Comments on: HOW IMPORTANT ARE FAMILY NAMES?

By: Dani

Dani — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:30:58 +0000

I know that when I have a son I’d like to name one of them Joseph Colin after both my grandfathers. Other than that, I have my own names that I like for my other kids (when I have them of course!)

By: Cedes

Cedes — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:14:42 +0000

My parents gave family surnames to each of us kids as middle names. My brother lucked out with the rugged Blackford, my sister got the very prim Stoll and I ended up with the nearly unpronouncable Morier. However, I did know my great-grandmother who carried Morier as her maiden name, so I do appreciate it, even if no one can say it correctly =/

By: Jaycee

Jaycee — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:23:32 +0000

I used family names for my daughter but rather than looking for names i looked for people. You don’t have to use the exact same name to honour someone you love or loved.

My Daughter is named after my father, i simply used the feminine form of his name. Her middle name is the nickname of my aunt who was greatly supportive to me during my pregnancy. So whilst my daughter does have family namesakes she does not necessarily have the same name.

Some examples

Brianna versus Brian
Cecilia versus Cecil
Linda verses Lindon
Rose versus Ross
Bobbie versus Robert
Reggie versus Reginald
Ethyl versus Ethan

And i think you get the picture. I am still honouring the person by using their name for my child… i just prefer the opposite sex )

By: Nameberry - Baby Name Blog » Blog Archive » FAMILY NAMES AND HOW TO MODERNIZE THEM

Fri, 16 Jan 2009 04:49:21 +0000

[...] were also very interested in the results of the previous poll on family names. You voted overwhelmingly –70%–in favor of using family names for your baby. In [...]

By: Eva

Eva — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 16:04:07 +0000

This was interesting! My family is Armenian, so I have a lot of Armenian/Turkish names in my family tree: Sarkis, Egik, Mikael, Murat, etc, and Hatun, Guluzar, Zimroot, Haigui, etc for girls. I’d definitely consider using family names. In fact, when I have children, I’m sure I’d give at least a first name or a middle name to my child as a family name. I think it’s really important to carry on names and family tradition. I’m also thinking of tweeking the names a bit.
In example…
Hatun —-> Katherine (American form)—> Katarina
Esther —-> Estella (they both have similar beginnings and mean “star”)

I’m fine with the names Katherine & Esther though, but it’s nice to have options. I’d think I’d use the crazy Armenian names as only middles though.

By: Amellia

Amellia — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:51:53 +0000

I think family and family names is important but at the same time get creative with it. I am named after an aunt who died as a child. Her name was Armellia. My mom hated the name but wanted to honor her sister so dropped the “r” and was left with Amelia with 2 “L’s”. My son’s middle name of Michael is a family name that several of his cousins share.

By: Erin

Erin — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 04:02:39 +0000

I can see two sides of this — I think it’s cool to look back and snip a really cool, interesting name from some great-great that you don’t know anything about. (We looked, but didn’t have any good contenders. Well, our son has hubby’s same middle name: Edgar. Which was actually the maiden name of a great-great.)

But, I think if you’re looking to honor a person, you should honor them. My daughter has my mom’s middle name, Carol. I considered Caroline, because it’s more modern, and more my style, but in the end it just didn’t feel right. And I’m so happy. My mom was thrilled. And I love that my daughter can say, “I’m named after my Mimi!”

By: Mariuccia

Mariuccia — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 00:39:17 +0000

I love family names!
I was recently looking @ my fam. tree and I saw that I have not-too-recent ancestors w/ the last name Eyre, like Jane Eyre! What an interesting possible middle name choice. Also, I have great names on the tree like Sarah Letitia (1st name) and Ivy Lillian “Lily”

By: JNE

JNE — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 02:31:13 +0000

Not that I have a problem with other people using family names, but for my kids, I will not be rehashing any family names. It’s my hope that my child will feel her name is hers. This isn’t due to the fact that I (or my husband) was named after anyone – neither of us were – and it’s not that I don’t like names of relatives – some I really love, but wouldn’t use BECAUSE they are relatives’ names. It’s just my desire that my kids have names that are all theirs (at least from a family perspective).

By: Lola

Lola — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 21:31:39 +0000

I’m going to be the oddball and say the important thing is the family I’m honoring with the names. Even if I don’t love the names. That warm, fuzzy feeling I get when using Great Grandma’s Maud/Rosamel is about as grand as it gets. Now, if I liked the relative but not their name, I just won’t use the name, period. Grandma Rosamel’s younger sister, Lilivere? Not my cup of tuna. In the tree it stays.