I’m just curious; for all of you who have children, what do you like or dislike about your children’s names now that you’ve been living with them? For example, do you regret a complicated spelling? [name_f]Do[/name_f] you love honouring a loved one? Etc.
I love my son’s name, it is a part of him and I would not want to change any part of it. I wish we would have used a name or names that honor or have special meaning to the family. We were young, in our twenties, and were not thinking ahead. [name_u]Future[/name_u] children will be given names that honor and/or have special meaning.
[name_f]My[/name_f] son’s name is [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] [name_m]Milton[/name_m] and he is 24. I was convinced that I would have a girl so I didn’t give boys’ names a lot of thought. [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] was the only name I considered for a boy. When I named [name_m]Jake[/name_m], I had never met a [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] and did not know of anyone with the name.
[name_m]Milton[/name_m] is for my grandfather that passed away the morning before [name_m]Jake[/name_m] was born. [name_f]My[/name_f] grandfather’s name was [name_m]Milton[/name_m] [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m]. (His father named him, but always called my grandfather “[name_m]John[/name_m].” I understand that [name_f]My[/name_f] great-grandfather was a very difficult man.) [name_m]Milton[/name_m], [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m], and [name_m]John[/name_m] are heavily used in my family in honor of my grandfather.
[name_f]My[/name_f] grandmother was happy to hear that I had named my son after Grampa and she was very happy about the name [name_m]Jacob[/name_m]. [name_f]Nana[/name_f] had an Uncle [name_m]Jake[/name_m].
[name_f]My[/name_f] father’s name is [name_m]Jack[/name_m] and my mother wanted me to use my father’s initials (JMS) if I had a son. I liked [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] [name_m]Matthew[/name_m]. It wasn’t fully planned, but it worked that [name_m]Jack[/name_m], [name_m]John[/name_m], and [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] are all derived from the same name and [name_m]Milton[/name_m] was a name that I never considered using before my grandfather passed.
When [name_m]Jake[/name_m] was really young, he loved his name. I think he understood that [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] [name_m]Milton[/name_m] was special to our family. I have never regretted either name. I chose [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] because he has a very common last name and I thought he needed something that would stand out a bit. ([name_m]Little[/name_m] did I know, [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] would become such a widely popular name. I wish others hadn’t loved it, too.)
The only thing I dislike about the name [name_m]Jacob[/name_m] is that some people say “[name_m]Jake[/name_m]-up.” I know a mother and a father that call their Jacobs “[name_m]Jake[/name_m]-up.” I know someone with the last name Jacobs that pronounces it [name_m]Jake[/name_m]-ups. If your name or your son’s name is [name_m]Jacob/name_m, please do not say [name_m]Jake[/name_m]-up. If you must say [name_m]Jake[/name_m]-up, please spell it Jacup/Jakeup - anything but [name_m]Jacob[/name_m]. Lol.
[name_m]How[/name_m] do you say it? I say [name_m]Jake[/name_m]-ub, but since it’s at the end of the word I think sometimes the b de-voices into a p. Or in other words, p and b are actually the same sounds, one voiced and one not. Voice (phonetics) - Wikipedia
I’ve sometimes questioned whether I would have spelt my oldest daughter’s name the way I did, because I didn’t discover until after she was born that it was problematic: it is a name I thought I invented myself (though have since seen it elsewhere with other pronounciations) - she’s [name_f]Amia[/name_f] (AY-mee-uh), ie [name_f]Amy[/name_f] with “a” on the end. I thought it would be easily recognisable as a variation on the ever-popular [name_f]Amy[/name_f], but with [name_f]Mia[/name_f] so popular, it very often gets mispronounced as uh-MEE-uh. For that reason, I’ve wondered if I should have spelt it differently, but I think probably not, as I really like the way it looks spelt that way. And I figure if it drives her mad when she’s older she can shorten it to [name_f]Ami[/name_f]/[name_f]Amy[/name_f].
Apart from that, I’m really really happy with my name choices.
I’m not happy with the middle names I would have used if my third child (son) was a girl, they were chosen in a bit of a hurry and didn’t have the rich meaning that the other names have. If and when there’s a fourth I’ll be looking hard for alternatives.
We are happy with our picks so far, the tricky part is finding sibling names to go with them. We started shortening [name_f]Indira[/name_f] to [name_f]Indie[/name_f] in conversation but I wish we spelled it [name_f]Indy[/name_f] (my husband said he preferred [name_f]Indie[/name_f], but I wanted [name_f]Indy[/name_f] like [name_u]Indiana[/name_u] [name_m]Jones[/name_m]). I guess we can still change that since its just a nickname spelling, but it seems awkward to change how you write it.
Oh and to answer the question, I still love my babies names but they are young yet and not in school. [name_f]My[/name_f] husband and I have commented to another how well the names seem to suit them.