine, has as well.
Buuut our last name is three-syllable, and double-barrelled, and very consonant-heavy. It features hard G, T, F, D and P sounds and it’s very Germanic/Jewish.
We’d be calling the baby ‘[name_u]Nat[/name_u]’ for day to day use, but I think about when he starts school and every year the teacher reads out 'N@thaniel G…-P… and I can’t shake the idea that it might be just too much of a burden.
I have no regrets about double-barrelling our kids, for what it’s worth. The equality of having both our names is really meaningful and important to us. We could flip the order of the first and middle - but my husband is a lot less keen on that idea. And it feels that in our circles there are lots more little Fr@nks than N@thaniels around, even though I know that doesn’t reflect the national statistics (in the UK).
Help! Is it too much? Or do we just roll with [name_u]Nat[/name_u] and stop fretting about it?
I don’t think a six/seven syllable full name should be too hard to navigate really (many of my own firsts would be much longer when including my surname, particularly, like you, if we decide to hyphenate like you did), and I certainly don’t think little [name_u]Nat[/name_u] would think it a burden to carry his name. I think it’s a lovely name, and the nickname certainly gives him a more succinct name should he ever desire to use a shorter one in any part of his life in the future.
I think it would be fine. [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m] is a name that kind of rolls off the tongue and because it’s so familiar, I don’t think it would sound out of place with a long surname. Plus it has so many nickname options that are usable in day to day life, I think it would be fine
@sunniva and @greyblue thank you both, that’s reassuring! My sister already thinks my little girl’s name is a total mouthful and I think I’ve started worrying what other people will think now. Which is silly I suppose, it’s not like I’m naming him after a criminal or rolling with some cultural appropriation… but naming feels like such a big responsibility!
Absolutely not too much! If you were going to insist that he be referred to as [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m] Double-Barrel at all times then perhaps, but [name_u]Nat[/name_u] (and even [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m] in full) are perfectly pronounceable, approachable, familiar names which will work just fine with your surname. I absolutely love [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m] “[name_u]Nat[/name_u]”, by the way!
I love [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m] [name_m]Frank[/name_m], I love [name_u]Nat[/name_u], I love it with [name_f]Margot[/name_f] [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]. Please go for it!! (If only to make me happy lol)
I love it. [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m] is a great distinguished sounding full name and I [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] [name_u]LOvE[/name_u] the nickname [name_u]Nat[/name_u]. A great match with [name_f]Margot[/name_f].
I say go for it! Marg0t’s name has more syllables than [name_u]Nat[/name_u]'s would, anyway, and if he went by [name_u]Nat[/name_u] on a regular basis, I don’t think it’d be too much of an issue? [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m] is long, but isn’t very cumbersome, and has a very light sound. I feel like if it were something like [name_f]Rosamund[/name_f] or [name_m]Nicodemus[/name_m] or [name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m], that might be a different story–those are heavier and clunkier and probably aren’t too easy to work with for a complicated surname? But [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m] is light and handsome and works great with Marg0t. I say go for it!
