Who'd you name your children after???

[Remudamom]

Okay, after whom did you name your children? Is that right?

 

We have girls named after grandmas, boys named after grandpas and names we just liked, a name from the Bible and one boy named after a movie character in Silverado.

 

We know a boy named after a Stephen King character. I have a double name, I was named after my great grandma and her twin, and I go by both names. Southern, you know.

[wagnfun]

Okay, after whom did you name your children? Is that right?

 

We have girls named after grandmas, boys named after grandpas and names we just liked, a name from the Bible and one boy named after a movie character in Silverado.

 

We know a boy named after a Stephen King character. I have a double name, I was named after my great grandma and her twin, and I go by both names. Southern, you know.

 

Child 1, & 4 were named after a great grandfather (87 and still running around like he was 70!!)

Child 2 named after grandpa & dad (hes a jr.)

child #3, original all the way....

[BamaTanya]

but two have middle names after family members: one has dh's name as a middle name and one dd's middle name is after my aunt who died of cancer 6 years before dd was born.

 

My older dd wants to name her dds after her grandmothers. Both have passed away.

[3lilreds in NC]

Oldest dd's middle name is the same as mine, my sister's and my mom's.

 

Second dd's middle name is after my grandmother, who passed away the year before we got pregnant with oldest dd. I had wanted to name her after my great-grandmother and grandmother, but dh doesn't like the great-grandma's name. Good thing Schmooey was a boy because we were having a heck of a time coming up with another girls' name that we both liked.

 

Schmooey has two middle names - one after his daddy, and one after my grandfather. My family thought I was weird for giving him two middle names and dh didn't even tell his family - his mother didn't know until she saw me filling out baby announcements. Guess that means dh wasn't too hot on the idea either, but guess who filled out the birth certificate? :D

 

My middle name is the same as my mom's except spelled with an "e" on the end.

 

DH's middle name is his mother's maiden name - Meyer. She told me once that she thought Todd should give his middle name to a son, should we have one. I told her his middle name could be Meyer if his first name was Oscar. Heh. She did not find it funny and never brought it up again, LOL!

[Elaine]

Okay, after whom did you name your children? Is that right?

 

We have girls named after grandmas, boys named after grandpas and names we just liked, a name from the Bible and one boy named after a movie character in Silverado.

 

We know a boy named after a Stephen King character. I have a double name, I was named after my great grandma and her twin, and I go by both names. Southern, you know.

 

Oooohhh, fun!

 

Having three J's, people usually assume that we did it on purpose. We didn't.

 

My husband's father's name was John and he asked me, before we were even married, if we could name our first born after him. Of course, I obliged. My Jeremy, well, I wanted to name him Jeremiah but my husband wasn't too keen on it so we compromised on Jeremy. (I love that name!) Joe's name means God shall add to me another and we thought that name was fitting because we found out I was pregnant with him after my husband's vasectomy!:tongue_smilie: We say that although we didn't plan on him, God did.

[Jenny in Florida]

My daughter has one of my mother-in-law's two middle names as her own middle name. My son has my mother-in-law's maiden name as a middle.

 

For first names, we just chose names that we liked, although technically, my daughter's name is a variant of the same root as mine. They both have names of Celtic origin with meanings that resonated with us.

[Plaid Dad]

Our dd has three names. The first is from a medieval English mystic of whom my dw and I are particularly fond. The second was my mom's middle name and my grandma's first name. Her third is my dw's maternal grandmother's maiden name (got that? ;)).

[Aubrey]

My great-grandfather was my dearest relative until he died last year. I'd always hoped--although I knew the odds were *way* against me--that he'd live long enough to see me name my first son after him. When he died, ds was 6. Not only did grand dad get to see us name ds after him, ds will actually remember grand dad.

 

Dd5 is named after dh's gmother, who died right after we got engaged. I think it's special to her, though, because she associates it w/ mil.

 

Dd1 is named after my dad, in a round-about way. After he died, I dreamed that he told me we were expecting again, that it was a daughter, & that her name was Abigail.

 

I'm not crazy about that name, & when we finally got pg (after trying for a yr & finally being told we probably couldn't), the sono said it was a girl. I was floored. I'd told dh I was so sure it was a boy that we didn't have to bug w/ picking a girl name.

