Those who named their children after themselves. Why?

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Princess__Buttercup_@reddit

I’m obsessed with Nigel —> Nigella Lawson and Danny —> Dani Dyer

Being a man and naming your daughter after yourself - the ultimate patriarchal power move?

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Cheese-n-Opinion@reddit

I really like the name Nigella though. It somehow feels more normal than it should, considering it's a feminised version of Nigel. Also it's the name of a spice, which is pretty apt.

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YchYFi@reddit

My dad was named after his dad. They both had no middle names. No idea why.

But grandad was called Big Dai and my dad is always known as Little Dai.

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YchYFi@reddit

Haha I wish but I was the first girl for a few generations.

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YchYFi@reddit

I am Welsh from valleys. What accent you expecting butty?

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West_Guarantee284@reddit

We had neighbours growing up, son named after dad, big Graham and little Graham.

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YchYFi@reddit

I am a girl and the first girl on my dad's side for a few generations. I got called Angharad. No one else has carried on the tradition of David.

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Flaruwu@reddit

I went to school with an Angharad, such a beautiful name.

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Florence_Nightgerbil@reddit

I think there was an Angharad on the great pottery throw down this year. She was a very talented potter.

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C2BK@reddit

Angharad has to be better than Dai Bach!

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YchYFi@reddit

Thank you. It's always a mouthful for some people. Always have to tell people how to say it. My middle name is Elizabeth like most people of the millennial age.

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YchYFi@reddit

Well no one has had boys since and tbh Davida don't sound as cool I guess.

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jenzfin@reddit

My husband's older brother was named George after his father and grandfather but he was always called Bill (no middle name so no idea where that came from). So bizarre

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SpudFire@reddit

My nan was always called Doris despite it not being her actual name, nor her middle name. No idea where it came from.

About half the people at her wake expressed their surprise that her name wasn't actually Doris - they found out because the reverend opened the service with her actual name.

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sgryfn@reddit

Ha, my grandmothers were known as Little Gran and Big Gran.

Can’t be sure how Big Gran felt about it…

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Newsaddik@reddit

My fathers parents were known to me as Little Grandad and Little Nan. My mothers parents were known as Big Grandad and Big Nan. It was on account of their height.

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YchYFi@reddit

We had great gran and gran then dad's side was little nan and big nan. I don't know why.

Grancher was always the farmer. My mam's dad.

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TentativeGosling@reddit

My dad was named after his dad, and my grandad wanted me to be the same (so I'd be third generation with that name). My dad refused though, but did keep the name as my middle name.

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YchYFi@reddit

That's wicked. My brother has David as muddle name and my Grancher's name as a middle name. Used to be jealous as I only had one. I would quiz nanny on why my dad had no middle names.

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TempFroaway@reddit

My parents named my oldest sister with my mums name (Madeleine).

Neither of them like/liked it and use nicknames based on it.

Fucking daft really.

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After-Dentist-2480@reddit

My father, both my grandfathers and two of my great-grandfathers had the same given name.

My grandmother threatened hell if I was also given it. I got it as a middle name.

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After-Dentist-2480@reddit

I’ve been grateful for her intervention all my life!

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Dan_Quixote_@reddit

I've always thought having children is a massive vanity project

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The first born boy in every generation of my family has the same middle name, but not first name. So my cousin has it and me and my brother have middle names that begin with the same letter, though I think that was just something my mum wanted to do.

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December126@reddit

I find it extremely narcissistic, saying it's a family tradition doesn't make it any less narcissistic, if it was a tradition in my family I'd be the one to end it. Plus I just think it's weird, I've felt weird when I've met someone with the same name as me and I've had to say my name to call them over or refer to them, it feels like I'm talking to myself, I don't get why you'd choose to do that. Also, I want to put time and effort into picking out a nice name, not just use my own name and call it a day, that's absolutely zero effort.

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Busy-Doughnut6180@reddit

For some it's a narcissistic thing. For some it's just tradition. Another one is if the family pulls from a small pool of names generally, then naming your own kid the same name as yourself isn't so odd when it's also the name of some of your cousins, your granddad and an uncle. Sometimes the other parent is the one who likes it and the child usually gets called by a different variation of the name in practice.

For post, kids usually have letters addressed to them as Master and Miss/Ms. If mum and daughter are both Kelly, then mum might have Mrs and daughter can have Miss or Ms, or mum might prefer Ms and daughter can have the other one, etc. For when everyone is an adult under the same roof, though, I don't know. Maybe use middle names/initials to differentiate?

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intangible-tangerine@reddit

Sometimes there's a family pressure to pass down a name. It's not the parents' idea but the grandparents'

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SnooozeFezt@reddit

Literally. Michael B. Jordan is the song of Michael A. Jordan.

Now if he doesn't name his first born son Michael C. Jordan, there are gonna be some real pissed off people.

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Adrian_Shoey@reddit

That's what middle names are for.

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BabynATrenchc0at@reddit

My son has my dad's name as his middle name. It was my husband's suggestion because the kid was inherenting a last name from his paternal grandfather so it seemed logical to give his maternal grandfather a nod too!

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REALQWERTY11309@reddit

I don't have any kids yet but the only name my girlfriend has for a boy (picked before meeting me) happens to be my middle name.

I did try to hide my middle name long enough for us to have kids but she found out. She's still keeping the name.

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2000intentions@reddit

My middle name dates back a few hundred years (that I know of) and I love that. I would not appreciate it for a first name mind you.

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SmegB@reddit

My brother named his son after himself. My brother is a Grade-A narcissist, which is why he did it. No idea why non-assholes do it though

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Mr2277@reddit

My grand father, my father, and I all share the same name, and we are all the first born males of our respective generations. I intend to continue the tradition in honor of my grand father who passed last year. RIP Grandpa

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Kim_catiko@reddit

What if your partner doesn't agree to that?

