My husband is a Dutch descendant, and we have a very Dutch last name.
His grandfather was very precious to him, and he would like to name a our boy(?) after him.
His name was [name_m]Adolphus[/name_m], and DH wanted to use his grandfathers nickname [name_m]Dolf[/name_m]. I wasn’t keen on the Hitler association.
So I suggested that we name him [name_m]Wolf[/name_m] as that is the meaning of [name_m]Adolphus[/name_m].
DH loves it! He wants to spell it [name_m]Wulf[/name_m]. I do like it, but I am worried about the repercussions of having such a name growing up?
We are from [name_m]New[/name_m] Zealand, and I have never heard anybody called that before.
Our DD has the dutch name [name_f]Saskia[/name_f].
Hmmm… you know, it is a bit out there in my opinion, but I kinda like it. The more I think about it the more I like it. It might take some time for people to warm up to, but it’s not too bad! I’m from the USA and I don’t know if it would be considered more or less strange here.
It’s out there but not awful… But then if your not sure are you going to wake up each morning looking at your baby boy and still feeling uncertain?
I don’t mind [name_m]Wulf[/name_m] but it doesn’t have a sparkle and magic of [name_f]Saskia[/name_f].
What about Ludolf (also Dutch meaning wolf) and. [name_m]Ludo[/name_m] is a cute nn.
i agree with tuitree…Ludolf could be a good alternative, then you have a variety of nn options too - [name_f]Lu[/name_f]/ Ludz / [name_m]Dolf[/name_m] or could always use wolf as a nn too! [name_f]Love[/name_f] your dd’s name, [name_f]Saskia[/name_f] is beautiful.
I like both [name_m]Wolf[/name_m] and [name_m]Wulf[/name_m], though [name_m]Wolf[/name_m] might be more familiar to unfamiliar Zealander ears. Also, they might think it a tryndy spelling of [name_m]Wolf[/name_m], as in the animal. I actually am of Dutch descent as well, and if I recall correctly, “wolf” is spelled the same way as it is in English.
I think [name_m]Wolf[/name_m] would be easier than [name_m]Wulf[/name_m] to live with. Most people are going to assume [name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m] is the full name. Did your husband’s grandfather have a middle name? I really like [name_m]Ludo[/name_m] as an alternative.
I would prefer it as a middle name myself. But its alright as a first! I can see siblings [name_f]Saskia[/name_f] and [name_m]Wolf[/name_m] (I love [name_f]Saskia[/name_f], btw!). I prefer the spelling “[name_m]Wolfe[/name_m]” though. Maybe he can even have two first names? [name_m]Isaac[/name_m] [name_m]Wulf[/name_m]? Or something of that sort? <3
[name_m]Hi[/name_m] everyone, thank you for responding to my post. I have shown it to DH, and at the moment we have decided to put it on the back burner.
As many of you mentioned it would make a great second name. The only fly in the ointment there is that DS already has a first name (the same one as the past 5 generations before him) where they have the first name as a middle name, and the middle name as their first name… yes confusing i know! But leaves [name_m]Wulf[/name_m]/[name_m]Wolfe[/name_m] without a home…
Anyway, I wouldnt mind dropping the [name_m]Wulf[/name_m]/[name_m]Wolfe[/name_m] and calling him by his ‘real’ first name which would be Wilhelmus, I adore it! But my husband doesn’t want our son to go through the problems that he went through with his name, you wouldn’t believe the amount of phone calls I have had asking for [name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f]!
Honestly!
So my new question is, is Wilhelmus too complicated? I like the shortened [name_m]Wilhelm[/name_m], or just [name_m]Wil[/name_m]
What if you did Wilhelmus Ludolf and called him [name_m]Wolf[/name_m]? Wilhelmus Ludolf has all the right letters. [name_m]Even[/name_m] [name_m]Wilhelm[/name_m] Ludolf would work but I think as far as flow I prefer Wilhelmus. Good luck!
I like Wolf and it’s so cool your daughter’s name is Saskia! I would not spell it Wulf though, it looks kind of yooneek and like a typo. The name Wolf is a lot for a kid to take on, I wouldn’t complicate things by spelling it differently, causing constant spelling corrections. I like Willem as an alternative to Wilhelmus. Wilhelm, Wilson and Wilmer also work.
Wilhelmus Ludolf or Wilhelmus [name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m] sound better to me than Wilhelmus [name_m]Wolf[/name_m]/[name_m]Wulf[/name_m]. [name_m]Wilhelm[/name_m] is a nice alternative or even just [name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m].