 

We picked a different name, after another grmother. And at the last minute, we changed it. Dh *loved* Abigail & was kind-of rooting for that name from the beginning. Which makes sense. She's a total daddy's girl, & the name means, "Your father is rejoicing."

 

She's the first baby dad didn't get to be there for at the birth (not *at* but outside, you know!). Among other things, I hear her name as a declaration of hope, that he *is* rejoicing. And of course, there's her own dad, who's a marshmallow when it comes to babies. And her grand dad (fil), who insists she came because he stopped by our house a few hrs before her birth & *told* her to come, lol.

 

And newbie. If he's a boy, he'll be named for fil's mother. If she's a girl, we'll probably go w/ the grmother name we'd picked for #3. We do still like it. Although I like Margaret. I'd call her Meg. But dh says no. Emphatically, no. :glare:

[*anj*]

Oh, what a fun idea!

 

Oldest ds was named for dh and my dad. Dh comes from a long line of men with that same first name, so he really wanted to give his son that name. I'm not really into that, but it made him happy, so voila!

 

Older dd was given two Bible names, but the middle name is also dh's grandmother's name and a version of a name that both of our mothers share.

 

Younger dd was given a Bible name and the name of a dear friend of ours who died right before I found out I was pregnant with her. That friend was so special that her sister also gave her dd that name, and another friend of ours gave her dd that name.

 

Youngest ds was given the name of the first of dh's relatives to come to America. It was also the favorite name of our older ds, who was only 4yo when I got pregnant with the youngest. All through the pregnancy older ds kept saying "It's going to be a boy and his name will be *******." We took him with us for the ultrasound and when he saw that he was indeed finally going to have a brother, we thought that we might as well let him name the baby, especially since dh always wanted to give a boy that name too. His middle name is a Bible name that is special to me.

[abbeyej]

#1 -

First: a character from Arthurian-era legend

Middle: my late brother's name, a Biblical name

 

#2 -

First: an authoress (slightly crazy, slightly inspired)

Middle: a medieval woman of great learning and independence, also a theologian of sorts

 

(ETA: My mother has performed a one-woman play about the authoress dd is named for... She did it many times when I was a child. I think that was part of my connection to the name -- it was connected to my mother as well. As far as I know, Mom is the only one who has ever performed that play...)

[mommaduck]

Children 1-6 all have Bible names...their meanings were the most important, secondly who they were in Scripture. Bean's middle name is his dh's middle name, his s-gf's name, and 2 uncles' name. Peach's first name is the same as 2 of her aunts (my aunt and my sister) and her middle name is after one of my great aunt's. Pea's two names are after great grandmothers and a derivative of my name. Coconut was named due to circumstances surrounding her birth. Spuds was given a name relating to part of our heritage and he was given hubby's ancestral clan name (sounded better than my ancestral clan name).

[Crissy]

My older son is named for my sister's husband. His middle name is Jefferson, I went with Jeffrey. Jeffrey's middle name is the same as the first name of three of my favorite people. My mom's step-dad, my uncle, and my best friend's father.

 

The younger son is named for my husband's brother. His middle name is Hunt, and we changed it a bit and decided on Hunter. Hunter's middle name is an old family name on my husband's side.

[Krista in LA]

My dd's name is the same as my great-grandmother's middle name.

My ds's middle name is the same as my great grandfather's first name, my grandfather's middle name, my dad's middle name, and my older brother's middle name.

[cin]

DD1, Piper Joy, is named for our anticipated Joy. Grandma's name is joyce and my middle name is Jo, so SOME people think it's a cross between the 2. It's not.

 

Zoie Rose: Our facilitator for our first adoption was Rose Marie, and Zoie is the Greek word for life. VERY appropriate for a child from China:001_smile:

[Sue G in PA]

This is fun! Let's see..dd11 is named after her paternal grandmother (my MIL). They share the same middle name. THat got my major brownie points w/ MIL! Ds10 is named after his paternal and maternal grandfathers. First name is my dh's father and grandfather's first name and his middle name was my grandfather's middle name (my pop died when I was 16 and I always wanted to name my first son after him). Ds8 has a Biblical name, first and middle, ds7 named after nobody really...we just wanted to keep all our sons with "J.M" names, so his was just one we liked. Ds5 has a Biblical name (first and middle), dd2 has an "S" name like her sister but not Biblical or anything. We just really liked her name and the way it sounded w/ her middle name!. Lastly, our newborn ds has a Biblical name as well (first and middle).