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Mr2277@reddit

Good thing they’ve already agreed :)

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turtleship_2006@reddit

Why the hell is this downvoted lmao

Are people really upset that your partner agreed to let you continue a family tradition?

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Far_Kaleidoscope_102@reddit

He’ll do it anyway

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MarieCry@reddit

My pop (grandpa) did this against my grans wishes. Imagine going through birth to have your baby called GEORGE. Not bad if you like it but she did not and was fuming. I was almost named Georgina and my dad is a narcissist for sure. Second option was Kimberly, his favourite pub, and tbh he still loves that place more than he ever did me. I don't like the name I did get but I don't think I can complain when the alternatives were that bad...

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Reasonable-Key9235@reddit

Can always change it

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MarieCry@reddit

I have, but only socially! My name is double barrel so I just go with half of it (Marie!)

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Reasonable-Key9235@reddit

I could change mine, I was adopted and name changed. I could go back to my original name. I never knew I had a different name until 16 years ago, when I was 49. It’s very different to what I’m called now

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Loulabee1983@reddit

It would be odd to ask people to call you Cry I suppose

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Tattycakes@reddit

Haha my dad said I was nearly called Kimberley but it was based on the brand of wet wipes in the hospital waiting room 🤣

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notyourcocoabutter@reddit

She'll do it anyway

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Kim_catiko@reddit

Yeah, good luck with that....

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arc4angel100@reddit

Same for me, no narcissism involved or anything it’s just become a bit of a tradition. It rarely causes confusion when you can just include a middle name on your post.

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who-gives-a@reddit

It's a pride thing. I applaud you sir.

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First-Lengthiness-16@reddit

Sounds about old fashioned. What is the name?

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Mr2277@reddit

Alexander

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SmegB@reddit

Is your name Uhtred?

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Top-Cunt@reddit

I named my son Uhtred so he can name his son after himself and slay Christians and Danes.

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EddieHouseman@reddit

Tempted to give you an award just for your username

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Top-Cunt@reddit

In real life people just spit on me for living up to it.

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External-Praline-451@reddit

It's Uhtred, Son of Uhtred.

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ThisIsMyRedditAcct20@reddit

The one to start that these days is an arrogant prick. Once it’s going though… I get it a bit. Not my style, but my Dad wanted to name me after famous Texans

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Reasonable-Key9235@reddit

Custer? lol

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ThisIsMyRedditAcct20@reddit

Need to work on your American history… was born in Ohio and died in Montana

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Reasonable-Key9235@reddit

As the lol implied it was a joke. I have no interest in learning American history thanks. I’ll just watch the next Hollywood version of British history, which is always hilarious

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ThisIsMyRedditAcct20@reddit

Yeah I amended to joke back

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Reasonable-Key9235@reddit

I did learn something though, born in Ohio. Cheers for that

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EddieHouseman@reddit

JR?

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ThisIsMyRedditAcct20@reddit

That’s Dallas, so fictional and counts, but no. Austin, Tyler, Davy, etc. I ended up with one as my middle name and I must say people kind of say “of course” every time (dual citizen, born in Texas) but the full name does work [its not Davy haha]

Also, I went to daycare in the building that was “Ewing Oil” in the show and 20 years later my first job was in that building. Ewing would be a cool name though… 40 years ago ;)

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Alert_Ad_5750@reddit

What if it’s tradition on your partners side also to carry on a specific name. Who would take precedence then?

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11Kram@reddit

Use it as a middle name.

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Haytham_Ken@reddit

Which one goes as a middle name? Flip a coin?

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TheClnl@reddit

Joust is more traditional

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yiddoboy@reddit

My reason too.

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goforajog@reddit

Stanley Yelnats?

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RodMunch85@reddit

Same here

My Grandad's name is the same as mine

I was named after him

My son is named after me and him

My wife was happy as she likes the name. I dont think im a narcissist or anything. I just wanted to honor my Grandad who was like a father to me

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Busy-Doughnut6180@reddit

My dad wanted to give me a female version of his name. Which doesn't exist, btw. He just added an "a" on the end. Without giving his actual name, imagine a Wayne wanting to name his daughter Wayna.

And yes, he is the biggest narcissist I've ever personally known.

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Bingbongbinnng282@reddit

Please tell me he had a half-decent name 😭

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SmegB@reddit

No, it's TwatFace. Oh wait, that's just his nickname

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HeavenDraven@reddit

I would question if your brother was my arsehole ex, both for nickname and behaviour, except Arsehole Ex, AKA Twatface, is thankfully dead!

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Bingbongbinnng282@reddit

Hehe 😝

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Sad-Ad-694@reddit

Yeah my brother is named after our dad - who is also a Grade A narcissist. I don't think I ever questioned the reasoning as a child. He ditched our mum (obvs) and I refuse contact now, so I guess I'll never find out why!

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SmegB@reddit

My brother cheated on his wife, they got divorced a few years later and now he's getting married again (for the 3rd time). His current fiancee is pregnant and I'm utterly convinced he'll abandon his older kids as soon as the new one comes along. Narcissists suck

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Kaioken64@reddit

My grandfather and dad are named the same. My grandfather is not a narcissist or anything though, I think it was just a fairly common thing to do?

My dad wanted to give me the name too, but my mum refused so it just ended up being my middle name.

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whatsername235@reddit

This is one of my biggest bug bears.

Arrogance, lack of imagination, being boring... whatever the reason, personally I find it awful

If people say they're naming them after an older relative with the same name, no you're not.

You're giving them an unoriginal name and forcing them to deal with a tradition they have no choice in.

You're giving them the same name everyone in your family has given, including yourself.

