I posted a question about this before but didn’t get much feedback, so I thought I’d try again. I apologize if asking again isn’t appropriate.
Husband and I really like surnames as first names however, many don’t work with our last name. It begins with P, ends in man, and is two syllables. We like a lot of surnames that end in “son” but with the ending of our last name its a bit too much and very law firm sounding esque. It’s also very difficult to find surnames that do not end in “n.” We really don’t like the look of a first name and last name ending in the same letter for some reason.
We’ve actually gotten very nasty feedback, though we laughed it off, from an acquaintance insisting surnames have no business as first names and what would we do if our son/daughter wanted to hyphen their name if they got married. We’d be “saddling” our child with three last names. A friend of ours technically has three first names as his last name is [name]James[/name], so he is [name]Aaron[/name] [name]Thomas[/name] [name]James[/name] and he doesn’t feel saddled. We still like surnames regardless. Are they doable to use on a child?
What are some surnames that do not end in son/man or “n” ? We’re looking for something a little unusual but not off the wall.
I think I may have answered your last post, so sorry if I repeat some things, but I think surnames are nice as first names. I would much rather see someone with a surname as a first name than to see someone with another meaningless made up trendy name.
I think that your acquaintance, besides being pretty rude, is completely wrong. I had/have three first names as both my full maiden and married names, and the only issues I’ve ever had are with people thinking that my last name is my first name. I definitely wouldn’t use the term “saddled.”
Having said that, I think that surnames as first names are somewhat more doable on boys than on girls.
Surnames that are also first names:
[name]Alexander[/name]
[name]Bailey[/name]
[name]Bennett[/name]
[name]Bradley[/name]
[name]Carter[/name]
[name]Clark[/name]
[name]Cole[/name]
[name]Davis[/name]
[name]Duncan[/name]
[name]Elliott[/name]
[name]Ellis[/name]
[name]Graham[/name]
[name]Grant[/name]
[name]Harper[/name]
[name]Harris[/name]
[name]Henry[/name]
[name]Howard[/name]
[name]James[/name]
[name]Kelly[/name]
[name]Lawrence[/name]
[name]Lewis[/name]
[name]Marshall[/name]
[name]Mitchell[/name]
[name]Murray[/name]
[name]Reed[/name]
[name]Riley[/name]
[name]Ross[/name]
[name]Russell[/name]
[name]Scott[/name]
[name]Spencer[/name]
[name]Stewart[/name]
[name]Wallace[/name]
I’m in the camp that does not like surnames used as first names. It just does not appeal to me at all. The exception to this is when the surname has family significance, such as a connection through lineage, mother’s or grandmother’s maiden name etc.
I love many of the suggestions listed above, as many are not obvious surnames and would be very suitable in a first-name spot.
Good luck!
I love surnames as first names! Three of my favorites that aren’t on the above list are [name]Beckett[/name], [name]Everett[/name] (nn [name]Ever[/name] or [name]Rhett[/name]) and [name]Sawyer[/name].