Were Your Kids Named After Anyone? Were You?

Updated on April 10, 2013
A.G. asks from Houston, TX
40 answers

My son was named after my husband's 2 best friends. Its pretty boring...along the lines of John Anthony. I wasn't happy with it at all and complained about it the first year of my son's life, until one of his friends passed away suddenly a few years ago, before getting married and having children, and then I was all "Oh, I'm so glad we named our son after him and now he can have a legacy". I know, I'm a hypocrite.

I was named after 2 aunts, one on each side. They are 2 very old fashion names and I've always hated my name and the nicknames it generated. I'm tempted to change my name sometimes...maybe Princess Consuela Bananahammock!

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So What Happened?

Noone got my Friends reference? Princess Consuela Bananahammock was married to Mr. Crap Bag on the show, remember?

I'm impressed with the homage to family and friends ya'll have given.

When I was little my dad lovingly called me A. Kate. My siblings and cousins, forever curse all their black souls, revised it to Alley Cat and for some reason attributed jokes about garbage to me. For graduation they filled my car with garbage. They refer to my husband as Tom and my son as Tabby. I love and hate them all.

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A.C.

answers from Atlanta on

I was named after my mother, which was a tradition her side of the family (she was named after her mother - her mother's first name became her middle name, same for me). My son was given a distantly-related version of my husband's middle name as his first name, and my daughter was given my grandmother's first name (and my mother's middle name) as her middle name. In general, though, my family tends to reserve first names for more original names, and pass down middle names.

3 moms found this helpful

M.D.

answers from Washington DC on

My middle son has my husband's middle name. I kind of wish I had passed my middle name on to my daughter, but I don't mind her having her own identity either. My son got my husband's middle name because we couldn't agree on anything else :).

Other than that, nope. They have their own names that we liked and they are very fitting to their personalities.

3 moms found this helpful

C.V.

answers from Columbia on

My boys aren't named after anyone. I liked their names (Hunter and Taylor), and chose them because they're just good names. :-)

I wasn't named after anyone either.

My husband's name is Guy. It's a family name that has been passed down through 5 generations or so. Since my FIL is Guy and my SS is also Guy, we call my hubs Butch (a nickname given to him by his granny).

3 moms found this helpful

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H.W.

answers from Portland on

I'm named for no one in particular.... our son is named for a 19th century western writer and poet and personality, Joaquin Miller. He was a contemporary of Mark Twain's and quite a character. Honestly, this was the only name we could agree on. One of our friends with the Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission (we used to attend their salons on ) noted that there is also a little baby girl recently named after H. Hall (another Oregon poet) and suggested that it would be fun to get the kids together sometime. Novel, that!

4 moms found this helpful

S.G.

answers from Grand Forks on

My dad, John, passed away when I was six month pregnant with my first son. I wanted to name him after my dad, but I already had a brother and a nephew named John. I chose an alternative form of the name John instead, Evan. His middle name is my husbands middle name, his grandpas first name and his great grandmas maiden name. When I had my second son I also chose an alternative form of John, Owen. His middle name is my brothers first name (my other brother, not John). I was named from a song. I felt left out because all the women in my mothers lineage were named "M" names. My mom was Muriel, her mom Margory, her mom Margaret, her mom Martha, her mom Mary...My sister got the M name...

3 moms found this helpful

J.E.

answers from Minneapolis on

I got my mom's middle name "Sue" and my daughter also has it. My son has his dad's middle name.
For their first names, we just picked names we liked.
My brother has our mom's maiden name for a middle name.

3 moms found this helpful
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A.C.

answers from Dallas on

ETA: Read your SWH...I knew I'd heard the Princess name before, but couldn't think where. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the alley cat / tom / tabby names. LOVE!

First son: his first name is after my husband's grandpa, and his middle name is after my grandpa.

Second son: when we announced we were naming the first after "Grandpa Joe", my father in law (a sweet, funny, very strong, good man) said "Awww, nobody's ever been named after me"). We just laughed it off and didn't think anything of it, but he passed away shortly before I became pregnant with our second son. His first name is after my father in law, and his middle name is after my dad and brother.

Kinda sweet we think: one is named after his great grandfathers, one is named after his grandfathers. Plus, what the heck, both names are really nice, strong names. I'm not named after anyone: my mom was going through a lot of turmoil and she was looking to start a new life. I was born in the fall, but my name is A. because it meant new life, new beginning.