Not to start any sort of debate about gender, but women very rarely do this. It's an outdated nonsense in my opinion and is no different from just giving all your kids the same name

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Suspicious_Steak_696@reddit

Grandparents yes. Yourself - bellend

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TheRealDanSch@reddit

Knewa guy called Richard Love, who named his son after himself. Assume it was a case of "I had to suffer all the Dick Love jokes, and now you will too."

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Mdl8922@reddit

I've not done it myself, but a lot of family members have.

Tradition.

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NoisyGog@reddit

But why? Why did it become tradition?

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Sea_Statistician_983@reddit

So names don’t die

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Mdl8922@reddit

Pretty much this.

For boys especially, eldest boys often take their father or grandfathers name.

My eldest boy is William/Billy, named after my grandad Bill.

It's too early to tell, but there's a fair chance that my first grandson will take my name.

I've got a cousin who comes from a long lane of John's, his son is also named John. Lots of them go by their middle name though. John James, is Jamie to 99% of people. John Daniel is Dan, John Robert is Rob, John Jason is Jason, etc.

Roma/Irish traveller heritage for what it's worth.

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First-Lengthiness-16@reddit

Johns an awful name though. What kind of person makes a baby John in this day and age?

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1kBabyOilBottles@reddit

Johns a nice name? Also a human is only a baby for a small part of their life.

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First-Lengthiness-16@reddit

Johns a shit name, even shitter for kids.

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IlnBllRaptor@reddit

I don't necessarily agree but I like how dead set on this you are

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Adrian_Shoey@reddit

Still better than Keith.

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-TheHumorousOne-@reddit

It's a Christian name so would naturally remain popular on that front.

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Mdl8922@reddit

My cousin

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IrishFlukey@reddit

That's the funny thing about these situations. They give people the same name and end up using a different name to distinguish them from others with the same name. It kind of defeats the purpose.

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Adrian_Shoey@reddit

A friend of my parents named his son Duncan after himself. The son goes by Ben cos of his middle name...Bentley.

Both names are a family tradition, apparently.

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NoisyGog@reddit

But they wouldn’t die anyway. Family names carry on anyway

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ginger-tiger108@reddit

Yeah hence why it's the tradition that someone whose name after their dad is call Junior

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Wonderful_Quail2417@reddit

My uncle was named after his grandfather but was only ever known by a nickname that has literally nothing to do with, and sounds nothing like, his own name, to the point that his own mother uses the nickname over his real name. I didn't even know the nickname wasn't his real name until I was in my twenties. Anyway, my uncle then gave his son the same real name as his own, with his reasoning being someone should have it and use it regularly in honour of the grandfather.

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Inevitable_Rock_3236@reddit

I didn’t myself but I have lived in Spain for several years and it’s super common to do that. For example the mum and dad are called Maria and Jose. In that case the first born daughter is called Maria and the first born son Jose. So you’ll have generations worth of people with the same names.

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rusty-starlight@reddit

I know one family that use the same name thing for money laundering purposes.

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JoyfullyTired@reddit

My mum allowed my dad to name me. He gave me my mums exact name, first, middle and last. Honestly I don’t mind it now that I’m older.

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perksofbeingcrafty@reddit

Yeah in Chinese culture it’s actually taboo for younger generations to the repeat names of their ancestors. You’re suppose to avoid all the characters in the names of your family and when you’re writing and stuff you’re even supposed to purposefully write the characters slightly wrong.

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Newsaddik@reddit

I stand to be corrected but I heard that that is also a Jewish tradition too .

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blitzh@reddit

Yes, you're right. It's bad luck in Jewish culture because (as I remember it) you would be passing down any misfortunes from that person.

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perksofbeingcrafty@reddit

So the sensible cultures all do this 🤷‍♀️

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mailroomgirl@reddit

Can you tell me more about why you’d write the characters in your parents’ names wrong?

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NoApartment7399@reddit

Father in law named my husband after himself. The person in the office doing forms said no 3 times and my fil kept going back and insisting until they relented. I coincidentally always wanted to name my possible future son my husband's name before I met my husband. Anyway, we ended up chosing a name that's both halves of our names mashed together but still a legitimate name and only realized after the fact.....

As to why, no clue. Fil was a character

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BroodLord1962@reddit

It just shows a staggering lever of arrogance, self importance, and vanity

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SwordTaster@reddit

There are 3 answers for this.

1, tradition

2, narcissism

3, ego

Anything else is a lie made to cover up one of the others

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KingdomCraftDeli@reddit

I was walking round a historic graveyard the other day and spotted a stone for a family. The wife had been called Catherine as had all three of their children who all died before the age of five. It seemed so sad and unusual why you would choose your own name, but also to keep using it for children who kept dying so young seemed almost cursed. They had no other children listed and appear to have died childless.

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Ipoopedinthefridge@reddit

My partner is a junior, he has the same name as his dad, i find it weird as it doesn’t go back generations it’s just them two.

When i had my twin daughters i did give their middle names after the only other set of non identical twins in my family - my grandads aunts. Thankfully they’re floral names so have aged quite well, rather than a mildred and gertrude.

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anabsentfriend@reddit

I was on a work course with a guy who came over from a Caribbean island. Let's call him Fred Bloggs. He had five sons. He called them all Fred, and seemed surprised that we thought it unusual.

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ArgumentativeNutter@reddit

i knew somebody at uni who changed his name when his dad died, apparently a family tradition that’s been going on centuries

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Scared-One9295@reddit

Persian, by any chance?

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slavic_at_the_disco@reddit

My parents named me after my mom because: a) they expected a boy, and then I appeared, so they did not prepare any baby girl names; b) my father was the one who made the final decision to honor my mom. Allegedly.

We don't have middle names where I come from.

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West_Guarantee284@reddit

My grandad was William, my dad's middle name is William his brother is William and one of their sisters named her first son William. My grandad also had two brothers called Frank cus the first one died. They did that in the late 1800s early 1900s.

