My dilemma is that my two favorite boys names are [name]John[/name] and [name]Jack[/name]. I’m wondering if you think I could get away with having one son named [name]John[/name] and one named [name]Jack[/name] or is that beyond cheesy?
Nope. [name]Just[/name] call [name]John[/name] “[name]Jack[/name]” sometimes. They’re the same name as far as I’m concerned. It’d be weird to give your kids the same name.
It’s fine. People over think names, particularly on name forums. They are not to close in sound which is really all that matters. Doesn’t matter that their VARIANTS/DIFFERENT FORMS of the same name. If their the names you love, their the names you love.
My father and my significant other share the same name: [name]John[/name]. I have NEVER heard of ANYONE calling them [name]Jack[/name], and have never heard anyone call either of them anything but [name]John[/name] and [name]Johnny[/name] (S.O.'s nn). [name]Do[/name] I think it’s cheesy? Not necessarily, no. [name]John[/name] is my favorite boys name and I also like the name [name]Jack[/name], so I can understand. However, I personally would not name a son of mine [name]Jack[/name] if I already had a son named [name]John[/name] (some of my reasons, though: my father actually does not like the name [name]Jack[/name] and my S.O. has VERY bad childhood memories of someone who bore the name [name]Jack[/name]…also, I would not want to have two siblings with the same first initial).
Having said that, my best friend named her 3-year-old son [name]Jack[/name], and I love him to pieces! No one [name]EVER[/name] calls him [name]John[/name]–I’ve never even thought of the possibility of that happening!
[name]John[/name] and [name]Jack[/name] are very different names in my book. [name]John[/name] is [name]John[/name] & [name]Jack[/name] is [name]Jack[/name], and that is that!!!
Jack’s a nickname for John, and a very well known, popular, historic one at that. It’s like naming them John and Johnny. It sounds like you couldn’t come up with a second name.
I can see the “overthink” argument for names that are from the same root but in different languages (James and Hamish) or are dimunitives that sound nothing alike or are relatively obscure, Elise and Lilibeth perhaps, but Jack and John are alliterative, the same language, and it’s not a rare usage.
Do what you want, of course. I totally sympathize with loving two names that are too close to do both.
I would probably avoid that, I agree that naming them [name]Jack[/name] and [name]John[/name] would be like naming them the same name. Not cool at all. I know two brothers (and their father) named [name]Max[/name]. It can get extremely confusing, no matter the nicknames, because people will always need to double check themselves. Are they talking about older or younger [name]Jack[/name]/[name]John[/name]? Because no matter what you do, people will come up with their own nicknames, especially the boys’ friends. [name]Say[/name] [name]John[/name]'s group of friends decides to call him [name]Jack[/name]? Then you got a problem.
Not trying to overthink it or anything, but where I’m from, both names are interchangeable, I could call [name]John[/name] [name]Jack[/name] or the other way around several times during a conversation and nobody would bat an eyelash.
I have to agree with the prevailing wisdom here. Naming two sons [name]John[/name] and [name]Jack[/name] would be like naming two daughters [name]Elizabeth[/name] and [name]Betty[/name]. [name]Even[/name] if they don’t sound exactly the same, they are two forms of the same name - it could cause a lot of confusion and even teasing.
I agree that people can definitely over think names, especially on these forums (guilty of it myself), but in this instance I think we’re being reasonable. Really, I didn’t have to think much about it at all. I [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Jack[/name] and I think [name]John[/name] is really handsome, so naming a son [name]John[/name] and calling him [name]Jack[/name] would be awesome, but naming two individual children [name]John[/name] and [name]Jack[/name] seems a little cruel. It’s like dressing identical twins in identical clothes. They’re their own person and deserve individual names to have their personalities grow in to. [name]Johnny[/name] Depp is [name]John[/name] [name]Christopher[/name] Depp II and his son is [name]John[/name] [name]Christopher[/name] Depp III nicknamed [name]Jack[/name]. He’s a cute kid. Great name.
Oh, dancersventure - [name]Jack[/name]'s don’t normally get called [name]John[/name], it’s the other way around. [name]Jack[/name] is the nickname.
I see no problem with it. I don’t know a single [name]John[/name] nicknamed [name]Jack[/name] or a single [name]Jack[/name] whose formal name is [name]John[/name]. I know its been a nickname for [name]John[/name] for centuries but I just don’t associate them with each other any more. If I liked both, I’d do it. It also wouldn’t strike me as weird if I met a sibset made up of [name]John[/name] and [name]Jack[/name].
I understand that’s how it usually goes, however, I’ve known several Johns very well and some not so well–& still, none of them were ever called ‘[name]Jack[/name]’. It doesn’t even occur to me–this may differ from other parts of the country/outside the U.S.–I live in the northeastern US.
I agree with the others that I would use [name]John[/name] and then use the nn [name]Jack[/name] occasionally. My grandfather was [name]John[/name] nn [name]Jack[/name] and I would be using [name]Jack[/name] to honor all the Johns in my life (like, 13, seriously, lol), so it’s just too close for me. [name]Even[/name] though a lot of Berries tend to overthink things, I don’t think that is the case here. [name]Jack[/name] is a well-established nn for [name]John[/name] and it’s well-known to the general public. Most non-name-nerds know that [name]Jack[/name] is a fairly common nn for [name]John[/name].
I’ve never heard of any [name]John[/name]'s going by [name]Jack[/name] or and [name]Jack[/name]'s going by [name]John[/name]… completely different names in my opinion. You could always use [name]Jonathan[/name] and [name]Jackson[/name] as full names.
Dancersventure - [name]Jack[/name]'s been used for [name]John[/name] in the northeast, too - [name]John[/name] F. [name]Kennedy[/name], Massachusetts native, was nicknamed [name]Jack[/name].
My father’s name was [name]John[/name] but he always went by the nn [name]Jack[/name]. [name]John[/name] and [name]Jack[/name] are therefore pretty much the same name for me. I would find it strange if I met two siblings named [name]John[/name] and [name]Jack[/name].
i think [name]John[/name] and [name]Jack[/name] are a little wierd as a sibset… maybe use a varient of one…
[name]John[/name]
[name]Jonathan[/name]
[name]Jonas[/name]
[name]Jonah[/name]
or
[name]Jackson[/name]
I say go for it! I love both names as well.
I think you could get away with [name]John[/name] and [name]Ian[/name]. Or [name]Jack[/name] and [name]Sean[/name]. But really? [name]John[/name] and [name]Jack[/name], come on. [name]How[/name] bout [name]Jonah[/name] and [name]Jackson[/name]?
If I heard of two brothers named [name]John[/name] and [name]Jack[/name] I would just think that their names were [name]John[/name] and [name]Jack[/name]. I would not associate them as the same name at all. They may have been used as nicknames or formals for the other before but they are still separate names that are more often than not used separately from each other these days. I wouldn’t worry about teasing either, kids most likely will not know that [name]John[/name] and [name]Jack[/name] could potentially be the same name.
Or… or… [name]Johnson[/name] and [name]Jackson[/name]! It’s perfect! :3 ([name]Don[/name]'t worry, Berries, I was “Jacking”)