[kokotg]

Ari is named in a roundabout way for his great-grandfather. Ari was not even on our list when I had a dream while I was pregnant that we named him that. I liked it and thought it was very cool because Ari means lion in Hebrew and DH's grandfather, who died right after I got pregnant, was named Leo. And then we started telling people the name, DH's aunt told us that Leo's Hebrew name was Aryeh (a variation with a different pronunciation but the same meaning). So we really couldn't fight all of that.

 

The other boys aren't really named after anyone, though they do each share a name with a book DH or I remember fondly from childhood (Milo from The Phantom Tollbooth and August from The People in Pineapple Place).

[Doran]

but two have middle names after family members: one has dh's name as a middle name and one dd's middle name is after my aunt who died of cancer 6 years before dd was born.

 

My older dd wants to name her dds after her grandmothers. Both have passed away.

 

 

We chose "unclaimed" first names for our two girls -- but each of their middle names are from family. Not sure I'd make the same choices now. I love their names, but we were on a mission to enable them to be who they wanted to be, not someone's namesake. Now, I think I'd worry less about that. :)

[Elaine]

DD1, Piper Joy, is named for our anticipated Joy. Grandma's name is joyce and my middle name is Jo, so SOME people think it's a cross between the 2. It's not.

 

Zoie Rose: Our facilitator for our first adoption was Rose Marie, and Zoie is the Greek word for life. VERY appropriate for a child from China:001_smile:

 

Those are beautiful, Cindy!:001_smile:

[Book Crazy]

My son is named after the county in England that I was born in.

 

His middle name, I really don't remember where that came from.

[RebeccaC]

Oldest ds is named for my great uncle who lost all of his immediate family in the camps during WWII. The uncle escape from Denmark, which is where he went to get out of Germany, just before the Nazi's invaded as a stowaway on a ship. He converted to Christianity and did a lot of work with Child Evangelism and became an ordained Baptist minister. This uncle had no children of his own and so my ds got his name. My sons name is also a bible name and one of my favs. His middle name is the same as his dads.

 

Youngest ds is named for dh's grandfather and again it is a bible name and one of my favs. His middle name is the first name of dh's younger half brother.

 

Fun Thread.

[drama_mama]

#1 was named by her birth mom, we kept it as a way to honor her

#2 is named after an angel

#3 has a special name, my ex-dh and I both lost sisters to childhood cancer so her first name is my sisters name and her middle name is ex-dh's sisters name

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

We know a boy named after a Stephen King character. I have a double name, I was named after my great grandma and her twin, and I go by both names. Southern, you know.

 

Nick Andros from The Stand. However, my Nick is the opposite of deaf-mute. He has dog like hearing and loves to run is mouth....

 

God laughs.

 

K

[Karen in CO]

My ex is from Sicily, and his family tradition is to name the first son after the grandfather so my ds is named for his grandfather. We went to a racetrack the day before he was born - two weeks late and I won a good amount of money on a long shot horse that I chose because I liked his name.

 

For my oldest girl, I had a list of ten names I liked and let my son choose her name from that list after she was born.

 

For my youngest girl, I had no idea what to name her, but I let my oldest daughter pick out her middle name. When she was born, my mom and I both looked at her and said "She's a Dani" and so she is.

[Old Dominion Heather]

All three of my boys have Biblical first names... one is the Spanish version of the name, which turned out to be pretty funny since he is the only blond/blue eyed child in the bunch.

 

Middle names have special significance to dh and I. Oldest has a family last name as his middle name, Lawrence. Middle son's middle name is our favorite city in the world, London. Youngest son's name is one of our favorite book characters: Ransom.

[Cricket]

Ds (1) named after his great-grandfather and great uncle. Ds (2) named after two of his great-great-uncles (and still ended up with the number 1 and 2 most popular boys names of that year :lol:). Dd (3) shares the same middle name with me and my mom and her first name was an old-fashioned name we liked. Dd (4) has an old-fashioned first name we liked and her middle name Rose is in honor of her great-aunt who has always grew the most beautiful roses until health problems forced her to give up all but a couple of her plants.