3 moms found this helpful

S.T.

answers from Washington DC on

i think one of the worst things people can do is to name their kids after themselves. my 60 year old BIL is still 'little mark' to half the family. and my brother keith has a slew of nicknames, one of the most prevalent of which is 'junior.'
but it's nice to name a kid after someone significant. at least if it's a nice name.
my niece, who was born prematurely and with a lot of issues, got 'eliza' as a middle name. i think it's borderline ghastly, but it was for her great-aunt who was one of the original utah pioneer women, and demonstrated great strength and resilience. so that's kinda cool.
khairete
S.

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K.P.

answers from Miami on

My son is named after my husband's grandfather (first name) and my father/my husband's twin (same name). We made that his middle name due to the sheer fact that three people with the same name in the same family seemed kind of confusing! My son's name is classic, not boring, and people actually comment frequently that it is refreshing to hear a child with a traditional name.

My daughter has a biblical first name and has my middle name.

I am not named after anyone. My father has 8 sisters, so in his words "the good female saints" were all taken!

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J.K.

answers from Kansas City on

Oh yes all us kids were, and we hate it. I am named after my Grandpa, Grandma, and Miss America in the year I was born. I have 4 names blended to make 3 names. I go by my middle name, because, my first name is after my grandpa, so that tells you why. When I had kids, I told my husband that they are getting plain ole regular names.

2 moms found this helpful

L.U.

answers from Seattle on

My first son's middle name is Antonio...like Antonio Banderas! LOL!
My second son's first name is after a boy that was born right around the time my husband left his home. His little cousin who would sleep with him, who my husband would carry around and care for. My son's middle name is after my husband's father.
My daughter's middle name is after my Aunt who passed away right before she was born. She was my favorite aunt and I was crushed when she died and that I couldn't go to her funeral (it was out of state and I was 37 weeks pregnant).
I am not named after anyone and neither is my husband.

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M.P.

answers from Raleigh on

Both my children have variants of family names. My son is named after his dad, and my daughter after my mom and my paternal grandmother. I always thought it was cool to be named after another person. Just gives it meaning.
I was named after my father and my great-grandmother. My great grandmother's name was so pretty - Dawnia. I kind of wish they had gone with that instead of shortening it. I tried to incorporate that into my daughter's name, but it just didn't work out.

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A.V.

answers from Washington DC on

My mom is named after my great grandmother. My grandmother wanted to honor her stepmother by naming her first daughter after her. My mom doesn't like her first name so much but understands it has great meaning to her mom. She usually goes by her middle name.

My husband's middle name is a family name on his mom's side. His son's first name is the same name (just happened that way, as his ex liked the name before they met) and the middle name was changed to be his ex's father's name because he had recently passed. SD is a derivative of her mom's name.

My daughter is named for two grandmothers, one on each side. DH and I both have/had a grandmother who was/is a great influence in our lives. Her first name is after my grandmother, her living great grand, and her middle name is for his grandmother, who has passed on. The order of the names is just how we liked the sound, not who is more important.

My ILs have a tradition of the women passing down their middle names to their daughters (so say MIL's middle name is Sue then her daughter's middle name is Sue and the granddaughter's middle name is also Sue). I did not continue that. They also pass down a maiden name to the sons, so BIL's middle name is MIL's maiden name and DH's is his grandmother's.

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S.B.

answers from Houston on

Our son is a Jr. Our daughter is named after my mother and MIL. My middle name is my grandmother's middle name.

I love the sound of my daughter's name. Both of the names flow so wonderfully. Now that my mom is no longer aware of anything (dementia) I'm glad that our daughter carries the name of the most amazing woman I have ever had the honor of knowing.

2 moms found this helpful

Y.M.

answers from Iowa City on

I was named because of a song my dad heard. My first daughter has my grandfather's name as her middle name. My second daughter has my dad's name as one of her middle names.

2 moms found this helpful

V.K.

answers from Minneapolis on

When my mom was pregnant with me, she was watching a movie with my dad and the main character was named V.. She fell in love with the name and ya... When I was little I used to lie and say that I was named after Queen V., lol. Then my middle name is Rae after her step-dad Ray... Who I don't get along with and never talk to. Sigh...

