Jr's

[familyrodriguez.livejournal.com]

How does everyone here feel about naming boys after their fathers?

I am pretty against the idea personally. A child's only identity at birth is their name and I just think its important for them to have their own name and identity separate from their father (and mother, for that matter). Plus, how often do you hear of women naming their daughters after them?

Comments

[uberta.livejournal.com]

I do agree with you, the gender ratio is a far cry from even. Women did name their daughters after them more often before the 1920s, however. Still, though I said for most of my life that I was against the idea, I've since changed my mind. My husband goes through a lot for me. He rather deserves a son named after him, in my opinion.

[familyrodriguez.livejournal.com]

What brought me to ask this question here was that my husband and I are expecting a daughter (our first baby) in September, and he has talked alot about how much he wants to have a son, and how important it is to him that he would be able to name said son after himself when/if the time comes.

I have been against the idea for as long as I can remember (having a deadbeat father myself probably didn't help much either), but the more I think about it, the more I think that even though I won't name our daughter after myself, it would mean the world to my husband and I'm starting to think that its not such a bad idea.

[mrssubee.livejournal.com]

so many of my friends named their 1st sons after their dads- it's fine for them...I would never personally do it..I agree, a child needs his/her own name
not "little Sal" or "Tony Jr."
but, then you can do what some of my friends do and initial the baby like AJ instead of Anthony like his dad

[familyrodriguez.livejournal.com]

the tricky thing is that my husbands name is Emery, so the only thing I can think that we'd call son in this case is Ej, which is cute, but it is also my husbands brothers name already (short for Emmanuel Jacob).

[sarahness.livejournal.com]

I don't mind juniors. My brother is a third and he's proud of it. I will say, if you're going to name your child after his/her parent, please let it be a good name. Unfortunately my brother is Omer Bill. Yes, that means there are (well, were) two other Omer Bills out there (as if one wasn't enough!). Pretty atrocious, imo.

My best friend from 4th/5th grade was named after her mother, Cynthia Anne. She went by Annie (later changed to Ani, though).

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

If I happen to marry a man who is, say, 'FirstName MiddleName III', then I would consider naming my son 'FirstName MiddleName IV'. Otherwise, I wouldn't do it. But I don't have a problem with people who do.

[mommyaubrey.livejournal.com]

to me it seems slightly lazy, and you're right they don't get their own identity. i don't like it.
i know a Pam Jr. :\...

[azelmaroark.livejournal.com]

A child's only identity at birth is their name and I just think its important for them to have their own name and identity separate from their father

You answered your own question. For this reason, I am alright with sharing middles or creatively referencing parents, but not with outright clones of names. If I were marrying someone who absolutely must have a 'jr' and is not willing to compromise at all, that would be a dealbreaker for me. No way.

[matika88.livejournal.com]

I really have nothing against it, as long as both the mother and father are on board. Coming from a traditional southern family, this is quite common. Although I do think it's a bit strange for mothers to name their daughters after them for some reason.
A lot of people say it's lazy, which i don't really understand. Usually it's pretty well thought out in advance if someone is adamant about passing on their family name. Being lazy to me would be popping out the baby, looking around the room and naming him 'Curtains' or something. Lol.

[matika88.livejournal.com]

That being said, I would rather not name my kids after me or my husband (same with my SO), I was just saying that I think it's perfectly fine for others.

[anodetonoone.livejournal.com]

I think it's nice to pass along the family name, but I like it better as a middle name, I guess.

I wouldn't do this either way, because as a Jewish tradition you don't name children after living, blood family members.

[monkey-fruit.livejournal.com]

I don't care what other people do, but I'm dead set against it for my own child, and I won't ever change my mind on that. Hubbie/boyfriend can have the middle name if he wants, but we are not re-using a name for the first. I'd want my child's name to be...just theirs.

My half-brother is a fourth. When ever I hear his name, I also get an image of everyone else that has had that name and...that just kind of sucks. Kind of reminds me of clones... O_o;(Doesn't help that the father is a complete douche and now we're stuck with a reminder of his sorry arse.)

[let-letitbe.livejournal.com]

My fiance is a JR. He used to loathe it because his father turned out to be a deadbeat and left his mother when he was younger. Now, he's kind of proud of it. It was either be a junior or have the name Charlie (his last name is Brown..). He always says that the only thing his spermdonor(that's basically what he was) gave him was a name and he's redeeming that name. He's always wanted to name a son after his grandpa and himself, and I like that idea as well.

