# Naming your baby boy after his father?



## pknight1120

I was just wondering if it is pretty much a dying trend to name your baby boy after his father, like a Jr or 3rd, etc.. I know that it was done a lot in USA years ago, but I noticed that recently not many people do it.. I am curious what your feelings and opinions are regarding this? I suggested naming our boy after his father, but nothing carved in stone yet.. ?


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## babyface15

my husband kind of wants to name our baby after him and his father if it's a boy. tbd though! :)


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## ready4lullaby

I LOVE when people do Jr's... My dad was a junior and that may be why. My brother's first son is a jr. I think it's adorable. But my hubby didn't want to. :/

It's sad that it's a dying trend. But I still love it. :)


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## Wriggley

its not something we would personally do - we wanna give our child their own identitiy


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## MindUtopia

It wouldn't personally be to our taste just because I wouldn't want to have the confusion of having two people with the same name in our family. Plus, in Jewish culture (and I'm Jewish), it's considered bad luck to name a child after another living family member. I wouldn't name a girl after myself either. But I do like the idea of family names. If we have a boy, we'll be using my husband's dad's first name (which also happens to be my husband's middle name too), but he passed away when my husband was a teenager. But I can't see why you shouldn't do it if you both really like that name. I think it's nice to pass down family names if they're meaningful to you.


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## Pandora0814

My husband actually brought this up to me last night. As much as I love my husband but I DO NOT want our son to be a junior. I feel that a child&#8217;s name is their own individuality. My husband wasn&#8217;t happy but I will not let my son, possibly the only one I ever have, to have the same name as his father.


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## pknight1120

Hmm. That is an interesting perspective that some of you have regarding the baby having his own identity... That is a very good point.


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## abagailb14

If our baby is a boy he will have my husband's first and middle name, he's named after his father and he wants a junior of his own :)


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## ready4lullaby

abagailb14 said:


> If our baby is a boy he will have my husband's first and middle name, he's named after his father and he wants a junior of his own :)

See, I just think that's so cool. :) 

I understand people not wanting to get things confused, but I just think it's so neat to do Jr's. 

Abagailb14 we are due 2 days apart! :D


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## abagailb14

I like it too, of course if it's a girl I told him all naming rights go to me - it's only fair :) Congrats on your July baby! :)


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## havestar

Our 2nd son is named after my husband. It's so weird because he's our only son that looks JUST like him. He's a III. I was kinda bummed because I didn't get to have fun coming up with names.. but I got complete say on the 3rd. LOL


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## mamaxo

It's really common in my culture, I am from Portugal. OH & I have been so Americanized lol We aren't going with tradition! We decided to break it up considering OH is named after his father. We don't need another Carlos!


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## alicecooper

I don't like it really. It's like my husband says, he wouldn't like any of our kids to be named after him because he finds it a bit pretentious. I wouldn't go that far but I'm not fond of the idea anyway, but everybody is different.


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## sue_88

Not something I would do.

From my own personal experience when growing up......me and my two sisters are all Miss S - and getting mail through the post addressed to Miss S was so unbelievably frustrating, we'd all be opening each others mail - everyday.

I never want to experience that confusion and annoyance again, I know how much it bothered me, I'd rather eliminate the fact for my child. And I am totally breaking tradition by bringing the letter 'M' into our family :)


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## sjminimac

My nephew is named after his dad, who couldn't bring himself to call him by the name for years because it felt too odd. He calls him junior quite a lot. My son has the same middle name as his daddy. My next son will have Michael as his middle name after my grandad.


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## MumToEva

Not something I would would do - like others I want my LOs to have their own name and their own identity, rath than being "Junior Surname, such-and-such's son" if you know what I mean. My husband is named after his father, but with e first and middle names reversed. I think that's a nice way of doing it so that they get to have their own name too.


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## kaylamariee

We are doing this !
OH's dad and grandpa are named Timothy. If its a boy we will name him Timothy and his middle name will be Jacob (my grandpas name) so it will be Timothy Jacob (T.J) :)


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## kaylamariee

- and OH's name is Timothy of course !


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## poysenivye

My OH and I have decided that we would give him a JR. I don't think a name should be the deciding factor on someone's individuality. Mostly because growing up knowing a couple of Juniors...they never once made any comment about resenting the fact based on their inability to be their own person. No one ever resented it, most of them enjoyed it...pending whether or not they liked their dad.


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## june2013

For the past 5 generations the first boy in my husband's family has been named James. I would never think of breaking that tradition. If this one is a boy we will name him James, but call him by his middle name. My husband's father is named James yet goes by his middle name, and then my husband goes by Jamie, so the middle name thing tends to switch every other generation so that there is never any mix-ups between father and son names.