My son is named Oliver James after my grandp (Oliver) and my dad (James). They are his heroes (Thy have tractors and cows aka the coolest things in the whole universe), and anyone who comes into contact with my grandpa has to listen to him ramble on about his great grandson that is named after him, lol.

2 moms found this helpful

J.O.

answers from Boise on

My oldest is named after my husbands father who died when he was around 15. It's a pretty boring name. My 2nd (DD) has my mom's middles name, but it wasn't intentional. I had her at home on the couch (can we say fast labor) and when they said girl I had them re-look we were sure she was a boy and only had a boy's names. So I took the female version of the boy name and threw in my mom's middle name, who was holding her when the paramedics asked. I just didn't consciencely give it to her.

Two of my other son's have Apache middle names, one uses his name as his first name the other doesn't. My last is also name from the tv show the Legend of the Seeker, my son gave it to her.

2 moms found this helpful

J.S.

answers from Chicago on

My name was picked because of that Bobby Darrin song, "J., J., J. do you love me?" Blarf.

My oldest daughter has my MIL's name for her middle. 2nd daughter has my mother's name for her middle and our 3rd has my middle name for her middle. We picked first names that sounded good with those middles.

2 moms found this helpful

⊱.✿.

answers from Spokane on

Our oldest son has his paternal Grandfather's first name as his middle name.
Our youngest son has his Father's middle name as his middle name.

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A.W.

answers from Chicago on

My daughter's name is Elliana Rosa Lyn. Elliana is a combination of my mom's best friend Ellen's name (she passed away suddenly right before I got pregnant), and my younger sister Anne. Rosa is her paternal grandmother's middle name and Lynn is my mom's middle name. So her entire name is made up of family names.
I was named after a character in a book. And my middle name (Jayne), including the spelling, was the author of that book's name.
Oh- and I totally got the Friends reference! I love Phoebe!

2 moms found this helpful

M.B.

answers from Tampa on

I was named after my dads aunt, Amanda except my mom hated the name so they picked M.. My son is named after my husbands grandfather, Stephen and my father James:) my son picked my daughters name after a batman character, Harlee Quinn :)

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M.P.

answers from San Francisco on

I was named after a Beatles song like Bug. My oldest daughter's middle name is my Mom's first name. My second daughter's middle name is both mine and my husband's grandmother's first name.

1 mom found this helpful

K.M.

answers from Chicago on

Yes, my son is named after two people one that is important to each myself and his father, yes both have passed.

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R.R.

answers from Dallas on

my son has 2 middle names, one of them is my husband's father's first name (he passed away while I was pregnant) and the other is my dad's last name (my maiden name, which is also used as a first name) My dad was a very much loved man, and as a result, my sister's son, my grandson, and my sister's grandson all bear my dad's first name as their middle name. Also, one grandson to be born in August will also have Robert as his middle name.

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R.J.

answers from Seattle on

We have a tradition of 2 honor names as middle names (one from each side) and then the first name is the child's own.

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J.F.

answers from Macon on

No on both counts. I love family names, though, and would have given our son one, had there been any on either side that we even remotely liked. If we'd had a girl, she would have been named after my mom and my husband's mom.

I don't love my name either. It was one of the top five names the year I was born and feels a little dated to me. Also, I was one of a zillion people in school with the same name. For that reason it was important to me to give our child a name that isn't common anymore, although it was popular 50 or 60 years ago.

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C.O.

answers from Washington DC on

A.:

So not a hypocrite!!

My oldest son is named after his Great Grandfather (paternal) and Grandfather (maternal).

My youngest son's middle name is after his paternal grandfather who just died March 8th.

My daughter? nope. Not named after anyone in the family.

There are times I've wanted to change my name...then I realize - it fits me!!

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A.P.

answers from Washington DC on

Both first names are unique and picked by us just b/c we liked them. Both middle names are family names.

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L.R.

answers from Washington DC on

My very wise mother gave me three names ahead of the surname: The first is the name of her best friend who died very young; the second is my grandmother's name; and the last of the three is my "own" name. She knew she wanted to give me the name of her beloved friend but also knew she would find it difficult to call me by that name and hear her late friend's name all the time. She also knew that since my grandmother lived with us, it would be awkward for folks to call that name and have two of us reply! So she always said she gave me the third name to be just for me, and that is the name I go by. But I have always been extremely proud of the other names as well. I think she was smart about it.

