Michelle writes:
I actually wrote to you several months back about girls names, but felt solid on our boy name.
Well, it’s a boy–due any day now and I JUST REALIZED that Charles Preston sounds like Charlton Heston. How did I not hear that before?
Is it the first thing you think of when you hear it?
Is it a deal breaker/bad/odd?
Is not that big a deal and I’m just having a last minute freak-out/naming cold feet?We are set on Charles and plan to call him Charlie. It’s my father’s name and my wife’s grandfather’s name and we love it.
Preston is the name of a dear friend, but it’s not necessarily ‘after’ him, it was more the combination of an old classic name/something newer that we liked and that we love our friend, so that was an added bonus.His second middle name will be Hughes (my maiden name–which is partly why we want another middle name, b/c since Charles is my dad’s name, without another middle it is just his full name). Last name sounds like LOWSHAY, but starts with an F.
Options as I see them now:
1. Use it. Own it, don’t care.
2. Just use Hughes and don’t have 2 middles and decide who cares that it’s my dad’s name b/c I’m naming my kid after him so I must like the guy.
3. Consider other family names: Wellesly, David, Arthur, Edward, George, Malcolm, Raymond, Robinson, Evans (I really like this but unfortunately Charles Evans Hughes was some famous politician…that feels weird to have same 3 names)
4. Choose something else just because we like it or it sounds good: Reid, Thomas, Leo, William, Samuel, Matthew, Alexander, Nathaniel, Damon, Devin, Owen(but my good friend’s kid’s name is Owen)….
5. Something else?
Clearly, you can see I’m tripping out about this–please help!
I think it’s fine. I didn’t think of a Charlton Heston issue when I read your original letter. When you pointed it out, I thought, “Yeah, I guess it does kind of sound like that” in a doubtful tone of voice. And I gave it a day to think it over, and it still hasn’t ruined the name for me: I still like it, I still think it’s a great choice.
It seems distinct in several ways: the rhythm/syllables especially, but also the different endings of Charles and Charlton, and the way CharlTON HesTON repeated a major sound but Charles Preston doesn’t. So that if someone said to me, “Oh, that sounds like Charlton Heston!,” I think I’d say, “Oh, uh huh, a little!” rather than feeling dismayed. And my guess is it isn’t the sort of thing that’s going to come up very often, unless you’re planning to routinely call him “Charles Preston”—but your first letter says you plan to call him Charlie, so almost everyone will think of him as Charlie Lowshay and won’t even know his middle names. I think it’s more likely to be the sort of thing that makes people think “Charles and Preston go particularly well together but I can’t put a finger on why!”
So I would vote for number one (“own it”), except that I don’t even think there’s anything to own here. It’s not as if your surname is Preston and you’re wondering about the name Charles, or as if you’re naming him Charlton Preston and calling him by both names; instead, maybe it will sound a little bit similar to an actor’s name to some people.
You mentioned in your first letter that the surname is your wife’s, and Hughes is yours. So if I were you, I think Hughes would feel surnamey enough in role that I would also want a middle name. If you decide Preston is ruined for you, then I’d look next at other family/friend names, and after that at just-sound-good names: Everett, maybe, or I think it would be fine to use Owen as the middle name even if it’s a friend’s child’s name.
But my own first choice is to stay the course: Charles Preston doesn’t make me think of Charlton Heston—and even when it’s pointed out to me, it doesn’t bother me. Let’s have a poll to see what everyone else thinks:
Name update! Michelle writes:
So our little Charlie was born just a couple days after the post about naming him Charles Preston.
In the end, we didn’t end up going with that, and it wasn’t because of the way it sounded (your readers definitely assured me there was no problem with that). I had been having doubts for months and in the last minute scramble, my wife suggested something (her first real name suggestion the entire pregnancy) that resonated. It was a name you also suggested in your post: Everett.
I liked that it was close to Evan/Evans (family name), it was an E name (my wife and her sister are both E names) and my wife had suggested it. The morning she went into labor we went for a walk and talked about it and knew it was right. It turned out my doubts about Preston were more than cold feet. It just wasn’t his name and I knew it. His name was Charles Everett. We’re head over heels for this guy.
Thanks for the help!
I love Charles Preston! It’s actually two family names for me, there was even a great uncle named Charley Preston (first and middle), so it sounds perfect to my ears. I have never made the Charleton Heston connection before, and my guess is that most people won’t either. What Swistle says is right on–people may think it sounds kinda familiar but not be able to figure out why.