It doesn't bother me, obviously. I think as long as the mother and father agree on it (just like with other names), then it can be just as nice as another name.

[lovablemess.livejournal.com]

Eh, I'm pretty indifferent to it. But I do think having your own name is a part of being your own person.

My dad's first cousin's name is Robert. His eldest son's name? Robert. The son's son's name? Robert. Also, to throw your post off completely, first Robert's wife's name? Joyce. Bob and Joyce's first daughter's name? Joyce. The first Robert goes by Bob. His son used to go by Bobby but now goes by Bob, though many of us still call him Bobby. Bobby's son goes by Robby. Such is similar with both Joyce's. The daughter used to go by Joycie, but now goes by Joyce since she's an adult. I really need to make a whole post for this family.

Wow, that was long.

[depeche810.livejournal.com]

I think it's kind of egotistical for a dad to pass along his name to his son. It's like "I'm such a great person, I want my son to be just like me". I don't know, that's how I see it. I am all for naming kids after close family/friends to honor them though. I just feel like if you name them after yourself that its a bit selfish.

[compulsivelyme.livejournal.com]

My grandfather was John and that was my father's name, too (although different middle name, so he wasn't a Jr.) My dad grew up being called J.

My husband is adamantly against naming a son after himself and I agree. There are so many other wonderful names out there. I may use his name (Thomas) as a middle name, though.

[velkoria.livejournal.com]

my brother is a Jr. and I am nearly a jr. as my mother's name is Monica Elena and I am Monica Eloisa and believe it or not that middle name says a lot about us... Either way I love being named after her because no matter how different we are I love her and well we wear the name differently =)

[joereaves.livejournal.com]

I don't have an issue with giving the child the father's name but I wouldn't call them junior or anything like that. My father was named after his father, although they have different names. My grandfather was Eric Vernon, and my father is Eric Peter, but for his entire life he's gone by Peter. I like that better than having the kid be Eric jr.

[a-tergo-lupi.livejournal.com]

I dislike the whole idea of naming people exactly the same as their parents.

How conceited can you be, anyways?

[silverstarrma.livejournal.com]

I was a legal secretary for a jewelry co. for 7 years, it was so sad for Jr's that had a dad that had bad credit or for a Sr who had a son that had bad credit because even though they have different SS #'s and DOB's they still had to jump through hoops with the credit bereau's to get it straightened out. I am forever reminded of that and could NEVER do that to my child (because you never know what could happen), or my husband if my son turned out to have bad credit someday.

[bouncepogo.livejournal.com]

You bring up a good point. I have a relative with the same name as his father - but different middle names - and when he went to get credit somewhere he was denied because it came back that he was dead. It was his father that was dead, not him (obviously) but it took forever to sort out with the credit reporting agencies who'd recorded the death incorrectly - and that's not even an exact Jr. situation!

[aleadfeather.livejournal.com]

On Gilmore Girls Lorelei named her daughter Lorelei

Probably the only time I can ever think of a baby being named after the mother

[queenfinn.livejournal.com]

Eaxctly what I thought of too.

[schexyschteve.livejournal.com]

I don't like the idea of Juniors and Thirds and everything. People are individuals are should have their own names. I don't mind same initials or using a similar name, but I hate naming children after their fathers. A man who insisted on naming his son a Junior would be a deal breaker for me.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

I don't love it, but I'm not horribly against it. I wouldn't do it myself, but I don't think it's the worst naming tradition ever. I prefer to use family names as middle names on both genders.

[breezy-boo.livejournal.com]

to me it seems very egotistical. i would never do it and never let my fiance do it. he doesn't like the idea either so that's good.
I find it confusing when families have 2 people with one name. There is this one lady i know and i can never tell if she is talking about her husband or son lol.
also my fiance is russian, and his dad is named after his own father, so he is named Vladimir Vladimirov lol.

[hollis1975.livejournal.com]

many girls middle names come from their mothers ( me for example) .

my son's second first name is my husbands name ( zachary-michael).

i dont like the JR thing tho.

[sophie2dopex.livejournal.com]

I don't mind jr's - but my boyfriends family (the boys) all have the same middle name & their names all start with M. It kind of bugs me. First born boys being named after their fathers is something I probably wouldn't do - but it doesn't bug me if other people do too.