My daughter's first name is that one that my grandmother and I shared and she goes by that name. Her middle names are for an author I love and for her dad's sister. Yes -- like me she has a total of four names instead of three. Is it easy when filling out forms? Not always. Do I care? Not at all.

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L.A.

answers from Austin on

Our daughters first name, is named after my friend that was our foreign exchange student in high school. We are still friends after 35 years! She lives in Belfast Northern Ireland.

I admired her because she was an intelligent, strong, independent girl with her future pretty much planned out. I felt like such a flibbertigibbet.. that I admired this in her.

My husband had also known her and admired her and was happy with this choice.

Sure enough, our daughter is a lot like her, more so than like me.

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B..

answers from Dallas on

I was named after a Beatles song. My son was named after someone in the Bible. We don't name after people we know. I have always thought kids should have their own name. (Not that it bothers me when other people do this, I don't care.)

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J.B.

answers from Houston on

My 19 yr old son, his name is Forrest Ethan, not named after anyone. My daughter 13, Farrah Elizabeth, named after Farrah Fawcett, but we wanted her initials to match her brothers.
My wifes son 13, is named after his father Thomas Reid. My wifes 7 yr old daughter Elizabeth Marie is a mix of my wife's grandmother (Elizabeth) and her other grandmother (Marie).
I'm named after my dads cousin. My wife isn't named after anyone.
Good question.

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C.Z.

answers from Omaha on

Well my fist name is a different form of my mothers, my middle name is my fathers first. The middle name thing is tradition. DS didnt get that tradition though because his father would not allow it. I regret it now with him being the first born.

How it is "supposed" to go is the first born child gets the fathers name as a middle name. Well I am a second child for my father, and I guess if/when I get preggers again it will be the second born.

DS is named after my brother and his aunt actually (yes I took the male form of it!)

I am also very keen on spelling names "wrong". DS is Samual. Actually if you look it up it is the original way of spelling it. My dog instead of Ruger is Rugger. They will hate me later but I like it. It makes the name unique

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C.B.

answers from Reno on

My daughter has my middle name but her first name was my hubbys idea and i love it. Annaliese Marie.
My sons first name is Gary after his daddy and grandpa. His middle name is Allen and that is both of his grandpas middle names.
I wasn't named after anyone and quite frankly did not like C. while i was little but love it now.
My favorite is when i yell GARY and both my hubby and son go sheesh what did i do. LOL
and princess consuela Bananahammock sounds fun. ha ha

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M.T.

answers from Austin on

Everyone in my family has a family middle name.First name is chosen by parents then middle name is a family name. Usually after grandparents. My middle son has Farrell as his middle name and I was not excited about it but it meant a lot to my husband. I chose the other 2. For the longest time I wasn't fond of mine but as I've gotten older and have learned more about my grandmother I've become proud to be named after her.

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T.T.

answers from Washington DC on

I love names that have some personal significance to them.

My first name starts with the same letter as my mom's name, and my middle name starts with the same letter as my dad's name. My sister's is reversed.

I guess you could say my son was named after me. My name is the feminine version of a male name that I've always liked, so that's what I named him. His middle name is my last name, which also starts with the same letter as his dad's name, so we kept that tradition as well.

My daughter's name starts with the same two letters as her paternal grandmother's and my favorite aunt's names. Her middle name is a variation of a great-grandmother's maiden name.

(And I totally got your Friends reference. :) )

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J.T.

answers from College Station on

I was named after my father's dead sister and all 3 of my boys have a family name.

~.~.

answers from Tulsa on

My son is named after both of my granddads. My dad's dad passed away about a year before my son was born, so my dad was really happy about that. My sister is named after my dad's mom.

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D.J.

answers from Houston on

Oh, bless you for that reference to Phoebe. She was always one of my favorites on Friends. My first name comes from my maternal grandmother who passed away before I was born, and I am the only daughter my parents had. My middle name is a variation on my mother's name, hers was Deeanna and mine is D.. I have no children, but my brother was named for our paternal grandfather and named his son after our father, who was named after his grandfather - so it's Sam, Gus, Sam (our father), Gus, and Sam (my nephew).

Updated

Oh, and my youngest brother's name is our paternal grandmother's maiden name.

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J.B.

answers from Spokane on

my daughters middle name was after my great grandma but i chose her first name. my husband is named after his dad who is named after his dad.

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