The issue we are having is naming our daughter after one grandmother and not the other. I was wondering if anyone has any advice or stories about naming your child after a family member or friend?
I’m worried of making anyone feel left out? Should I just give her her own name?
Thanks!
I’d rather just give her her own name, and then no one can be offended/hurt/left out. I don’t like the idea of naming children after people, especially close people. Honestly, I’d severely dislike it if I was named after my mother or father, and grandparents isn’t that much of a step up either imo.
My first daughter’s middle name is [name]Helen[/name] after my grandmother, and my second daughter’s first name is Anevay after my other grandmother. I did not name my children any names from my husband’s family. I was actually going to make Anevay’s middle name [name]Susan[/name] after my husband’s grandmother but then here initials would have been A.S.S. so, needless to say, that was struck from the list.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with using one name and not using the other. That being said, I know I cannot use my mother’s name as a first name because I will not have any other daughters if I have another, and so I won’t be able to use my husband’s mother’s name outside of the middle name status. So I guess I am refraining a bit…
I don’t plan on naming my children after anyone. I wasn’t named after anyone and if I was I think I would be upset. I don’t really see it as an honor. Maybe to the person, but to me, it would seem like my name wasn’t unique since it belonged to someone else. I think everyone deserves their own unique special name, but that’s just me. I’m sure some are happy to be named after someone.
I think the middle spot is the way to go! of course if you [name]LOVE[/name] the name and want to use it as a first name then go for it! my grandmas (so bubbas great grandma) name is going to be in the middle spot most likely as i wouldnt want it in the first name spot. I want that to be a name i picked and chose for little one myself!
if you’re having to choose between two people to honour i’d say honour neither? i can see too many fights/conflicts evolving! just my opinion!
I’ve got a legal name and a religious name. The legal name is a J in honour of one great-grandmother who had a J name. The religious name is three names, after three different great-grandmothers including the one who I have the J for. I don’t think everyone has to be named after somebody, but I have never felt less loved or less special because of the namesake thing.
I don’t think I’d feel more cared for if my mom had just named me a Top 1980s Name because it was in style and she liked the sound?
My first son will have an H name for my grandfathers. A girl, R for my grandmothers, I haven’t decided if I’ll use the exact names or alliterate. Alliterating is traditional in my family.
Of course, all the people being named after are dead. So there’s no two people turning around when called, or somebody sulking for not being named for. And I guess alliterating allows more style choice than having to do the exact name, maybe?
The middle names of my brother and I are the first names of our grandparents on our dads side. My nanna, [name]Rose[/name]'s name goes back through five generations of the family tree so technically I’m named after lots of Irish Catholic Roses rather than just my nanna. I know it meant a lot to her for us to share a name 
My Pop, [name]Joseph[/name] died when I was six months old which is why my brother was named after him.
I don’t think my mum’s family minded that neither my brother nor I were given family names from their side. My grandma cut off all ties with her family years before I was born after a feud and my granddad didn’t see his very often so I don’t think it was as important to them.
I’m custodian of the family tree and I’ve worked on it extensively. After finding World War 1 records of my great granddad [name]Edmond[/name] ([name]Ned[/name]) and hearing nice stories about him I found myself being more and more drawn to the name (ditto with my nanna’s great uncle [name]George[/name] who always visited her and her brothers in the orphanage) I also learnt that my granddad’s name [name]John[/name] [name]Edward[/name] is a family name of his mothers side that goes back quite a way. [name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Emily[/name] is also reoccurring on both my grandma and my granddad’s side.
I love the idea of giving my kids names selected from my family tree even if I only know a little bit about the person/people they’re named after. I know for definite that my first daughters middle name will be [name]Rose[/name] to carry the tradition on but here’re some other names I’ve considered. They’re either family tree names or names that sound similar/are the same as my relatives:
[name]Eileen[/name] (grandma): [name]Eilidh[/name], [name]William[/name].
[name]John[/name] (granddad): [name]John[/name], [name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Emily[/name], [name]Annie[/name].
[name]Rose[/name] (nanna): [name]Rose[/name], [name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Emily[/name], [name]George[/name], [name]Edmond[/name] ([name]Ned[/name]).
[name]Joseph[/name] (pop): [name]Joseph[/name], [name]Richard[/name].
Combination names might include: [name]John[/name] [name]Joseph[/name] (Jonjo) or [name]John[/name] [name]Richard[/name] ([name]Jory[/name]).