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Bright_Fan_9168@reddit

Neighbours years ago, Mick and Carole..... and their son Michael and daughter Caroline. Them names are way different....

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Voice_of_the_wildest@reddit

My mom was named Ellen. She named me Eleanor after her mother. I named my daughter Ellen, after my mother. She was 8 until I realised she was essentially named after me.

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pu55yobsessed@reddit

My partner is the 3rd of his name and wants to give our first son (if we have one!) the same name, but tbh I don’t really fancy spending the best part of a year pregnant then give birth just to give them a name we didn’t get to choose together lol

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Merboo@reddit

My sister's husband wanted the same, his dad is (fake name) Bobby he is Robert and wanted to call their son little Robbie.

My sister put her foot down and said absofuckinglutely not and my nephew is named something completely different.

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pu55yobsessed@reddit

Good for her!

I don’t dislike my partners name but it can’t be shortened any more than it is (like Robert > Robbie). I wouldn’t mind it as a middle name, I just don’t want the name to be predetermined by grandparents and great grandparents he or I never met lmao.

I do love the female version of his name and I’d be willing to give that name to a baby girl but he doesn’t want that. But that’s fair enough I guess since I don’t want to give a boy his name 😅

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dreadwitch@reddit

It's often traditional. It was the divine thing by everyone at one time, first kids were named after grandparents with rules about girls and boys and maternal and paternal. Subsequent kids would be named after parents, aunts, uncles and adult siblings but if a kid died then they'd name the next born kid after them.

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FakeNordicAlien@reddit

My mother named me her original, pre-adoption name (first and two middles) because - and these are her own words - she wanted me to live the life she didn’t get to have. Not the kind of life, not have the opportunities she didn’t have, but the exact life.

My mother was a fucking lunatic, and I’m inclined to think the same thing about people who give their kids their exact names. Middle name, or first name as a middle name, or maiden name as a first name, is whatever. Full identical name is either vanity or lunacy.

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TheMalsh@reddit

My Grandad is called Martin My uncle is called Martin I think my dad was somewhat jealous I am also a Martin… To make it even worse, I have the same first name as my uncle and a middle name which is the same as my dad’s first. I also think I am the youngest Martin (26) by some time…

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radandro@reddit

i have the same name as my mum, but my mum almost died in childbirth and dad was out of name ideas. why they didnt figure out names beforehand is beyond me. i hate it

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muffinhuffinpuffin@reddit

My grandmother has a passed down name. Thankfully my grandfather was more individual and his family NEVER carried over names (and there was a lot of them so my grandfathers side has some quite unusual names!). When they had kids, they compromised and my mum has her mums name as a middle name. I'm very thankful my mum took after her dad in that department as my siblings and I all also have individual names.

I absolutely hate the idea of family names, I think it's a bit narcissistic to name your kid after yourself, and I like the sense of individuality from having my own unique name.

I know some people take a name from someone who was a particular influence in their life, like a grandparent, but I still hate it. If that person was an influence in your life, change your own name to honour them. Don't force the name onto a child who did not have that experience with that person and who often has little or no relationship to the person they are named after.

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rainbow-songbird@reddit

I named my daughter something completely different only to realise her name could be shortened to my name.

Think my name is Kate and her name is Catherine. (Its not but along the same lines)

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Kakiwee@reddit

My mum didn't realise until I told her our names all had KRN sounds.

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callmeeeow@reddit

This is so weird, I was just telling my husband last night about a girl I went to school with, whose mother named her after herself. Like her full name was exactly her mother's name (dad wasn't around) and I still find it bizarre. Personally I think I'd be upset by the lack of effort to give me my own name, it's such a basic part of our identities. I can't imagine shouting my own name up the stairs, or in the playground. People out here putting more effort into naming their dogs than their kids... 🙄

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SignificantCricket@reddit

As the third generation with a name, albeit as a middle name, if I had had kids I would see it as a now-established tradition I didn’t want to break, even if the name’s inheritance is apparently also being ornery and neurodivergent. I like seeing such patterns in family trees and it would have been nice to continue one - even more so as it seems rare for maternal lines to do this, it’s usually men. (But I didn’t see it as a good enough reason to have kids - health was a very good reason not to.)

The previous bearers of the name were terrible at being emotionally and psychologically articulate, but I would guess that my mother maybe got the name because her mother had escaped an abusive marriage and now felt she had a child for herself with a nice man. And family names were on the table when I was being named (attachment to patterns and tradition that may go with neurodivergence?) and with two generations already having this one, it was rather inevitable, because there was now a smaller selection of names on that side.

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DameKumquat@reddit

One of my cousins is named after his dad. He was the eighth child, so I figured they ran out of other names they liked.

Then there was the 'name after Grandpa who just died', but with the intervening generation having done the same thing so they're all called the same name...

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ChouffeMeUp@reddit

I think the 1970’s footballer Emlyn Hughes made his son Emlyn and his daughter Emma-Lyn.

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Important-Stomach406@reddit

My sister and BIL gave both of their children their middle names and I don't get it.

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who-gives-a@reddit

My name isn't very common. My Father is named after his uncle, and I also share the same name. If i'd have had a son, he would carry the same name. My grandson has the same middle name.

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Reasonable-Mail7549@reddit

Used to live on a street with the Grandad called Tom Dad Thomas and Grandson Tommy!

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Arbycutter@reddit

My friend named his son after himself it was some tribute to his late mother, although I still don’t really get it

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SongsAboutGhosts@reddit

Not exactly the same so may or may not give some insight, but my baby's middle name is my uncle's name, as a tribute to him and to my grandparents. The tribute to my uncle doesn't need explaining. With regards to my grandparents, I distinctly remember my granddad years ago thinking my brother's middle name was the same as my uncle's, and being disappointed when he found out it wasn't. I think he thought of it as being like, 'you had such great taste in names, I want to do what you did'. So in using ny uncle's name, it's also flattery to my grandparents in terms of their taste and decision-making. I'm not rejecting what they put out there, I'm seeking it out.

