So I was totally set on a FN LN combo that my husband and I were in agreement on (which is a miracle, because this time around we are not on the same page for boys names). I loved it. I googled it. Turns out the FN with our LN was a sort of famous drug dealer/crime lord of the 80s.
I have totally soured on the name now. My DH keeps telling me I shouldn’t let it bother me, because we had never heard of him before, and no one else probably has either, but it does bother me. When it is the first page of google hits, it is still really out there online. I didn’t have to dig.
Would you let this influence your naming?
For reference, the name is [name]Felix[/name] [name]Mitchell[/name].
I had never heard of him either but did google and he didn’t sound like some petty thief. He was so famous, so notorious, and so bad that a criminology term is still named after him (“the [name]Felix[/name] [name]Mitchell[/name] effect”). He was declared single-handedly responsible for irrevocably linking street gangs and the drug trade, a fact which continues to cause untold misery in cities across the world.
It’s not like he’ll just magically be erased from google. When I opened your thread I was determined to reassure you that it would be fine, but in this case, I’d try to keep looking.
I think you’d be worse off if your picked out first name/last name were the same as a criminal, not the first name/middle name. If your boy were to google himself (or anyone were to google him), they would go with first name/last name as well. I say go with it, simply because you can’t prevent SOMEONE bad from having the same name combo when it comes to common names (agreed [name]Felix[/name] is a little less common, but it’s not totally out there).
As I said on an earlier post, just by very nature the “bad” people with a name will come up first on google vs. the “good” people with a certain name combo. There might be hundreds of great [name]Felix[/name] [name]Mitchell[/name]'s in the world, and you shouldn’t let one bad one stop you from using a name you love.
[name]Hope[/name] this helped!
P.S. COMPLETELY missed that it was the last name… I thought you were saying it wasn’t. I’ll leave what I originally said, though it doesn’t apply as much anymore. I’d still use it for the reason I used AFTER that. Sorry for my mess up!
Those were my thoughts exactly. I didn’t think it would be a big deal, but you can thank google for ruining that. I would consider a different name choice and I hate saying that because I love the name [name]Felix[/name]
If your heart is set on [name]Felix[/name], maybe you could go with a longer form and use [name]Felix[/name] as a nickname.
Felicianus (original Latin)
Felicius (late [name]Roman[/name]) I think this one could be nice with [name]Mitchell[/name].
[name]Feliciano[/name] (Italian)
[name]Felicien[/name] (French) This one too.
I usually would say dont worry but there were quite a few hits on that person. I agree with Emmabobemma’s suggestion of a longer form or similar sounding name so you could get felix as a nickname.
I was going to say that as long as the criminal isn’t infamous like [name]Charles[/name] [name]Manson[/name] or even someone like [name]Tommy[/name] Silverstein (whose incarceration has some controversy to it) I wouldn’t worry about it. But in the case of [name]Felix[/name] [name]Mitchell[/name] I was thinking about it and I don’t think I’d love google-ing myself and finding that the top his is a notorious crime lord. So I think I’d advise against it.
Maybe you can find a name that you like that has a similar feel to [name]Felix[/name] that you and your husband might like as well.
[name]Felix[/name] is one of my favorites but am always struck by how [name]Erich[/name] and [name]Silas[/name] have a very similar feel to me.
I’ve never googled myself and I don’t think people make it a habit of meeting someone and deciding to google them. At most, if people did have such a strange habit, they would google it and see pics and know that obviously it was not your [name]Felix[/name] but someone else with the same name. You can’t stop using a name bc a bad person has it. People still use [name]Jacob[/name] even though the [name]Jacob[/name] in the bible had a period of being deceitful and cowardly. And [name]David[/name] in the bible had an affair with a married woman then had her husband killed, yet we can all agree [name]David[/name] is still a common name. I’m just saying its not about other people and their names. It’s about your baby and what you want him to be called.
I have never heard of him and actually think that needing to Google him is a good thing as it means the association isn’t well-known enough to evoke an immediate response.
