Commonality of it all

[silver05.livejournal.com]

This is a question I've been wondering about for a while. Since I have a fairly uncommon last name, and have a formerly unusual first name to boot, I never thought that my thinking would come to anything - but both the guys I've dated so far have had incredibly common last names, so I'm wondering.

[Poll #1015643]

Comments

[elemmennope.livejournal.com]

It's important with common last names to use more uncommon first names. Michael Johnson is going to have more mistaken identity problems (with banks, credit agencies etc) than Liam Johnson.

[stardottedeyes.livejournal.com]

Speaking of that, I have a friend named Michael Johnson! In college once, we were at a party, and he met another Michael Johnson. Not to mention the more than 20 Michael Johnsons I found on Wikipedia!

Since my fiance's last name is fairly common, and I refuse to name my future kids with the same first name as someone I know (friends, co-workers, family, etc), they are almost certainly going to end up with less common names.

[krosp.livejournal.com]

Haha our local member of parliament is called Michael Johnson. Our electorate is called "Ryan", and then he called his newborn son Ryan...

Way too transparent lol

[home-to-me.livejournal.com]

I said unique first name to common last name. But I don't mean giving the kid some off-the-wall name. But if I marry a guy whose last name is Smith, we won't be naming our son John.

[celtic--punk.livejournal.com]

i've come across a person named john smith and i wanted to yell at his parents. i feel like if your last name is smith its the perfect opportunity to make use of more out there names

[fleckerbug.livejournal.com]

I wanted to put ignore the last name entirely', but that's not quite how I feel so I put that I'd comment. I have a very common last name. My fiance has a very unusual last name, but it is a common everyday work in the English language (Hand). We plan to hyphenate and when naming our children I'll take into account more how it sounds, but I wouldn't use a 'normal' first name just because of an unusual last name, or vice versa. together our name is much more uncommon than just my last name and more people think it's just plain weird and we shouldn't do it. Interestingly, I was almost named Bridget and I was glad I wasn't because I hate the double Br- sound of Bridget Brown. Then we went and named our daughter Brenna Rose and it never even occurred to me that we were giving her the double Br- name.

[museofmyself.livejournal.com]

The last name doesn't really concern me, as most of the names I like tend to be unique anyway. :)

[eleanorgrace.livejournal.com]

I think a lot of people with super common surnames feel compelled to use totally unusual first names, which can or can not turn out okay.

I went to grade school with a Chandelyn Smith (SHAN-duh-lynn), which I would not be surprised to find out her parents made up.

On the other hand, I also know a couple of Sarah Johnsons, and they don't run into too many problems. As far as bank/identity concerns go, I think you run into similar issues when you're named for a family member with the same name, and in the latter case it can be worse, due to likely proximity and connections.

[th3-unicorn.livejournal.com]

If the last name is common, then definitely a unique name.
I often think how mediocre a Danny Smith must feel LOL

[omgzits--tam.livejournal.com]

I know a Sarah Johnson, not to mention that her middle name is equally predictable- Marie. And my best friend's first and middle name combination is Sara (no 'h') Marie.

I'd say the child should have a less common first name if the last name is something so popular.

[bornto-fly.livejournal.com]

If the last name is, like, Smith, I wouldn't name the kid John or something. But, I also wouldn't go out of my way to give them a totally unique name.

[krosp.livejournal.com]

The only last name that I would think is common enough for "common" to be a concern, is Smith. (At least where I live).

If it was any other common name - Brown, Miller, etc.. I wouldn't take it into account at all.

But if it was Smith, then maybe I would steer clear of extremely common first names.

[politicking.livejournal.com]

my last name is rather common, atleast in general. i personally don't know any other people with my last name other than my immediate family... it's not common in the two places i've lived, but i know it is common.

my ex (my son has his last name) has a REALLY uncommon italian last name... there are NO other people with that last name around here (except for his mom & brother). his mom & her sister were the last two of the family with that name, & her sister got married, so, yeah.

[queen-mab.livejournal.com]

Doesn't matter to me. I would just pick something that flows phonetically with my last name.