Doesn't fully translate when the person you're trying to flatter is dead, but I suppose at least your friend knows his mum liked the name.

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Arbycutter@reddit

I think your last bit is right, the mum liked the named

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beckajade@reddit

I have an interesting answer for this.. My mum is a twin - so when my grandma had the first baby, they gave her the name they’d picked out for her. Then the second baby came and I assume they weren’t expecting twins as I don’t think pregnancy scans were a thing in the 70’s, so they just named her the same as my grandma!

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Flipf00t@reddit

My son has my name as his middle name, as I have my fathers name as my middle name, as my father has my grandfathers name as his middle name etc.

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shakeyourrumba@reddit

Father named me after himself as it was a family tradition - I gave my son the same as a middle name as he's the only boy carrying on the family name amongst all of his grandchildren.

Meant nothing to me, it meant an awful lot to him, so it was a fairly easy choice.

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Obvious_Reporter_235@reddit

My wife works with female domestic violence victims and their kids, and she told me a LOT of male perpetrators name their children after them.

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MegsSixx@reddit

Because they either lack creativity, a narcissist or peer pressured by dead people's peer pressure under guise of tradition

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herwiththepurplehair@reddit

My husband is Mark and specifically NOT named for anyone in his family. They are almost exclusively James or George, his mother wanted him to have a) his own name and b) one that could t easily be turned into a nickname or shortened (Dod is a common nickname for George in Scotland and then you have Jim/Jimmy). I’m named after a famous song.

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spicyzsurviving@reddit

my dad’s got his father’s name as his middle name, and that had been a tradition on that side of the family (which is funny because he’s the younger brother, his older brother obviously didn’t merit the honour 💀).

First names tho, that’s just irritating and egotistical imo.

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MaleficentAnalysis27@reddit

I haven't done it because I had children the opposite gender as mine but I like the idea because it's common in my family and would keep me connected to them and tradition from where I come from (not UK)

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Confudled_Contractor@reddit

Don’t know anyone that’s done it.

Just thought it was Yanker nonsense.

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dreadlockholmes@reddit

I know loads of folk with parents and grandparents names, been a thing in this country for a long time. The jr and "the third" part is the yank nonsense.

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Azure_727@reddit

A pal of mine refers to her eldest as junior. I can't get my head around it.

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allgone79@reddit

The worst are Americans, some families do it for generations. Davis love the third ffs.

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s0finished@reddit

Not fully the same but my middle name is my Mum’s name. It was my Dad’s idea as my Mum didn’t have a middle name and he wanted their first born to have her name. Plus the names should good together

I think it’s sweet. My sister has her godmothers name as her middle name. But my parents feel out with the godmother so that’s awkward now

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Ynoxz@reddit

I’m a twin. I’m the second born. I’ve got my dad’s name.

It was over 40 years ago and I’m still puzzled why the second born has the same name as the dad!

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Prize_Farm4951@reddit (OP)

Damn they just gave up thinking of something once the first popped out. Sorry bro.

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Madwife2009@reddit

My parents named my three siblings after themselves. I escaped, even though there was a "spare" name going. My younger sibling has names from both my parents, one being the feminine version of my dad's name. When I was younger, it bothered me as I felt it made me the odd one out, not sharing a name with my parents. Turns out that feeling like the odd one out had nothing to do with my name. These days, I'm glad that my name bears no reference to my family.

My husband wanted our first son to have his middle name, apparently this name has been dumped on the first-born male in each generation for well, generations. I hate the name so I broke the tradition. Not sorry.

I hate all of this "family traditions" crap.

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MilaCoffee@reddit

I also broke the tradition and not sorry. It’s so egotistical, give the poor child a clean start.

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SweetPorkies@reddit

My family has a tradition on the dad's side, where there are a set of four names they are cycled as middle names.The next male is given the next name of the list. There has been a time where my grandfather was called William, and by the time my dad and uncles were born, one had the name William again (although they gave it as a middle name so it wasn't weird) .

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VioletFireCat@reddit

I don't think there's any cases of kids being named after their parents in my family. But my cousin, granddad, and great-great granddad are/were all John, named after each other. Great-great granddad died shortly before my granddad was born, hence why he was named after him. Not sure about the reason for my cousin getting the name too. But things did get a little confusing between granddad John and cousin John at family gatherings (especially Christmas when presents were being handed out) because they had the same name.

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NoFewSatan@reddit

Massive ego is the only reason

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Deep_Pepper_5405@reddit

I always wonder how many would like to break the name tradition but doesn't have the guts to do it. Or how many are grateful that their sibling had the fist child so they don't have to give the family name.

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MilaCoffee@reddit

My husband and I broke the tradition and it caused massive uproar in the family. I didn’t realise that people could be this entitled when it’s the mother who carried and birthed the child.

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New-Newt-5979@reddit

I find it slightly weird. Out of all the names in the world you could pick why choose your own?

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magicallyalice@reddit

This isn't directly relayed your question, but anecdotally, when I was an aupair a few years ago, my family had a child named James, which was also the name of the grandparent and of the child's uncle (grampa's son). All named James, all with the same surname. At least they didn't all live at the same address.

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TheClnl@reddit

Because I am fucking mint and every success I have ever had can be directly traced to my deeply, deeply normal name. Frankly I'd be insane not to pass it on to my progeny, in fact it's borderline abuse.

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Cool_Layer6253@reddit

My father, his father etc. as far back as I was told about all share my name. I broke the sequence with my son.