[hisleading]

we totally picked our girls' names based on the meaning of the name.

 

DH is big on "meanings" .....He wanted to make sure that the name was a blessing for them...:)

[Mama Lynx]

They all have family names, but none of them have the family name as their first name.

 

My oldest is named after my father's mother's. My 2nd is named after ... lots of people in my husband's family (And I stole his first and 2nd names from some Katherine Kurtz books I was reading at the time). My 3rd is named after my husband's mother's family, and my 4th is named after my father's father's family, and Merlin from the Mary Stewart series.

 

If we had ever had a girl, she'd have been named after an Anne McCaffrey character :)

[Scarlett]

Dh was less than involved in choosing names. The best I could get out of him most of my pregnancy was '<insert any name>, no kid of mine is going to be called that.' Sigh. Finally, we settled on a very strong male name, for the first name. Dh is fine with it. Middle name. I suggest dh's deceased father's middle name. A little odd, but I like family names. Nope he says. No kid of mine.....FINE I say. How about Alexander for the middle name? He says 'whatever.You decide.' I decide Alexander.

 

Fast forward to the night before ds's birth. Gifts have been made that bear ds's middle name as Alexander. I'm in labor. Clearly in labor. Doctor wants me to come to the hospital at 10:00 p.m. but I labor the night at home. At 5:00 the next morning, I get dh up and we are getting ready to go to the hospital. He is very serious and sits on the sofa with me. Between the contractions he says, 'what do you think about using my dad's middle name as the baby's middle name.'

 

I grit my teeth (because I'm in the middle of a contraction)...and say, 'you want to change the name NOW???!!!"

 

He lowers his head and says, 'I know. I was just thinking about my dad and wishing he could be here.'

 

:( :( NO WAY I could argue with that. So 'deceased FIL's middle name' it was!

[Patricia in WA]

All three of my children's first names are from jazz musicians (DH is a huge jazz fan). DD's middle name is the same as dh's mother who passed away. DSs' middle names were randomly choosen.

[LizzyBee]

When my oldest sister was pregnant with #3, my middle sister suggested Rachel Elizabeth. My oldest sister's #3 and 4 were both boys, so she never used the name. I was the next sister pregnant after her #4, so I asked her if I could use the name.

 

After Rachel was born, people (including dh and me) kept slipping up and calling her Rebekah. So it was inevitable that our next child would be named Rebekah. We picked Lynn to go with it just because we thought they sounded nice together.

 

I wanted to name #3 after my great grandmother, Margaret Victoria. Dh wasn't sold on Margaret/Maggie, so we ended up with Katherine Margaret.

[Kate in Arabia]

For names we chose two companions of Muhammad whose life-stories we liked and for the third a name with religious significance. I tried really hard to choose names I thought would be easier for my family to pronounce, but even though they don't have any of the different letters that are in Arabic, they still have trouble with a couple of them because the stresses are different. For one of them his name is close to a "Western" name, so he gets called that a lot which is ok.

 

Middle names traditionally are the father's first name (so-and-so ibn so-and-so ibn so-and-so etc.), so all my kids (including dd) have dh's first name as their middle name.

[nmoira]

My oldest was named in honour of Raiders of the Lost Ark (neither Indiana nor Marion). My youngest wasn't named after anybody; we were pressed to find as cool a name as her sister's. We didn't want to risk a third child because it took us so long to name #2...

[SheilaZ]

Let's see....four boys. Two of them have double names. So that is a lot of boy names.

Every boy got there very own unique first name. Except one who got a "used" named that wasn't ever used. (My dad and his dad used just the intial and not the name.)

Plus DH comes from a long line of name re-users so we could honor a whole slew of people with a few names.

 

Child #1: MIL's father and FIL's initials.

Child #2: FIL and pretty much every generation on his mother's side back to the Revolutionary war.

Child #3: My father and his father. My DH, his uncle, and his great uncle.

Child #4: My mother's father. DH's brother and their great-grandfather.

 

 

Thank goodness we didn't have any girls.

[Philothea]

Ours are named after saints, in the typical Catholic "fashion."