While I understand the name has lost a bit of shine for you due to your discovery of this criminal, I absolutely would still use it in your situation. Think of all the possible future famous/notorious name combos that haven’t even happened yet, my own daughter could end up sharing the name of a mass murderer or a porn star - I sincerely hope not of course but we just don’t know!
There are thousands of [name]Michael[/name] Jacksons walking around who one day shared their name with a popular megastar and the next day with an alleged paedophile, but I bet none of them are scarred for life. After the initial “famous person” connection is made with the name, the association passes and in your case the inital connection won’t even be made. Also, since the criminal FM is dead, he will fade more and more from view as the years pass.
Why let this loser own the name you love? Why not let YOUR [name]Felix[/name] [name]Mitchell[/name] - the gorgeous, funny, smart and kind chap he will surely be - reinvent it?
I think it depends on the field you work in. I’m studying film and online presence is really important. Also, a lot of employers and HR departments are starting to google potential hires to see what pops up on facebook and online about them. Of course if you are a [name]John[/name] [name]Smith[/name] they won’t necessarily find much but if you have a more unique name (like mine) it’s pretty easy to find someone -> it’s actually kinda creepy that if you google me you can figure out where I’ve lived over the last 10 years. (no joke).
While you cannot control how other people lead their lives I think considering who else has your name needs to become a relevant consideration. While clearly this [name]Felix[/name] Mittchell isn’t the baby in question I don’t know if I’d want his story to prominently outshine my own. But that is a decision the parents need to make on their own. I still would consider finding a similar name that is different that you like, nay love.
Teens google their names all the time.
I would worry about the potential future embarrassment for your son.
I suggest looking for a different but similar name.
Oh my! Upon reading the name I thought you were overreacting because it’s not a name everyone knows, like [name]Ted[/name] Bundy or [name]Jeffery[/name] Daumer.
On the plus side, people won’t hear the name and automatically think of this guy
On the negative side, I’d be worried that people would think I intentionally named my child after him because I was a fan. Kind of like the couple that named their kid [name]Adolf[/name] Hitler
[name]Felix[/name] is an awesome name. Maybe make it the middle name? If I can’t use a name I love in the front for whatever reason, I’d use a “filler” first name that I don’t intend on calling him. In your case, [name]John[/name] [name]Felix[/name] or [name]Henry[/name] [name]Felix[/name] who only goes by [name]Felix[/name]
Thanks for all the input! I’m still really undecided/upset about the whole thing. I shouldn’t be upset, I know, but pregnancy hormones do crazy things. Unfortunately, the only other name I’ve really bonded with is [name]Simon[/name], but my DH is against that because his coworker’s son is [name]Simon[/name]. We don’t socialize with them at all, or live near each other, but he thinks it would be awkward. This coworker happens to be pregnant with a girl, and he asked me what I would think if they announced her name was [name]Cecilia[/name] (our DD) and I agree, it would be kind of strange. So I’m back at the drawing board. Part of my trouble is that I am set on the MN [name]Huckleberry[/name], so finding names that flow that I like are limited. Maybe I’ll start a new thread looking for suggestions…
[name]Clarence[/name]! [name]Clarence[/name] [name]Huckleberry[/name] would be beautiful, old-fashioned, gentlemanly. [name]Clarence[/name] tones down [name]Huckleberry[/name], but also highlights it in a [name]Samuel[/name] [name]Clemens[/name], man in a white suit kind of way. And great with your last name.
[name]Clarence[/name] and [name]Cecilia[/name] would be magical together. [name]Cecilia[/name] [name]Fern[/name]- heavenly name! I too love [name]Felix[/name] and [name]Simon[/name]. I imagine [name]Simon[/name] as such a keen, knobby-kneed sweetheart.*[name]Shame[/name] about your work-mate. [name]Simon[/name] isn’t the rarest of names, so I think it’s a little fussy of him to take issue with you wanting to use it. I think [name]Caspar[/name] also has some of the graphic simplicity that [name]Felix[/name] and [name]Simon[/name] have, but it’s not as warm. [name]Caspar[/name] [name]Huckleberry[/name] not as charming as [name]Clarence[/name] [name]Huckleberry[/name].