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_Cridders_@reddit

My initials are M R, which looks like Mr, which was a big oversight

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helenfirebird@reddit

My nephew is named after his grandfather. For several generations on his Dad's side (his mum is my sister) they swapped around the two names so alternate generations were say Peter Paul then Paul Peter. My nephew doesn't have kids and his sister has girls so the tradition has come to an end.

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FootOk4715@reddit

I have the same name as my son but he is not named after me.

Where I come from it's tradition for babies to be named after their grandparents. I did not particularly care about keeping the tradition but my husband really wanted to honour his father. It just so happened that me and his dad have the same name (female and male versions respectively).

I don't really mind it that much, just think it's a funny coincidence - although I do hope people don't assume I am a grade A narcissist because of that.

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Blandiblub@reddit

Me and my siblings have largely passed down relatives names as middle names which is probably quite common. My son has a first name of something that's been a middle name before him and a first name a few generations ago which is nice.

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StickerSlings@reddit

Nigel Lawson was so desperate to name his first born after himself he named his daughter Nigella.

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SusieC0161@reddit

I’ve never got it. My father’s family carried on the name Amos, which fortunately stopped with my grandad.

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deletethewife@reddit

I had this fight with my partner, il never get over it. ‘So you want me to give my child the name your mother picked for you’ tut pfff

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EonsOfZaphod@reddit

In named after my father. My name is “Dad”

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FuckCallCentres@reddit

I'm named after my father and my grandfather because they were the two men that were with my mum when I was born.

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ProgrammerFickle1469@reddit

Used to be common where I live in the North East of England in the coal mining communities of the past to name a son after their father.

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OkDonkey6524@reddit

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MaskedBunny@reddit

I was named after my dad. Mum and dad couldn't agree on a name all the way up to the last minute at which point my mum named me out of sheer frustration.

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SparklePenguin24@reddit

Outside of an ageing tradition, I have no idea. In my friends and family it has mostly led to confusion.

My cousin S is named after his Dad in line with tradition which is fine, but then they named their second son something else beginning with S. When their third son arrived Grandad intervened and told my Aunt and Uncle to name the lad a name beginning with L. Basically years of confusion until the kids started leaving home.

Friends of ours proudly announced the arrival of their son J D H and a photo of four generations of J D H's. Which is cute. But then when they had their second son they gave him the same J name as a middle name which made no sense to me.

My grandparents named my Auntie and my Uncle after themselves but spelt their names with an ie at the end instead of the much more common y ending causing endless confusion in the 60's and 70's.

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Content-Cod850@reddit

It is to keep family tradition going. Many clans used to do this so the blood line and name stayed alive.

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DevilsAdvocate1662@reddit

I feel sorry for any kid named Junior

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Training-Turnip-2321@reddit

I really like my name, that's the only reason I would ever consider it.

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Dutch_Slim@reddit

My husband is named after his dad.

His parents had split before he was born and this was one of her attempts to get him back. They are also both the 4th/youngest child, and my husband is the only son.

If we’d had a son he probably would’ve had the same name too, as it’s also my dad’s name!

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nemmalur@reddit

I’ve always found it a bit weird and egotistical but then I’ve got a cousin, an uncle and a grandfather with the exact same name over three generations (I think grandfather’s dad had it too).

And then there’s my wife’s family, where it’s a tradition to give kids one name from a grandparent as a first or middle name. It gets a bit repetitive after a while, so my FIL and BIL have the same names but in the opposite order.

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Zippy-do-dar@reddit

Family tradition, I’m the fifth to have my name combination. One of us in each generation as far as we can trace

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grimseverrr@reddit

In my nans culture it's kinda common to mesh together both names of the parent to make a new name - I have relatives who have the same and my mum had a name like that. My friend in school were all Carole's going back 4 generations though

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Reasonable-Key9235@reddit

In some families it’s a traditional thing. One of my cousins married a guy called Jeff, he’s the 9th Jeff in succession. He named their first son Jeff (Jeff the 10th ffs) even though my cousin protested. I’m named after one of my uncles, but only as a middle name. It’s a strange thing to do really and I don’t understand why it’s done

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GroundbreakingRing42@reddit

Other than the aforementioned post confusion, if we assume dad and Jr use different names (Steve and Stephen) so everyone generally knows who's who, where's the harm?

Gives you a tie to your family/heritage, it's as good a name as any and the tradition of "passing it down" is quite sweet.

Why such a big deal of the noise people make to get your attention?

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Over_Bend_9839@reddit

I have the same name as generations of my male ancestors. It gives me a tie to my heritage. It’s my surname.

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Danglyweed@reddit

Reminds me of an artixle i read a few months ago, woman named all her daughters mary, as is she.

California Couple Has 4 Daughters And Named Them All Mary https://www.today.com/parents/family/4-daughters-named-mary-rcna250666

Fucking mentalist.

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presterjohn7171@reddit

In my family it was traditional to alternate names Robert William, then William Robert etc.

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brigadier_tc@reddit

Only justifiable reason is so you can tell "JUNIORRRRRR" like Sean Connery in Indiana Jones

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ThatNiceDrShipman@reddit

I did it the other way round and named myself after my children.

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SmashtheBaddie@reddit

We have a multi generation thing. Im named after my Grandad who was named after his Grandad and so on. The generations in between have the same name as their middle name. This is how my family names its first sons

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Crafty-Reality-9425@reddit

So that the child has a miserable life of continually having to live up to their parent's expectations?

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MillionDollarHeckler@reddit

I haven't. Well, it'd be pretty impossible anyway seeing as I don't have kids. But my brother did. He did it because he's a massive narcissist

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KettyMax@reddit

I changed my name via depol so I don't have that concern of being named after a parent anymore. I just don't get the appeal of parents doing this.