 

I've known I wanted DD to be named after her particular saint since I was 15!

 

Except for DS1, the children have more uncommon saints names.

[nancypants]

First names are all just names we liked for their sound... not even their meaning.

 

Middle names are all after someone special.

 

8yos - middle name after my maternal grandfather whom I never met (he got his middle name though... Willard was his first name and... well... yeah...)

 

6yos - middle name after the California beach town where hubby and I had a very special date.

 

4yos - middle name after the patron saint of Ireland. :D

 

2yos - middle name after my sweet paternal Grandma who died exactly one week before he was born (he almost came on the same day actually!) Since we couldn't exactly name him Gladys we used her last name which was not my maiden name because she remarried the year I was born... but she always had that name for me so it really was a family name. My Grandma's step daughter thanked me profusely for his middle name at the funeral. :crying:

[myfunnybunch]

My stepdaughter is named after her great-aunt.

 

My other daughter is not named after anyone.

 

7 y.o. son is named after my maternal grandfather-- he died when my mother was 19, so I never met him. Middle name is my maiden name.

 

5 y.o. son is nicknamed "Tolly" after the main character in The Children of Green Knowe. Middle name is my father's name.

 

3 y.o. son's middle name is my husband's name.

 

Cat

[Tutor]

Dh and I alternate picking first and middle names for our kids. We started with my picking Primo's first name and dh picking her middle, then swapped with Secondo.

 

Primo - first name after a Hitchcock movie (I was named after a movie as well); middle name dh just liked

 

Secondo - first name after the title character of a novel; middle name was from the best friend of my great aunt and sounded good with the first name dh picked

 

Terzo - first name after a man in the Bible and is a name I always wanted to name a boy of mine; middle name after key figure of the Reformation

 

Quarto - first name after a student of dh's that dh admired; middle name after man in Bible and just unusual enough to suit my taste for odd names and not disturb dh (I originally wanted his middle name to be Chingachcook)

 

Their online names are the Italian (or at least my butchered version of it) for "first", "second", "third" and "fourth". We got the idea from the movie Big Night and it is how we refer to our kids when we don't want them to know we're talking about them (although Primo and Secondo have figured out our code).

[RoughCollie]

My DD was not named after anyone. After being hounded by everyone regarding name choices for the boys, I referred to her as "Indoor Plumbing" (because she is a girl) when she was in utero and didn't tell anyone except DH the name I had chosen until she was born.

 

My first choice for DD was Octavia, but DH *hated* it, so I chose something else.

 

DS1 is named after one of the Apostles and his middle name is the middle name of his paternal grandfather.

 

DS2's first name is that of one of the Apostles, my father, and my brother. His middle name is the same as DH's middle name.

 

DS3's first name is that of one of the Apostles, and we chose it because we had never met anyone with that name whom we did not think highly of. His middle name is the middle name of one of my best friends.

 

The kids all have what I call "white bread names". There is nothing unusual about any of them.

 

Were it left up to me, solely, I would have named DD January Skye and the boys something along the lines of Eagle Shadow. Sadly, DH does not color outside the lines. He said if we named one of the boys Eagle Shadow, we'd have to name one of the other two Hawkeye, after the character in M.A.S.H.

 

RC

[Jean in Newcastle]

ds10- first name is my favorite uncle's name plus happened to be the first name of a film director I like. Middle name is my maiden name which is Filipino tradition.

 

dd6 - first name is my mother's name but we don't use it. We call her by her middle name which happens to be the name of a good friend (we just happen to really like the name and its meaning. The fact that it was associated with someone we like was a bonus).

[Guest LaurieTX]

Both of my children have unusual first names. DS, Chaz Allen, is named in honor of my best friend and has my Dad's middle name in memory of him (which was my Grandmother's maiden name). DD, Shiloh Rose is named to honor a strong musical bond my Dad and I shared right up until his death. Her middle name is to honor my mother. In regards to Shiloh, I got so many comments about her name and "How could you do that to her?" comments. It was really irritating. Finally I told them , it was either that or "Crunchy Granola Suite." Thankfully, that all stopped when Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie named their daughter Shiloh as well. Now people ask if she is named after her. No, she is not. My Shiloh is several months older that the other Shiloh and a much taller child. Some people can't believe she is not two years older than she really is. She is a tall child.