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## MomPepperdine

My DH is a jr and I asked him if we have a son if he would want to name him a 3rd and that was a big ol hell no lol my cuz is a jr I think if he has a son they will name him after him


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## amjon

I told DH we could give baby B his name as the middle name and he doesn't want to use his.


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## emmalouise09

we gave our ds oh's name as his middle name so its Jay Alex it was kind of my idea though plus it went really well together i didnt wanna use Alex as a first name for DS as he would more than likely get confused plus Jay really suits him lol x x


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## Bubsta

For me personally, I wouldn't do it. I have been with hubby for over 13years and I adore him. We are happily married.... But I always think... What if. What if something terrible happened and in some highly unlikely event, we split up. Do I think it will happen? No. But I'm sure most people that get married don't think it will end in divorce. I would never want to resent naming my son after his dad if it ended in divorce. God that sounded like a pessimistic post. It's not meant to... It's just something I've always thought. Our son will have DH middle name (who is also DH grandfather) and we have DH surname. That's enough. 

I have a friend that named her son the same name as the dad but was able to shorten it. Arnold (Dad) and son is called Arnie. So cute. Definitely each to their own though.


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## JJWEBB

I personally dont like this. I believe everyone deserves their own names because everyone is unique. My brother in law is a 3rd, and him and his Dad have has problems regarding social security and credit mix ups.

I love incorporating a fathers/Mothers name as a middle name though


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## aliss

My 1st son's name is his father's middle name, I love it :) I would have used the 1st name but there's no kid on this planet in this century who needs to be named "Fred"


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## JessinChi

We are... But dh comes from a very traditional family and the first male has had the same name for like 1000 generations! We are using a different nickname though. Luckily I love the name!


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## lmp1505768

I ALMOST agreed to this with my current pregnancy. 

But upon researching I found that most people said the child ended up using their middle name instead as having two people of the same name got confusing.

I also feel like it could cause identity issues. Like he has some expectation to be just like his dad. That's a lot of pressure! Though I've also heard of issues with social security and getting mail at the same address and all that. 

I also felt like it was a bit ....tacky? DF is an awesome and amazing man, but I felt like honoring someone is something someone ELSE should do. For instance, we are using DF's dad's name as the middle name because they are very close. I feel like honoring how awesome you are is a little off. 

But just my opinion! :)


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## Rafferty

I agree, it is confusing! My dad and brother both went by Steve and trying to figure out whose calls were whose drove us all crazy. My husband is also Lawrence the 4th...it ends with him!


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## lizmageeful

Personally, I am a 3rd. My grandmother and mother are both elizabeth, and so am I. I never could stand it. I hated it so much, that I'm considering changing my name when I go in to change it when I get married anyway. So, when I talked to my OH about names, and we saw Trevor on a list, we looked at each other and both said at the same times that we didnt want our son named after him! Turns out he didnt like the idea of it either. But there is a family tradition on his side of having the middle name Milo, so thats getting passed down. He gets his own identity, no confusion, but still a tradition!


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## misspriss

If it's a boy, he will have my husband's (and his dad's) middle name, but not first name. My dad was named after his dad, and he is STILL known as "Junior" to all of his siblings. I don't want my kid to be called "Junior" all the time.


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## Proserpina

I vehemently dislike this practice, for the following reasons: 


 No grown man likes to be called "junior," and some of them have a really hard time getting people to just call them by their first names when they grow up. 
 Since sons and daughters are not named after mothers, it sends the message that women are unworthy of having a legacy worth carrying on. 
 Since only sons are named after fathers, it sends the message that daughters are not worthy of carrying on dad's legacy. 
 Giving two people who live under one roof an identical name can be really confusing. Calling Jr. by his middle name sometimes helps alleviate this problem, but still.
I have no problem with giving children names that honor parents or other relatives, but this is a vestige of a society that valued women exclusively for their ability to make babies. Why perpetuate that patriarchal bullcrap with your progeny? 

DH's parents were here for Thanksgiving, and they were horrified that we want to name our baby "Constantine" if it's a boy. "Why don't you name him after his father?" they asked (DH is the second-born of twins; the firstborn twin had DH's father's first name while DH had DH's father's middle name as a middle name). Gee, they didn't complain six years ago that we weren't naming DD after me...


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## pinklightbulb

I refused to do it. For me my partner's name is synonymous with him and only him, so it would have been strange to call my son(s) by the same name.


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## lizmageeful

Proserpina said:


> Since sons and daughters are not named after mothers, it sends the message that women are unworthy of having a legacy worth carrying on.

I would just like to point out, I was named after my mother, who was named after her mother...


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## pinklightbulb

^ I think the point is that it's far less common for a daughter to be a junior than a son.


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## aliss

Genuinely curious if those opposed for gender equality reasons changed your surname when you got married?

