The [name]Alice[/name] thread got me thinking about what family names inspire me or I at least find interesting, so far I have:
Husbands grandmothers: [name]Alice[/name] [name]Marie[/name], [name]Grace[/name] [name]Loraine[/name]. My Grandmother’s fn’s: Aldora, [name]Naomi[/name], [name]Marguerite[/name], [name]Adele[/name] nn [name]Della[/name] (not sure on spelling).
Other family names: [name]Geraldine[/name], [name]Helen[/name], [name]Loraine[/name] [name]Marguerite[/name], [name]Etta[/name] [name]Mae[/name], [name]Benedict[/name], Clovin, [name]Hester[/name], [name]Noble[/name], [name]Chauncey[/name], [name]Arabelle[/name], [name]Vesper[/name], [name]Hubert[/name], [name]Hattie[/name] [name]Louise[/name].
What are your favorite family names? Please post for inspiration!
[name]Cecilia[/name] - grandmother’s middle name (and I think maybe a great-(great?)-grandmother’s first name)
[name]Anastasia[/name] - great-grandmother’s name (although she went exclusively by [name]Nancy[/name]; most of the family didn’t even know her legal name until she died!)
[name]Veronica[/name] - great-aunt (goes by [name]Vernie[/name], though; ugh!)
[name]Josie[/name] - another great-grandmother’s name; not sure if it was short for [name]Josephine[/name] or [name]Jocelyn[/name], but I do think it’s a really cute nickname!
[name]Dominic[/name] - grandfather’s middle name
[name]William[/name] - great-uncle; went by [name]Billy[/name] (ugh)
Those are really the only family names I love. The rest are either boring or real clunkers, [name]IMO[/name].
This makes me wish that my husband and I knew our family trees better! Most of the names we know are surnames used as given or middle names:
[name]Commodore[/name] - dad’s middle name
[name]Anderson[/name] - great uncle
[name]Stewart[/name] - mom’s maiden name, but I love it as a first name
[name]Joplin[/name] - [name]MIL[/name]'s maiden name
[name]Bonnie[/name] - mom’s name, would love to use but DH would never go for it
[name]Ruth[/name] - grandma
[name]Thomas[/name] - brother’s name, does that count? I love it
[name]Ross[/name] - Grandpa’s name, my aunt and I’s mns. I think it’d be a great spunky unexpected 1 syllable mn.
[name]Elizabeth[/name] - mom and grandma’s names. Classic.
[name]Josephine[/name] - great grandma, sister’s mn, 2 cousins with the name. I’d love to pass it on.
[name]Hale[/name] - grandma’s maiden name. Was considered had I been a boy.
Great-grandfathers: [name]Louis[/name] (mom’s side) & [name]John[/name] [name]Edward[/name] aka [name]Jack[/name] (mom’s side) I don’t know the names of my dad’s great-grandfathers
I have an interesting name story, my Grandfather was a twin and when he was born in the early 1900s his Mother named her sons after opposing politicians who were running for [name]Governor[/name]. No one can remember why she chose to do it but I think it’s a very interesting and unique way to name a baby lol.
This thread inspired me to pull out an old family tree, so I have a couple more to add to the list!
First, a correction: [name]Cecilia[/name] was my great-grandmother. I wasn’t sure if she was my grandfather’s mother or grandmother when I first replied, but I’ve since confirmed that she was in fact his mother. And I can’t believe I forgot to mention my favorite family name: [name]Alexander[/name]! He was my great-grandfather, married to [name]Anastasia[/name]. (swoon Gorgeous!) It also happens to be a family surname for my husband, so there’s a good chance that we’ll use it for a son.
Other names of note:
[name]Marianna[/name]: I have two great-great-great-grandmothers by this name! (And a great-aunt named [name]Anna[/name]-[name]Marie[/name], but that’s not as pretty.)
[name]Josephine[/name]: The [name]Josie[/name] I mentioned previously was from my dad’s side; this [name]Josephine[/name] is from my mom’s side. She was a great-great-aunt.
[name]Rozalia[/name]: Another beautifully named great-great-aunt.
[name]Blasius[/name]: Great-great-great-grandfather, married to one of the Mariannas. I’m not sure if I even really like this name, but I mention it because it is probably the most unique on my family tree!
[name]Jozef[/name]: Great-great-grandfather; the father of [name]Josephine[/name] and [name]Rozalia[/name] (and my great-grandfather [name]Frank[/name]). I really love this spelling of [name]Joseph[/name].
[name]Julius[/name]: A great-uncle by marriage. Again, I don’t really like the name itself, but I considered him like a grandfather (since both of mine died before I was born), so the variant [name]Julian[/name] is on my list.
[name]Daisy[/name]- My grandmother’s name. It will be used a second middle name.
[name]Ora[/name]- [name]Daisy[/name]'s mother. I think it is really interesting.
[name]Walter[/name]- My grandfather’s name. I plan on using it for a second middle name.
[name]Lucille[/name]- Great-grandmother. I [name]LOVE[/name] the nickname [name]Lucy[/name].
[name]Ella[/name]- Great-grandmother. Too common, wouldn’t use it, but it is nice.
[name]James[/name]- My uncle’s name. Can’t use it. He’s an alcoholic.
[name]Frederick[/name]- My grandfather’s name. Very sophisticated.
[name]Gloria[/name]- My aunt’s name. I love it. I also love the name Gloriana.
[name]Rose[/name]- [name]Daisy[/name]'s sister’s name. I think it is cute.
[name]Louise[/name]- My grandmother [name]Mary[/name]'s middle name. Very nice.
[name]James[/name], [name]David[/name] and [name]Joel[/name]… I have a soft spot for [name]Lee[/name], but not much because I love the name. More that I adore my grandfather, and I miss him a lot. If I dug really deep I could probably find girls names that I like but I can’t think of anything right away. In fact, my son has [name]David[/name] as a middle name, but my daughter isn’t named after anyone that’s related to me.
[name]Joseph[/name]- father’s middle, cousin, and brother in law
[name]Thomas[/name]- father in law and DH’s middle
[name]Elizabeth[/name]- both mom’s middle name, my middle name (beth), and a grandmother from both sides- though my grammy went by [name]Betty[/name]
I don’t really care for those names though with the exception of [name]Betty[/name].
I want to use some of the more unique names that are floating around in my family for our bump-
[name]Brady[/name]- grandmom’s maiden.
Gunnick- mother in law’s maiden
[name]Owen[/name]- father in law’s middle
Fulghum- dad’s cousins’ last name.
[name]Anderson[/name]- other grandmom’s name
