Comments on: FAMILY NAMES AND HOW TO MODERNIZE THEM

By: lulu

lulu — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 06:39:03 +0000

I have a grandfather Cole or Colin and I’m not a big fan of this name but I would still like to honour him, so I did a bit of research and found Colin was a derivative of Nicholas which is a much more age appropriate name, in my mind, but do you think that is too far fetched, just as I would like to honour my grandmother Margaret with daisy?? Will they get it or just think find it an insult that their names are not as cool as the ones I use instead??

By: linda

linda — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 06:35:55 +0000

To April and Lori–just remember that this is a site about baby names, and your names just aren’t given all that much to babies these days–but I can see how you wouldn’t like to be grouped in with the Mildreds and Gertrudes, so sorry about that!

By: Lori

Lori — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 20:47:03 +0000

I’m sad but not surprised my name is in the list that needs updating, but if someone ever named their kid “Story” and said it was to honor me, I would laugh. They’re not the same at all! Why not Lorena, or Lola, or even Lorraine, which is my grandmother’s name and the inspiration for mine?

By: Davena

Davena — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 07:20:33 +0000

Myrtle is too tough! LOL I win.

I’ve actually been telling my partner that I want a ‘flower’ name… Daisy is the cutest (as an aside I LOVE Maisie, but is Maisie too random to say it’s after my Great Aunt Myrtle?). I also like Iris and Violet, but my partner says these are too ‘old sounding’.

By: pam

pam — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 13:49:03 +0000

Hi everyone — I think on a family surname as a middle name, you should go with the original version as it is used in your family. Hutcheson, Hutchison and Hutchinson are all basically the same name so you should go with your authentic version as the point is to hand down a family legacy.

On Myrtle, that’s a tough one, as that Mer- sound — as in Mervin and Myrna — does sound kind of terminally dusty. You could try just choosing another M name or another botanical name, such as Ivy.

Some of the clever nameberry mavens may have some other great ideas, like the acronym one that realpraise suggested. Myrtle updates, anyone??

By: Davena

Davena — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 07:43:08 +0000

I have a great Aunt Myrtle that I’d love to honour, but I’ve got no idea where to go to from there. Most of the names I pick my partner thinks are ‘old fashioned’ but Myrtle is just a little too dusty… even for me.

By: realpraise

realpraise — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 22:34:31 +0000

You don’t have to go with the first name. Use a nickname: Rae for Rachel; middle name: well, there isn’t much possibility there; surname: as in Egbert Fletcher. Honestly, which would you use?
Get a little creative. I’m not sure about some of the names being updated, but hey, they’re just suggestions.
And, yes, June is still musty, but we can dust it off and get it fresh again!
Update for Norma Jean: Jane is back, Roman is an acronym (for a boy), and so is Manor (one word name I think is beautiful but am not sure about the usage thereof).

By: Anne

Anne — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 20:38:26 +0000

I need advice! I would like to give my boy a family middle name, Hutchison. But it appears Hutchinson with an “n”– is the more common spelling. I looked up a bit of our family history on a genealogy website, it appears it could have even been spelled Hutcheson further back, as all three spellings are variations of the same name. I hate the idea of a name that is going to be easily misspelled, and I thought Hutchinson with an “n” sounded better with his first name Austin. But then again, perhaps it is better to honor my grandmother with the way she spelled it, without the “n”. Any thoughts??

By: Kerri

Kerri — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 20:36:34 +0000

I wouldn’t mind honoring some family members on my side of the family, because we did with our first born on my husband’s side — but my family doesn’t have great names…
How would you update, Norma Jean? We’ve thought of Norah, but…not sure that I like it.

The other names would be Martha…

By: susan

susan — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 03:12:36 +0000

I think if you’re going to honor a relative, the name needs to be pretty close. Pearl to honor Earl makes sense to me because you just add a “p” and the original name is intact. But Bruce to Spruce just doesn’t seem like the same name at all. Of course if you had a relative named Bruce and he agreed that Spruce would honor him, then that would be great. If the names mean the same and basically are the same name in different languages then that seems like it would be the way to honor a relative. But to me Estelle and Estella are both very cool. And April, I don’t think your name is musty. Your time is coming soon I bet. And even if some people think April is musty, sometimes those musty names are just about to hit the hipster list and become white hot cool. April makes me think of Paris and gentle rain and flowers. Remember a few years ago when we thought June was musty?