My husband and I are pregnant with out first baby; a boy due in December.
Our last name is McCain and the baby’s middle name will be Gilbert, after my dad. My husband and I really love the name John for many reasons (name meaning, sound, etc), but the only thing holding me back is that I don’t want people to assume we named our baby after the Arizona senator. Do you think people will associate our baby’s name with the senator on a regular basis? (I’m super liberal, so we are NOT naming our baby “after” John McCain, but our baby will share a name with him.) Also, is this even a big deal? How weird is it to share a name with a political figure? Is it something that isn’t that important that I need to “let go of”?
Yes, huge deal. No, I would not do that under any circumstances at all. I would 100% assume you had gone out of your way to name your baby after [name]John[/name] Mccain.
Eh, yeah I think that’s a little bit of a bad idea, particularly if you are a liberal. I can imagine all of the grief you’d get. That makes me sad for you two, because [name]John[/name] is such a great name. Are there any other names you two love?
1 Choose [name]John[/name] McCain in spite of the strong Republican political connection and take the flack from people
2 Choose [name]John[/name] McCain and call him by his middle name
3 Choose [name]John[/name] McCain and call him [name]Jack[/name] McCain
4 Choose another first name and put [name]John[/name] in the middle spot.
I think it’s a really bad idea. It’ll come off as if you are a very conservative family and that you look up to the political figure. So if you’re a liberal it might be an issue since people will assume you are conservative
I would like to suggest [name]Johnathon[/name], but even that wouldn’t help if his name is shortened to [name]John[/name]. With the last name you have I think you have to give it up or put it in the middle spot.
All in all, I think when it comes to huge political figures, it’s better to just avoid their names to avoid putting political views on your child.
There are only 2 sceneries in which I think [name]John[/name] McCaine would work:
Go with [name]John[/name] but call him [name]Jack[/name] on a daily basis.
Go with a double first name, but with an hyphen that clearly states that it’s a signe name rather than first-and-middle: [name]John[/name]-[name]Henry[/name] McCain, [name]John[/name]-[name]Felix[/name] McCain, [name]John[/name]-[name]Noel[/name] McCain (if he’s born in Dec)… [name]John[/name] would work paired with anything.
If you can’t imagine naming your child anything but [name]John[/name]…maybe call him [name]Jack[/name]? Although now that I think about it, pretty sure McCain’s father was [name]Jack[/name]…less well known association though. [name]Johnny[/name] doesnt even lessen the association really…
I’m afraid he would always get the “Oh, like [name]John[/name] McCain?” or people assuming you did it on purpose. Sharing a name with a senator, okay, something to be aware of, but I’m afraid [name]John[/name] McCain is going to be a hard one to shake.
Honestly, that was my first thought when I saw your thread title. Then I thought maybe it was a name you were considering.
As a pp suggested, you can try [name]Jonathan[/name]. However, in school, they may still call him [name]John[/name]/[name]Jon[/name]. Honestly, I never really understood how [name]Jack[/name] came from [name]John[/name], but that is just me.
What about [name]James[/name], [name]Evan[/name], [name]Sean[/name]…
If you like the meaning most, do you like any of these: 119 Variations of John | Nameberry ?
[name]How[/name] about [name]Jowan[/name]?
[name]How[/name] about [name]Jonah[/name]?
[name]How[/name] about [name]George[/name]?
Good luck!
Have you thought of using [name]Jonathan[/name]? Than you can call him [name]John[/name].
I really like the sound of [name]Jonathan[/name] [name]Gilbert[/name] McCain. And hearing [name]Jonathan[/name] McCain doesn’t make think about politics at all.
If not you could always use a different variation of the name.
Good luck and congrats on the baby!
-<3
Coming from the same basic political background, I’d say a loud, emphatic NO. Sorry =(
Maybe this is just my feeling, but when something doesn’t work out for me, instead of trying to find an alternative, I tend to go in the way opposite direction. So if I were you, I’d just start from scratch, and maybe even use the parameters of what makes [name]John[/name] appealing to find a new name that you love as well. And I know that I - and many others, I’m sure - would be willing to help you out if you could give us a jumping off point for your name style :3
I think your personal political views are irrelevant. Would you want to name your son [name]Bill[/name] [name]Clinton[/name]? The problem is that it’s a famous person’s name and he’ll be saddled with the association for a long, long time. I once met an [name]Al[/name] Pacino, and he was not amused when I asked if that was his real name. [name]Imagine[/name] being asked that everywhere you went. Annoying.
I think you should name him [name]Jonathan[/name] and before he starts school, call him [name]Nate[/name] for short. Then he won’t be [name]John[/name] McCain. He’ll be [name]Jonathan[/name] [name]Gilbert[/name] McCain, [name]Jonathan[/name] McCain, or [name]Nate[/name] McCain.
BTW, if you are actually related to [name]John[/name] McCain and even if you aren’t and just have the same last name, I sincerely apologize.
Oh boy. Well, if you were having a baby ten years from now, I’d say go for it – but with McCain’s failed presidential bid so fresh in everyone’s memory, I’d say steer clear.
The two spellings of [name]Jonathan[/name] I like are [name]Jonathan[/name] and [name]Jonathon[/name]. “[name]Johnathan[/name]” gives me a twitch. So does [name]John[/name] as a nickname for [name]Jonathan[/name], the nickname for [name]Jonathan[/name] is [name]Jon[/name].
Naming him [name]John[/name] and calling him [name]Jack[/name] could be an option. I don’t see what [name]Jonathan[/name] will accomplish if you call him [name]Jon[/name], as [name]Jon[/name] McCain sounds exactly like [name]John[/name] McCain and probably some people think [name]John[/name] and [name]Jonathan[/name] are fully interchangeable.
[name]Just[/name] naming him [name]John[/name] McCain is an option, [name]IMO[/name], as most people do not remember senators’ names from years gone by and it will become steadily less remarkable as he ages. You will take some crap for it in the meantime, but by the time he’s of an age to have friends who care about politics, I doubt it will really be on the radar. And [name]John[/name] is not as uncommon an American name as, say, [name]Barack[/name] (who peturbs me, as I was quite fond of the similar-looking [name]Barak[/name], but now people will think a) I named after [name]Obama[/name] AND b) I can’t spell)