The only time I’m not a fan of naming kids after family members is when parents name children after themselves. It drives me bananas. Firstly because I hate the nickname ‘[name]Junior[/name]’ as to me it feels like you’re saying ‘this person wasn’t important enough for their own name so I gave them mine’ and secondly because you’ll end up with each others post, or you’ll both answer when someone shouts your name.
My husband…
Ok, how do I start this without brewing up a new argument I’ve tried so hard to end? My husband takes his family names very seriously. His father was given his grandfather’s first and middle name and his older brother was given the name too. His brother has two sons, and neither of them got the whole name (his first son was given the middle name). My husband felt like the name should have been passed down, so he actually suggested to me (strongly) that we name our first son this! I tried to explain how I didn’t want our son to have the whole name when 3 people already do. I also told him I wanted at least one spot for a name that I actually like. I think now I have him convinced that this isn’t the best choice for us (not to mention weird for anyone. The second son passing down a name given to his brother?)
My husband’s first name is one grandfather’s name and his middle is the other grandfather. Hardly any of his family members have both names specific to them.
I want at least one name. First or middle, I don’t care, but I don’t want my kid to feel like I was lazy and just said “ok, who do we know? Grandma? Yeah, let’s name her after grandma” (which is seriously what I think his family does… I know they go on ancestory.com and look at family names).
I don’t have a family name and no one else in my family does either (except my brother. My parents gave him my dad’s first name and they admit it was because they went into the delivery room without any options).
My take on family names? If I love the name, of course I’m going to use it. If I want to honor a family member who has a horrible name no matter how much I love them, I can find alternatives to the name or just use the same first letter or sound. But there are just too many non-family names I love and too many family members to honor, so why should I limit myself to names that aren’t my favorite?
I say If you want to, do it! Someone will not like the name, even if you don’t name the child after someone. Everyone has an opinion. I wouldn’t worry too much about it.
Each of my kids is named after a member of the family. Their middle names (except for my son) are after the place that they were conceived in. My son has a masculine version of my mothers name. We spent a lot of time looking at the. Ames of those that have passed and chose what worked best. There is no rhyme or reason as to why we picked one over the other, we just picked what we loved.
My middle name is after my paternal grandmother, who died before I was born. I always loved it much more than my first, which was picked just for the sound. It gave me a way to feel connected to someone who was very important to my parents but I never got a chance to meet. My other grandmother never felt left out- she’s a bit more mature than that. She raised me along with my parents. I’d consider naming MY child after her, so it all comes around eventually. I think a name with meaning, whether after someone or picked for some other reason, always trumps a name picked just for sound.
I never strongly considered naming future kids after anyone until this year. I am extremely close to my 86 year old grandmother and I love her SO much. She’s had to strokes this year and it’s just kind of set in that she’s not going to be around forever. My sister’s middle name is [name]DeAnne[/name] because my grandmother’s middle name is [name]Dean[/name] and my Aunt’s was [name]Ann[/name]. I’ve decided that if I ever have a daughter her middle name will likely be [name]Mara[/name]/[name]Maren[/name]/[name]Margo[/name] as my grandma’s name is [name]Martha[/name]. My boyfriend doesn’t mind and hasn’t mentioned any desire to name any children after anyone in his family. In fact when I suggested giving a future son his first name as a middle name as I genuinely like the name he said no. He thinks it would be totally egotistical to name a kid after himself.
[name]One[/name] of my sisters has twins and when she found out they were both girls she needed a second girls name, obviously. My brother-in-law’s mom is [name]Juliana[/name], although I have never in the 12 years I have known her heard anyone call her that. She has a nickname she always goes by and it sounds nothing like [name]Juliana[/name] and has no connection in any way to the name [name]Juliana[/name]. So they decided to name my niece [name]Juliana[/name] [name]Elaine[/name] because my mom’s middle name is [name]Elaine[/name]. It works. My mom wasn’t hurt that my niece didn’t get her name in the first name spot. It seems pretty even because no one even thinks of the original [name]Juliana[/name] as [name]Juliana[/name]. My nieces are seven now and [name]Juliana[/name] is definitely a [name]Juliana[/name]. Although she goes my [name]Jules[/name] a lot.
As a teenager I always said my first daughters middle name would be [name]Renee[/name] because my oldest sister and my best friend both have [name]Renee[/name] as a middle name. I gave up that idea when I started dating my boyfriend. His ex was a [name]Renee[/name]. First name. And that just feels too awkward to me.