I live in a culture where we are not legally allowed to change our surnames after marriage. I carry my father's surname until the day I die. My children get the choice of their dad's surname or mine, the 'patriarchal legacy' screws us either way. 

My husband was so excited to have his first son named after him. Strangely enough, it actually appears he is named after ME, since my name is verrry similar ;) 

At least it's easier to explain than #2. Boy #2 is Philippe Jay, named after the show he was conceived in front of:

https://www.officialpsds.com/images/thumbs/Futurama-Fry-psd72597.png


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## sue_88

aliss said:


> Genuinely curious if those opposed for gender equality reasons changed your surname when you got married?
> 
> I live in a culture where we are not legally allowed to change our surnames after marriage. I carry my father's surname until the day I die. My children get the choice of their dad's surname or mine, the 'patriarchal legacy' screws us either way.
> 
> My husband was so excited to have his first son named after him. Strangely enough, it actually appears he is named after ME, since my name is verrry similar ;)
> 
> At least it's easier to explain than #2. Boy #2 is Philippe Jay, named after the show he was conceived in front of:
> 
> https://www.officialpsds.com/images/thumbs/Futurama-Fry-psd72597.png

hehe :haha: made me chuckle.

Unfortunately, I am no longer with my partner. However we had discussed marriage and I had decided that I would keep my surname, personally because I just loved it but I also want all my children to carry the name as well. OH back then agreed, not that he has much say now.....but me and my babies will share the same name :)


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## Proserpina

lizmageeful said:


> I would just like to point out, I was named after my mother, who was named after her mother...

Yes, some families do this, but this far less common than for sons to get their father's name. It's actually pretty rare.

And out of curiosity, did you all have the same first name and middle name?

Re: surnames, I got married at age 21 in Utah. It was a patriarchal culture and though I was always independent-minded, I wasn't a feminist at the time, so I kind of took my husband's last name w/o thinking.

Since then I have gone back to my maiden name all but legally. It's how I introduce myself, how I list myself in directories, what I publish under professionally. I'm hoping to finally put in the legal name change this month.

I'm not exactly crazy about the fact that the kids will all have his surname, but DD already has his last name, and he doesn't want to alternate last names with subsequent children. If I could go back and redo it, I'd give the kids double middle names w/ my maiden name.


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## aliss

The laws here are bunk, since you cannot change your legal name to your husbands. It was done as part of a feminist movement, but I don't see how being forced to carry your father's surname is any more feminist than taking your husbands. Surely feminism is about the choice to carry your previous name, a double barrel, or your husbands? Urgh rant, sorry!


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## Proserpina

aliss said:


> The laws here are bunk, since you cannot change your legal name to your husbands. It was done as part of a feminist movement, but I don't see how being forced to carry your father's surname is any more feminist than taking your husbands. Surely feminism is about the choice to carry your previous name, a double barrel, or your husbands? Urgh rant, sorry!

I agree that that law is bunk, as feminism is generally about choice. Is that law only in Quebec, or in all of Canada?

What about the children? Can they have your surname if you want?


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## aliss

Proserpina said:


> aliss said:
> 
> 
> The laws here are bunk, since you cannot change your legal name to your husbands. It was done as part of a feminist movement, but I don't see how being forced to carry your father's surname is any more feminist than taking your husbands. Surely feminism is about the choice to carry your previous name, a double barrel, or your husbands? Urgh rant, sorry!
> 
> I agree that that law is bunk, as feminism is generally about choice. Is that law only in Quebec, or in all of Canada?
> 
> What about the children? Can they have your surname if you want?Click to expand...

It's just Quebec, not the rest. If you move to Quebec with your husband's surname, you can keep it. The children, you can choose, most people here double-barrel. I'm one of the few who didn't!


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## Proserpina

aliss said:


> It's just Quebec, not the rest. If you move to Quebec with your husband's surname, you can keep it. The children, you can choose, most people here double-barrel. I'm one of the few who didn't!

What do you mean by double-barrel? Hyphenate?


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## Blackrain90

I really like the trend of havin the same names. William Thomas Cornish ran in my family for quite a few generations, the oldest son of the oldest son etc. Each just went by a different part (Tom, Bill, Will etc) However neither my dad or my uncle had any boys! Aunt had one but he had a different last name so they didn't bother. Would have considered it for my son (at least first name) but I would only like the name Will, however don't want to burden my son with the name Will Smith lol. My husbands name is Jon Smith, so again waayyyy to common!


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## aliss

Proserpina said:


> aliss said:
> 
> 
> It's just Quebec, not the rest. If you move to Quebec with your husband's surname, you can keep it. The children, you can choose, most people here double-barrel. I'm one of the few who didn't!
> 
> What do you mean by double-barrel? Hyphenate?Click to expand...

Yes, hyphenate mom & dad


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