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AerienaFairweather@reddit

Seems like it’s usually a narcissistic thing

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Fine_Analyst_4408@reddit

My grandparents named my dad after my grandad as part of a family naming tradition but he refused to follow suit with my brother and he got a lot of crap for it. My dad felt like he was basically an extension of his dad so he had no leeway to get things wrong so he didn't ruin my grandads "good name". It's also a kind of old fashioned name, he's 67 this year and still seems too young for it. My husband is also named after his father and it's a similar thing, though his dad has really loosened up on letting him be his own person over the last few years.

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ShufflingToGlory@reddit

Dixon Cider III is a fine name thank you very much.

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Ashamed_North348@reddit

In the uk it was tradition for the first child to be named for dads father, second for mams father, carry on and so forth, I’ve never seen it, but I heard a bout a man called Michael who named his son Leahcim?

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filipha@reddit

A lot of Eastern Europeans do that. Or at least boomers and Gen X does/did. It’s kinda stupid and lazy + at the same time so fucking narcissistic.

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ScarletScotYew@reddit

My grandfather was Alexander, my dad's name is the gaelic equivalent and my brother is a variant spelling of my dad's name. I wouldn't say its common, but its not unusual to have a variant of a parents name. I wanted to name one of my sons after their dad but he wasn't having it...but I managed to get him to agree to a name that had this name in it before he realised mwhahahah

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Ok_Instruction_7096@reddit

Tbh I just realized now that my children have my husband names lol I think it was out of love and it is kind of a way of saying they are part of him ? BTW he is Nigerian and he has about 10 names And the names he gave them weren’t his main name that he goes by. I wouldn’t think it was about him being prideful it was more a love gesture

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EuroFlyBoy@reddit

Only American’s use the Jr, III and IV thing. lived in US, Europe and Asia; never seen it outside of Americans.

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louilondon@reddit

He’s my first born son and he wants to call his son the same name too

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Prize_Farm4951@reddit (OP)

I applaud this response if your first born is a couple of months old. Otherwise...

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WordsUnthought@reddit

Some people get really really really weird about their lineage and bloodlines. I think they feeds it.

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gottaloveteatime@reddit

I gave my daughter the same middle name as myself.

It started off with my parents being indecisive about names, so my sisters and I all got given the same middle name, and my sister's and I have now passed it down to our daughter's. Despite everyone have different surnames now, it feels lovely that we're all still connected by a middle name.

If our kids ever have their own children one day, it will be interesting to see if they also choose to pass it on!

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vasior@reddit

I probably wouldn’t, although there’s a fair chance I was named after a dog, or so my mum claims. My mum’s childhood pet had a human name, and I have inherited it.

My family tree contains about six Charleses in succession. If I ever had sons, I’d like to name one Charles as a nod to the past. Also, it’s just a good, solid name.

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Tactical-Chunderer@reddit

My sons middle name is my name, my middle name is my dads name, his is his dads and so on and so forth. Am I guilty of this?

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Pauczan@reddit

Autism

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Educational-Rise5124@reddit

Tradition in some places. Likely the child ends up with a somewhat popular name and not being taken the piss out of because parents de ided to get creative. No reason to look down on the custom.

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JimmyBallocks@reddit

My name is the same as my dad's. He told me his father had the same name, his father before him, and so on and so on going back hundreds of years. It was a rich family tradition centuries old that must not be broken.

Anyway it turns out after he died I found out my dad was utterly full of shit and my grandad was actually called Bill. One other person in my family tree had the same name. One.

So my son doesn't have the same name as me.

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JustJavi@reddit

Family tradition. My son is the 4th down the line with the same name.

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SparkieMark1977@reddit

My son has the same first name as me.

My parents never used my first name when I was growing up, they always used my middle name. I didn't even know I had a first name until my first day at junior school. When I found out about it, I asked my parents why they gave me a first name they didn't use.

They told me it was a naming tradition, the first male in each generation has that name. I had an uncle with that name, and knew my grandad on that side had the same initial, so young me never questioned any further.

When my son was born, we gave him the same name, and wife's grandfather's name as his middle.

Told my dad we'd stayed with tradition.

He them says there is no naming tradition, has no recollection of the conversation with younger me at all, and that the uncle I thought used the same tradition wasn't even the oldest of those 4 brothers, let alone the first in that generation. Says they gave me the name and then decided against it so just stick with the middle one.

The only positive outcome is that I have now started a family tradition where the first male in each generation will have the same name.

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Knowlesdinho@reddit

Was given my Dad's middle name which is the name he went by. So he was Senior and I was Junior, which I hated. They also shortened our name which he liked and I didn't.

I have a name that had several variables, one of which my dad exclusively goes by and I don't like.

I like my name, but for introduction to new people I will always give the full version. People familiar with me use the short version. Nobody is allowed to use my Dad's name for me.

Might sound weird, but my Dad to me owns his version of the name and I own my version of it. It's our identity. I firmly believe names are important.

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Ned-Nedley@reddit

There’s a guy on my school run called Lee and he’s called his kid Lea. Hubris.

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-myeyeshaveseenyou-@reddit

I didn’t but my dad and brother have the same name including the same middle name. It’s a traditional family name so my brother was actually named after my great grandad rather than my dad, it just happens to be the same name. My parents always said once my brother got older they regretted it and wished they’d used his middle name as first name as it was a constant confusion. They both participated in the same sports and once my dad was older he became a coach as well. They’d often both be in the local paper etc etc. absolute pain for them both.

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elhazelenby@reddit

My birth name includes a middle name after my mum but women in the family including my mum were just called first name Anne or in the case of one of my aunts she's just called Susanne.

My parents didn't use Anne for my middle name because they didn't think my first name would sound right with Anne after it, my older sister's middle name is a mix between Anne and my mum's name.

Basically it's a family tradition/connection thing. However neither my younger sister (assigned male at birth) nor brother had the same treatment.

