WDYT?

[erikalyn.livejournal.com]

How do you feel about the name Miguel?

My boyfriend has "decided" that this is what he wants to name our baby boy (due in April) and, while I don't hate it, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it.

He said that I can have free reign over the middle name and, since my daughter has a family middle name, I would like him to have one as well but the only male names in my family are Michael (Miguel Michael, uh, no) and Eric - which I'm not really fond of.

So, does anyone have any middle name suggestions to go with Miguel?

Comments

[lind-saay.livejournal.com]

I like Miguel, but I would only use it if you are from that culture. I mean, it's going to sound kind of odd if your child's name is Miguel McCarthy or something, you know what I mean?

If you don't like it, don't give in. Your boyfriend shouldn't be able to just DECIDE things like that, especially since YOU are the one who is pregnant and going to give birth and most likely do most of the care-giving (for the first few weeks at least). You should have just as much of a say in the name as he does, and it should be a name you BOTH like.

[erikalyn.livejournal.com]

This is why I'm iffy on the name.

The last name is Portuguese, so Miguel would sound and look fine, but neither my boyfriend or I are actually Portuguese and I just worry that everyone will always expect him to be hispanic. Is that even a problem, though? I mean, as long as the name flows. My boyfriend is Indian, so he will be half brown, just not the "right kind" of brown?

[lind-saay.livejournal.com]

If you're iffy on the name, don't use it. Like I said, your boyfriend has a say in the name, but not the ONLY say.

I think that's a gray area, haha. I mean, it'd be really weird if the kid was named Miguel and was like, red hair green eyes and freckles with an Irish last name, but with a Portuguese last name I don't think it would sound so weird. However, people WILL expect him to be Hispanic and will probably assume that he speaks Spanish or Portuguese and his family is from there, etc. So it's really a question of how YOU feel about it. My personal feeling is that people shouldn't go with explicitly ethnic names (that really only fit in one or two cultures, or one or two languages) unless they ARE that ethnicity and the child will be raised within that culture, at least to an extent. That is, I think it's really weird and kind of inappropriate when someone who is quite obviously Irish or Italian or something names their child something that is very explicitly Japanese, you know? But it's really up to the family.

[azelmaroark.livejournal.com]

Your boyfriend shouldn't be able to just DECIDE things like that

This. The idea that he "decided" without your consent is really unsettling to me. That would not fly if it were my child. I think you need to forget the middle names and go back to the drawing board.