& I agree with breezy_boo "I find it confusing when families have 2 people with one name. There is this one lady i know and i can never tell if she is talking about her husband or son lol." Hahha - I do that too DX

[queenfinn.livejournal.com]

Gah I don't really like it. It's not expected/demanded that women name their daughters after themselves so why do men still feel that need? I can understand how it used to be, but it doesn't make much sense anymore. My best friend's husband is dead set on naming his first son after himself. The kid will be Richard Eugene _______ III. I cringe whenever I think about it. My brother is John Edward Jr. and he really dislikes it. He wishes my mom had named him Sean like she had wanted. Middle names I'm okay with, they don't get used very often. But if your going to name your kid something and then call him something different so you can tell the difference, just name the kid the other name, imo. Also, what about your other sons? How would they feel not being in on that? That's like naming a set of kids Chrisopher, Catherine, Caroline, and Fred.

[relevancedenied.livejournal.com]

i was sort of named after my mother and aunt- their middle names, anyway. my name is Lyndsey Ann. my mother's name is Jerri Lynn, and my aunt is Jill Ann. it never really bothered me, but i would never name my child after myself.

[kitchen-poet.livejournal.com]

Uhhhh...well, my mom named me after her. (And I'm female.) Personally I always loved that we shared a name, and will carry on the tradition assuming I have daughters. I think sharing a name is a pretty fabulous thing.

In fact, in my family "family names" are the norm, but that is pretty standard in among Jewish families. Sometimes the first letter of a name is honored (like grandma Ellen would have a granddaughter named Esme, etc.) which can be used to get around the whole Jr. thing. In addition to the first name = first letter, my husband and I personally plan to use a second middle name to honor a specific family member, and we're pretty jazzed about it.

I don't see family names as about squashing individual identity--because really, everyone has their own personal self--but more as connecting family members to a shared collective past to be honored and appreciated. :)

[ohhvelocitygirl.livejournal.com]

I don't like jrs because I've always thought names like CJ BJ TJ and such were really super trashy. but I like parts of names being passed on. me and my daughter have the same middle name. except I go by my middle name so it's like my name is her middle name

[ladyjbug.livejournal.com]

My son's first name is going to be Jack. It turns out that it is a nickname for my one Grandpa's name (John), but my husband and I just really liked the name so that feature is just a bonus. We believe that middle names are the best way to honour family members, so he has my Dad's middle name and my husband's middle name.

My husband originally wanted our son to be a Junior but I vetoed it. If we have girls, we will have an original first name and take middle names to honour our relatives in the same way.

Also, on my husband's side of the family, there used to be a tradition of naming the firstborn son Norman Percival or Percival Norman. They switched every generation. Luckily my husband's Grandfather switched it up and called his son an original name and his son also followed suit. Otherwise, I would be married to a Norman Percival. YUCK! This was the main argument I used when vetoing the Junior idea!

[jordle.livejournal.com]

I hate the whole Junior thing. A child needs their own name. I would flat out refuse to name my son after his father.

[peke.livejournal.com]

The last who knows how many first born sons in my partners family have all had the same name. We don't yet know what we're having, but I did make it clear years ago that I don't plan on carrying on any of the first name traditions of either of our families. It seems odd and confusing to me. If it's a boy we'll use his family name as the middle name, if it's a girl, we plan on using the name that's been handed down in my family for generations as a middle name. That's as far as I'd go.

[laminy.livejournal.com]

Nancy Sinatra and Lorelei Gilmore. Those are the only two I've got. I don't really see the point, it just seems really unoriginal.

[tiarrajanae.livejournal.com]

I fully believe in giving a child their own name.

[sxylilwitch.livejournal.com]

I know I'm late to this party, but I had to comment. I was completely against it until I was pregnant with my first. My Husband's family's tradition is to name the first born son Donald, then change the middle name. So his Grandfather's name is Donald William, his Father's name is Donald Richard, and his name is Donald Adam. I am all about tradition on my side of the family, so I couldn't just break that tradition in theirs! Even if I completely dislike the name Donald, I would have used it on a boy. My compromise was to call him by his middle name. We chose Donald Gabriel, so his nn would have been Gabe.

But lucky for me I got stuck with 2 girls XD