I see this as a non-issue. You can’t go wrong with either Charles Hughes Lowshay or Charles Preston Hughes Lowshay.
I kept rereading the title before looking at your letter to see if I could find the “issue.” I’m really good at finding “sounds like” or teasing issues, but didn’t come up with anything and figured the issue must be that someone close to you had just used the name or something. If you were naming him Charleston Preston, it would have hit me right away, but without the repeating ‘ton,’ you’re good to go. You’ve landed on a great name with lovely family/friend connections – congrats and enjoy!
Same here! I wondered if there was some famous American criminal/swear word/other negative thing I’d never heard of called Charlie Preston. I think it’s a lovely combination though.
I’m strongly in the camp of Charles & Preston sound really good together. Slightly familiar, but Charlton Heston did not even occur to me. Even after you pointed it out, I was just kind of like, huh, maybe that’s it. But I’m still not totally sure.
Another thought is that I don’t see the kids of this generation making the connection. So it’s not like he’s going to be teased (not that it’s really something teaseworthy to begin with). Some adults might notice, but I think the majority of them won’t care. It’s really not a big deal. I vote Use it. Own it, don’t care. :)
My girlfriend just pointed out that Charlton Heston is not really a topical person anymore and that even fewer people will have him on their mind by the time your son is old enough to know what’s going on. Neither of us noticed the Charlton Heston connection until we thought really hard about it. I think it’s a great combination, and I love the nickname Charlie. Go for it!
I’ll second that. My husband’s name is James Stewart. He used to get impressions doen at him all the time. It’s been years since the last one.
I wouldn’t have noticed the Charleton Heston sound unless pointed out and I don’t think it is a big deal. I also think that it isn’t a big deal if you did decide to do Chalres Hughes Lowshay , even though it is the same as your dad’s. My first name is my maternal grandmom’s name and my middle is my mom’s last name (which is her maiden name) so my first and middle name is my grandmom’s first and last. So, similar thing basically. But I never ever think of it as being grandmom’s name with another name tacked on, I think of it as I was named after grandmom’s first name and have my mom’s last name as middle and other parent’s last name as last. So, in case you decide to go that way, there’s my experience.
I DID think of Charlton Heston when I saw the opening title, but that’s because I wasn’t immediately sure if the name was Charles Heston or something else. Given that Preston is a middle name, I think this is absolutely not an issue, though – middle names are not known so broadly as surnames, and your child would be Charles Lastname the vast majority of the time anyway. I asked my spouse and they had absolutely no association with Charlton Heston whatsoever, and it seems like most people wouldn’t.
I have no idea (until I looked it up just now) who Charlton Heston is….so definitely a non-issue for me!
Own it! I don’t think kids born now will ever know Charlton Heston. Stick with what you love. Good luck!!
No way. I know a little boy in my son’s class whose first and last names are exactly that and no one has ever mentioned it and it never occurred to me. Great name if you ask me :)
Would not have occurred to me. AT ALL.
I actually DID see that immediately, BUT, for all the reasons pointed out, so not a big deal. at all. It’s a great name..,totally go for it.
I did think of Charlton Heston when reading Charles Preston. But, he won’t be called Charles Preston; he’ll be called Charlie “Lowshay.” To me, that makes it a non-issue.
I’m apparently the genius who doesn’t read carefully and votes the wrong way! I voted yes but meant ‘yes, it’s totally cool’, rather than ‘yes, it’s too close’. Oops!!
Agree with most. I don’t think it’s an issue at all. For one, you rarely say the child’s first and middle in public, in school or work or to strangers he will always be Charles (Charlie) Lowshay – Not Charles Preston. So I don’t really think the somewhat similarity would be noticed. Second of all, Charlton Heston isn’t widely popular in today’s generation, so most adults and other children won’t even recognize there is somewhat of a connection… If the name was close to say Brad Pitt or Robert Pattison or Justin Beiber or what-have-you then perhaps I could see a reason to hesitate.
My opinion… I love it!! Stick with the name. Otherwise, I think you do have several other options for a middle name that still have meaning to your families and that sound good. But if you love that name, stop worrying because the combination sounds great together.
I am glad you found the perfect name .. Charles Everett is fantastic.