[elegantlion]

My ds was named directly after my dh's father, who died when dh was 9. We made him the "II" not a jr. He is also the 4th generation first born son to have the same middle name.

[Michelle in MO]

Our oldest daughter was named after Lydia from the book of Acts, the first convert to Christ from Europe.

 

Our second daughter was named after my husband's favorite aunt, except that I insisted on modifying and modernizing the name! ;)

 

Our third daughter was given her name because we both liked it!

[hsmamainva]

My oldest shares the same name as my mother and my husband's grandmother.

 

My second is named for my uncle (my father's only brother), and his middle name is my father-in-law's first name

 

My third's first name is all his own, but his middle name is the same as another uncle (on my mother's side)

 

My fourth is named after my mother-in-law's sister. Her middle name is all her own.

[momofkhm]

DD1 was named after her grandmothers.

 

DD2 was named after Bible people. But her middle name also happens to be my Grandma's first name.

 

DS was named after men in the Bible.

[Peela]

First child Genevieve Gwendolyn was kind of named after Guinevere of King Arthur fame. We were tossing around Guinevere, Genevieve, Gwendolyn, a couple of other similar names. Dh's grandmother was Gwendolyn. We wanted to use Guinevere but we coulnd't make it work, and Genevieve is close enough, and we all still love it.

 

2nd child was destined to be named after his father and grandfather- Vincent- and I said, absolutely no way. Jared means "descendent of", so jared Vincent works well.

Jared is also the name of a child we knew who died the year before our son was born, and although it seems like a sad thing to do, to name him after a dead child (he was 12 and died in a motorbike accident with his brother), it felt like a beautiful thing to do, too...because we loved the other Jared, and it was just a way of remembering him, too. And, we just liked the name.

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

Dd is named after my husband's mother, with a french middle name that my grandmother had wanted to give me when I was a baby (my mother chose not to name me that).

ds #1 after a Bible person with my brother's middle name for his middle name.

ds#2 after a Bible person with my father's mother's maiden name for his middle name

ds#3 after a Bible person with a Bible middle name

ds# 4 after my husband's father, first and middle.

[theodwyn]

My dh wanted those to be first names, but I didn't want to saddle them with unusual names so we compromised and used them as middle names with the understanding that when they got older they could go by them if they wanted to. My dd is 12 and going by Eowyn now. Their first names are Benjamin and Rachel mostly because they are Biblical and we liked them.

[CookieMonster]

I purposely did not give my children names that any of my family members had.

 

For most of my life I had wanted to do the "name after the grandfathers, aunts, etc." thing. Really. But when I came of age, I realized there was way too much family bickering. My parent's divorce was also not amicable and there could be hard feelings. I did not want to put my children in that position.

 

For inspiration I turned to the Bible first. That helped me find my son's first and middle names. Not so much with my daughter. Hers took longer to choose.

 

I also learned to keep name choices to myself until I have a child on the way. Having decided on my son's name before I even got pregnant, I told my dearest relatives of my choice. A couple of months later one of them named their son my choice - and didn't recall where she had heard it from.

[Lisa in Jax]

My oldest dd is named Kaley. That's Kay (my middle) and Lee (my dad and my SIL).

Middle dd named herself Maya. She was 8 when she came home from India. We needed to add an American name to her Indian name b/c she had only a first name when we adopted her. After weeks of offering ideas, she and older dd were reading through the baby name book when they came across "Maya." We all liked it, so she became Maya.

Daniel also needed a second name when he came home from India. Because he was younger (4), we chose for him. He is named for dh's father.

 

Lisa (named for my father, Lee)

[JFSinIL]

Like Elaine, my kids are J names, too. But not on purpose. And the only naming after someone comes with the middle names (mostly) - twin boys have middle names that are 1. my maiden name and 2. hubby's first name. The girls each have a bit of a grandma's name - dd1 has my mom's middle name as her first name (hey, it was a J) and the youngest has part of m-i-l's name as her middle name. M-i-l is Rosemary - youngest dd has Rose for a middle name (and oldest dd has Marie as a middle name.)

 

The boys first names and youngest dd's first name are original.