All in all I don’t think naming after anyone is a bad thing. I don’t think it’s essential either. It’s totally a personal choice. For me, I know my future kids probably won’t know my grandma much, if at all. I can hope, but that doesn’t seem likely. And she is an amazing woman I love with all my heart. I just feel like it’s important to me not only to honor her, but also to pass a piece of her on to my own daughter.
These conversations about naming a kid after someone in your family seem really weird to me, because in [name]Indian[/name] culture it’s a huge no-no to name your child after anyone who you are remotely close to. [name]Even[/name] if you like a name but its the name of your third cousin, ou aren’t allowed to use it as a first name. The reasoning behind this is something like when you scold your child, you will indirectly be scolding your family member…
Well unless you are giving her the exact same name [first, middle, and last] as the person you are naming her after, she will have her own name. In any respect, she’ll make it her own.
Me personally, I’d only name a kid after someone who has passed away, and obviously someone who I was close to and would want to honor.
I was worried about this as well. I decided against naming my daughter after my mother because I did not want to have to name another child after my [name]MIL[/name]. But I did name my son [name]Kenneth[/name] after my grandfather, and do not plan on using any other family names. My husband’s name is [name]Daniel[/name] and he really wants me to name our next son, if we have one, [name]Daniel[/name]. But this is also my father’s name, my brother’s name, and a close friend’s name. I just don’t want so many [name]Daniels[/name] in my house. It bugs me. But he is very adamant and I feel that if I don’t, he’ll hold it against me forever. 
You could always use a family name in the middle slot. I did that with my first daughter and not with my next, which nobody seemed to catch onto.
[name]Both[/name] my girls’ first names were named after people that a special impact on me and my husband’s life. (not that our relatives haven’t) We honored my husband’s friend, who died, and then an old friend of mine’s child who died as well. The baby I’m expecting is the only one of my kids that is named after family members. I chose two middle names for her, the first one from my side of the family and the second from my husbands side to honor them since they passed away.
I think that if you really love one of your family member’s name you should do it.
Family names are pretty important to me. I don’t really know why, but using a totally new name seems very… impersonal, which is silly, but it just does. Heritage has always been interesting to me so that’s probably got something to do with it. Likewise, I would like my children to have at least part of their name which reflects their ethnicity (Irish/English/Scottish, plus whatever ethnicity their father may be). I know my kids will have at least one middle name that ‘honours’ my family in some way, although it would probably be a distant relative who they, nor I in some cases, will have never met. Having said that, my maternal grandparents whom I love and admire dearly, [name]Alec[/name] and [name]Margaret[/name], will also definitely be honoured whether my children get to meet them or not.
What I don’t like is naming children after their parents. I’ve always thought of that as a bit selfish really, to look at your newborn child and say ‘I’m going to name you after myself’. [name]Even[/name] if it was the mother’s idea to name her baby ‘[name]Andrew[/name] [name]Junior[/name]’ after his father, I still think it’s a pretty unoriginal way to name a child. A name is so important to a person’s identity, and I can’t get my head round possibly sharing part of my mother’s identity. It’s a principle I don’t agree with as a whole, though; creating ‘mini-me’ children. But I digress.
My 1st child has my grandfather’s name as his middle. Nobody ever seemed to bat an eyelid over the fact he was named after just my grandfather (who has passed) and not my husbands family. Either they didn’t care or they realised that would be incredibly selfish and petty. My 2nd, [name]Clara[/name] was not named after anyone, just names we liked. Again, no one batted an eyelid.
We’re pregnant again and we have a girl and boys name picked out. [name]Both[/name] first and middle names for both genders are named after family members, either directly or a modern spin on the name. Partly we have done this because it will mean a lot to those family members and partly it is because we couldn’t find any other names names we like better and we love these picks.
Once again, I would be highly surprised if anybody had an issue with not being named after themselves. At least not enough of an issue that they would be so rude as to make a big deal of it once baby is born. And if they are, they don’t deserve the honour in the first place.
I would suggest though that you make sure you pick names you love, even if they’re family names you still need to be happy and confident about the name you give your baby.
Hello I say If you want to, do it
I will name my children after family members definitely. It’s like a tradition or custom of such in our family and culture. I wouldn’t name the children after myself or partner but it is tradition to place the mothers first name as middle for the first born daughter. Same for boys. And I don’t think I’d give my children the exact name (including last name) as another family member. It’s very confusing from personal experience. Having 3 [name]Arthur[/name]'s and an Athanasia at family gatherings 
Maybe a variation to the family members name is the way to go. Who know what will happen down the track.