(no subject)

[nietzschekeen.livejournal.com]

Does your opinion of a name change if there is a "reason" behind it? Like if you hated the name Madison, and then found out her maternal grandmother's last name had been Madison, would you judge it less harshly? Do you have an examples of this happening?

Comments

[lind-saay.livejournal.com]

I might consider it for a middle name, but not for a first name. Example: I have never liked the name Mark; it just doesn't appeal to me. However, I have a really good friend named Mark who I would love to honor by using his name as a middle name for one of my sons. It's #3 on my list (after Michael for my brother and Timothy/Peter for my dad), but I like it a little more now because it makes me think of my friend.

[thellamaqueen.livejournal.com]

For other people's kids/names, yeah, it does. I would never give my child a name I didn't like the sound of or that was super trendy just because it had significance to me... but if somebody else named their child something I thought was horrible and then I found out they had a really good reason for using that name, I would dislike it less, yes.

[daydream11.livejournal.com]

This. You've said it better than I could.

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

That's how I feel, too.

[intothefireugo.livejournal.com]

No. I will dislike the name regardless. Lots of people give their daughters the middle name Marie because it was their mother's/grandmother's/whatever, but I still think it's a really boring name.

That being said, I tend to not judge names at all when they're attached to people I know irl.

[kitchen-poet.livejournal.com]

No, rarely does it change how I feel about a name. However, it doesn't happen very often because I've generally found that parents who give their kids significant family names rarely come up with stuff like Jayden or Madison. :)

And I will say that expecting a story to explain away a name I don't care for is dangerous thinking. Our first son will have Irving in his name, and I know a lot of people hate it, but it was my grandfather's name and I don't really care if they like it or not. But I certainly don't want to have say "It was my grandfather's name" every time someone says they hate it.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's just me, but I would probably assume that a name like Irving was a family name, whether you prefaced it with that story or not. Not that it matters, and I'm not saying that in a good or bad way.

Actually, if a middle name is anything besides something trendy, I would probably make that assumption.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

I would definitely judge it less harshly, but it doesn't make me like the name any better (in that particular example).

I kind of think of it in the same way that a lot of people disparage Lynn/Anne/Marie as middle names, but they're fine if they're family names.

[0o-faerie.livejournal.com]

I always disliked the name Astrid until I read 'White Oleander', and now I love it.

Also, I hated the name Amanda, until I met the greatest person called Amanda! Now I don't mind it anymore, although it's still not something I'd name my kid.

I do think that (to use your example) if someone's grandmother's last name was Madison, it would be a great reason to use it, but it doesn't make me like the name more. I do like the fact that in that case, there's a reason behind using it, though.

[thejoysofjess.livejournal.com]

I hate names spelled in a non-traditional manner, but I make exception for foreign names.