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ginger-tiger108@reddit

Ha ha my dad's called Dave and I'm not named after him but a one point the was a fella called Dave in both the flats above ours and both moved out but another dave moved into the 2nd floor flat plus there is 3 fellas called Dave that have allotments next to my mum and dad's plot which as you'd imagine cause a bit of confusion everytime someone starts calling out.. Oui Dave!!!

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notspringsomnia@reddit

Not me but for some families it may be a traditional cultural naming custom. In Irish families generally naming traditions used to be followed so you get a lot of repetitive names. My great grandfather was a James, so were and are his son and great grandson (to avoid confusion, he was referred to by his middle name, and my great uncle, his son, was called Jimmy).

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Feeling_Pen_8579@reddit

My name is my parents names put together.

They didn't know what to call me and the nurse tagged me as that combination od their names, which then became my name.

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kittyvixxmwah@reddit

Renesmee?

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TentativeGosling@reddit

Which parent is Feeling and which is Pen?

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Far-Bug-6985@reddit

Went through 9 months of hell to have him. Plus he’s a boy so thought it’d be fun to match in some sort of way. Plus just liked the name.

Irony being he’s my actual twin so would have matched anyway!

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AndiFolgado@reddit

My father named one of my brothers after his first name which he wasn’t using at the time (I grew up with him using his 2nd name). So it was a bit weird when he reverted back to his first name (tho likely healthy), when he returned home to Portugal. Then in recent years he’s switched to using the English version of his name (which he named my brother), which is where things felt really weird.

Sure name your kids after yourself but then give the kid a normal 2nd name, not something weird that sounds like a surname 🙄

For me I named our daughter after my husband’s 2nd name (the female version) cuz I genuinely enjoyed the name and I figured it was following a 3 generational name. It had gone from a surname to a 2nd name to a first name.

I am honestly more weirded out by people calling their kids after fruits and veggies.

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Sufficient_Depth_195@reddit

Because I just LUUUURVE the name Adolf.

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Icy_Appearance_8610@reddit

My daughter has my name as her middle name.

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VariationCharacter19@reddit

Most times people learn my full name (which is quite a lot as I work in Sales), they tell me how cool it is. I thought it would be great for my son to experience that too.

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MountainMuffin1980@reddit

Did you watch This Morning today as well? The guy was asking about that. Basically his daughters had names ending in -ily and his wife chose the names, and he wanted to choose the name of the boy and call it William Jr after himself which is lame enough. But he was swithering over whether they should stick to the -ily naming scheme instead (even though Willie/Billy is right there). As if that fucking matters!having a naming scheme for your kids is grim.

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Sensitive-Vast-4979@reddit

Im not old enough to have kids but I wanna do it just because it went on for llike 5 or so generations , my nan stopped it and my dad started it back up so might as well keep it going

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Ok_Shirt983@reddit

Some people have a tradition of a "family name" for the first born son or whatever. We named our kids after great grandparents, so no name confusion as our grandparents are either dead or just called "grampy" by everyone as they're so old, but it was a way of respecting people who had a strong influence in our lives.

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bibipbapbap@reddit

Me and my dad both have my grandad (who died before I was born)’s name as our middle name. It’s quite an old name, so thought I’d pass it on to my son.

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smellyfeet25@reddit

I don't get that either. so confusing when calling their name

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ArmouredFlump@reddit

My eldest son and I have the same middle name. I was given it after my grandfather who died when my dad was 14. Passed it on to the next generation and he may or may not pass it on again.

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yorkspirate@reddit

Pretty sure it used to be tradition for the eldest to be named after the father. I'm early 40's and named after my dad and the eldest of his brothers is named after their dad.

To stop confusion I'd include my middle name when I lived at home for post but my dad would still open it as he was a nosy person

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Superspark76@reddit

We have a family tradition that the first male is always called the same name, it has been like this for generations.

I gave my son the name as a middle name and noone cared.

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Reasonable-Fail-1921@reddit

My ex had the same name as his Dad. For his parents it came down to them not knowing what they wanted to call the baby as they’d been expecting a girl, eventually they’d left it so long, they needed to register the birth so they just shrugged and went ‘That’ll do’

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cally_777@reddit

The implications for your children's sense of individuality aren't good. Giving them the same name says, 'you are a clone of me'.

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MirabellaJean962@reddit

Im a girl named after my mom and I haaaaate it. Not sure what possessed her to do this.

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clutchnorris123@reddit

Had a pal who every first born son for generations was called John. However he always got called jack even though he is John on his birth certificate and I didn't even know he was called John for about 10 year until I saw his license and was like who tf is John

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TheDaemonette@reddit

Our situation was slightly unusual in that we adopted young girls (4 and 6) and when we were completing the official paperwork to legally change their last name to ours both girls asked if they could also change their given names. The social workers had always advised against changing names at adoption but that is towards parents changing the child’s names without prompting from the kids so, in this case, they said it was perfectly fine if driven by the kids. I made the kids keep their old given names as middle names in case they ever wanted to go back but we let them choose and, as I am ‘musical’ I gave on the middle name of Melody and the other Harmony. They have never told us that they regretted doing it.

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Curious-Scholar4692@reddit

If we have a son in the future I want to name him the third to laugh at Americans

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Curious-Scholar4692@reddit

He has his father’s middle name

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Zephinism@reddit

My cousin is called Billy Jr, my uncle is Billy, my grandfather was Bill and my great grandfather was William.

I think it goes back about 20 generations. Eldest son of the eldest son thing.

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Tight-Principle-743@reddit

I mean, I never had any Sons so I couldn’t. I never got it myself either, but my Brother was considering it and his wife shut it down so quickly - it’s just such an odd thing to do.

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FletchLives99@reddit

Unusual first son's name. Was named after dad. Had 2 daughters.

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Gisschace@reddit

My friends mum gave her first daughter her middle name as first name and the second daughter had her first name but a shortened version.

No surprise her mum is a total narcissist

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