(no subject)

[pleasure-past.livejournal.com]

Purely hypothetical: Should you ask a person's permission before naming your child after that person?

Does it change things if you're not necessarily naming the child after the person in question, but you just happen to like a name that someone close to you has? (e.g., You've always loved the name Matthew and want to name your son Matthew, but it has nothing to do with your brother named Matthew.)

Comments

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

Interesting question! I wouldn't give a child the first name of someone I wanted to honour, but all the potential middle names I would like to use are all family names, and I don't think I would ask (or even tell) the person in question in advance. I kind of feel like anyone I would want to honour is close enough to me that I wouldn't feel obligated to get their permission (or if I felt like I needed to, I probably don't feel like they're close enough to use their name, if that makes sense)...

I think it might be different in the example you've given, because in both cases (I think?) you're talking about first names. And because it's (maybe?) someone you're close enough to that you'd see them somewhat regularly, and the names could get confusing. And since it's a sibling and not an ancestor, he may have wanted to use the name on his children. (I'm not sure any of that helped, but I thought I'd throw it out there as some other stuff to think about).