Our baby is due in four weeks and we don’t have a birth certificate name for him. We think we have a nickname. The situation is as follows: my husband is a III. His name is [name_m]William[/name_m] [name_m]Walter[/name_m]. He goes by [name_m]Walt[/name_m] and his father goes by [name_m]William[/name_m]. I don’t want a [name_m]Walt[/name_m] and a [name_m]Walter[/name_m] or a Big [name_m]Walt[/name_m], [name_m]Little[/name_m] [name_m]Walt[/name_m], just because of confusion. My father and brother are Sr/Jrs named [name_m]William[/name_m] [name_m]Carlton[/name_m]. My father goes by [name_m]Bill[/name_m] and my brother goes by [name_m]Will[/name_m]. So there’s a lot of overlap on both sides of the family. My husband has relinquished the use of the IV, which is just not my style. But he still wants to use [name_m]William[/name_m] to honor our families and I want to use [name_m]Walter[/name_m] to honor him as the dad. I also just love the name [name_m]Walter[/name_m] so much. Is it ridiculous to reverse my husband’s name ([name_m]William[/name_m] [name_m]Walter[/name_m]) and name the baby [name_m]Walter[/name_m] [name_m]William[/name_m], which allows us to drop the IV and continue honoring family? What other ideas are out there? We could drop the [name_m]Walter[/name_m] and name the baby [name_m]William[/name_m] Something [name_f]Else[/name_f] in the Middle because our nickname stems from the [name_m]William[/name_m] part, but we haven’t hit on anything we love as much as we love [name_m]Walter[/name_m].
I don’t think [name_m]Walter[/name_m] [name_m]William[/name_m] is bad at all. If you love [name_m]Walter[/name_m] then I see no problem in using it. If you only love [name_m]Walter[/name_m] because you want to honor him I think that [name_m]William[/name_m] already does that and so using [name_m]Walter[/name_m] wouldn’t be necessary. You could always do [name_m]William[/name_m] [name_m]Walt[/name_m] or anything else for a middle, but I like [name_m]Walter[/name_m] [name_m]William[/name_m] and as long as you both love it I see no problem using it. [name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helps 
I like [name_m]Walter[/name_m] [name_m]William[/name_m]–and, more importantly, you love it. I personally think reversing the name works well here, with your particular honor needs, and gives the child more indivduality then junior or IV would. I say go for it and congratulations
I like [name_m]Walter[/name_m] [name_m]William[/name_m] a lot, and, if you love it not only for the honoring thing, I’d say go with it. It’s a dashing, handsome name, and continues honoring, which seems to be a big thing for you.
I don’t see the distinction in him being a IV and him having the exact same name reversed. He still wouldn’t have a name of his own. If that’s why naming him IV isn’t your style, then I would move on from [name_m]Walter[/name_m]. [name_m]William[/name_m] honors everyone. I would probably also not use a nickname stemming from the [name_m]William[/name_m] part of his name, again because it’s already so ubiquitous in the family.
If you like [name_m]Walter[/name_m], you might like:
[name_m]Arthur[/name_m]
[name_m]Louis[/name_m]
[name_m]Arnold[/name_m]
[name_m]Henry[/name_m]
[name_m]George[/name_m]
[name_m]Edwin[/name_m]
[name_m]Benjamin[/name_m]
[name_m]Charles[/name_m]
[name_m]Archibald[/name_m]
[name_m]Thomas[/name_m]
[name_m]Frederick[/name_m]
I agree with this. If you want to use both [name_m]William[/name_m] and [name_m]Walter[/name_m], why not let him be a IV and call him by his middle name, like his daddy? If not, I’d recommend you to find different first or middle names. Naming him the same, but in reverse, just seems so … unneccessary to me.
Ok, if I understand you correctly you
- have a really great nickname for [name_m]William[/name_m] that you both agree on and love
- Also really love the name [name_m]Walter[/name_m] but don’t want to call your son [name_m]Walter[/name_m] due to confusion
- [name_f]Do[/name_f] not want to put an IV in your son’s name
Could you just name him [name_m]William[/name_m] [name_m]Walter[/name_m] but leave out the IV? It just seems less confusing than reversing the names but then giving him a nickname derived from the middle name. I don’t see any reason that you would have to put the IV on the birth certificate.
I think if you plan to call him a nickname of [name_m]William[/name_m], it would be best to have [name_m]William[/name_m] be his first name. You could give him two middle names, for example [name_m]William[/name_m] [name_m]John[/name_m] [name_m]Walter[/name_m]. That way he won’t be a IV and you will still honor his dad with [name_m]Walter[/name_m]. Congrats and good luck!