When we decided to on a name for our baby boy, we wanted to name him for someone we admired. Without much thought, the first name we landed on was her brother's. We didn't think all the way through the implications to his future family. What if he had a son? One thing we really never thought about was- what if he had a son who wasn't named after him. Would that son wonder why his cousin was named after his father instead of him? I had never really thought through all of the "what's in a name" implications.
So now, we're trying to figure out what to do with our son's name. Our son's name had been a combination of both her brother's name and her father's name- two men we admire and hope our son will one day emulate. We could simply change the order of the names, we could change the names altogether. I'm just not sure. I've been calling my son by his original name since he was 18 weeks cooking. It feels odd to call him anything else. We will change his name- but for now, I'm mourning the loss of the original one.
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14 years ago
6 comments:
(i realize you weren't asking for advice here, but...) i dont think its at all odd to name your baby boy after a brother. babies have been named after an honored uncle for generations (i can think of several in my/my partner's families right off hand). worrying about a hypothetical son the brother might have some day is a stretch. i would say, if you are worried, run the idea by the honored brother. if he has an issue with it, maybe reconsider. if not, stick with the name you love, i think its a beautiful idea!!
I second the person who commented above.. naming kids after their uncles is pretty normal! My older brother is named for his grandpa and his dad, my younger brother.. actually, not sure where the John came from, but his middle name is my uncle's name.
Using various male names from the extended family is traditional for a lot of people- my husband's family also does this.
I say go for it. Or use the uncle's name as the middle name, and just call him by his middle name. No biggie :D
Im with the others on this one. Have a conversation with the brother and tell him what you are thinking. if he has a son most likely he will be a jr or III - whatever the case may be. i think he would be honored...especially if he ends up not having a son.
Oh I missed this post. Could your little guy be a variation of the name? Like Drew or some such? I agree that it would feel like a bit of a loss to change a name now. Joey and I settled on names less than a week ago and those names now feel so natural. I do like Ool's suggestion though.
Thanks for the supportive comments! I left out a fairly integral part- oops! Janet's brother and sister in law are expecting twins in December- so using the name is a very real need!
I vote for Andrew, "Drew"!
Seriously, though, I'm not a good source on names. Most folks hate my kids' names.
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