Megan writes:
I have been waiting to for this to work itself out but now I am scheduled for a c-section in three weeks (November 24th) and we are still stuck.
I have two boys and this third is a boy also. Our last name is a Mc- My first son is William Wilson (named for his dad and his grandfather and his great grandfather….etc.) and my second son is Thomas Charles. We like classic/traditional/biblical names. We also like the nickname thing (William is often called Will and Thomas is often called Tom).
The first option for little brother is Charles William. This is my dad’s name (had I known I was going to have a third boy I might have saved Charles!) and it borrows from both of his big brothers. It also has the nickname thing going (Charles and Charlie). It wraps everything quite neatly and since this is the last child for us we wont have to worry about coming up with another name that also ties in later. My husband’s concern is that maybe it is not unique enough (since he will be named after his grandfather and both his brothers) and maybe we would be better off coming up with a different name all his own? There are lots of good boy names out there! (I pointed out to him that it was sort of funny he was worried about this as our oldest son has his exact same name but he was not swayed by this reasoning.) So my first question is: Is this kind of cool or weird?
If we go with a different name then we are considering as a middle name Jesse or Robert, both family names also.
My husband’s first choice for a first name is Matthew. I like it but am less crazy about Matt, which of course is what he will be called. It is ok, I just don’t LOVE it, as I did the names Thomas and William. Also, I am not sure about what sounds better: Matthew Robert or Matthew Jesse.
Other names I am throwing out there are Peter, Samuel, Andrew ( I really like the name Andrew and I like the nickname Drew better than Andy but is this confusing for a kid when they hit school, when what they are called and their real name don’t even start with the same letter?) and Benjamin. I am open to more suggestions!
Well, hm. I see what you mean! On one hand, I like the idea of the kids each having their own names. But as you’ve pointed out, they all have family names already—and I like THAT, too. In fact, I LOVE family names.
As I think on it, I think what I don’t like is when one child is named, say, Kaylie Amelia, and the next child is named Amelia Rianne. That gives me the feeling that the parents had two names they liked, and that the first girl got the first- and second-choice names, and the second girl only got the second-choice name. But what you’re doing solves that issue, and the fairness/evenness of it greatly appeals to me.
I think you could say that your third son was named after his grandfathers, but not call it “and after his brothers.” You could just be reusing the same family names, if you see what I mean, rather than making it as if the brothers are also his namesakes.
I also think middle names are rarely-seen creatures, and that in your case the round-robin aspect makes it less yours/mine and more ours. The only issue that would still niggle at me would be if each of your first two sons still had one name that was his own, and only your third son shared both names. But your first son shares both names with his father.
In fact, that gives me a new thought. Looking just at the name-sharing situation within your household, your first son is already sharing both of his names with his father. What if you used Charles for your third son, but then gave him a different middle name? Then your first son shares two names with his father, and your second and third sons share one name with each other. That’s more fair than your first son sharing two names with his father and one name with his brother, your third son sharing one name with his father and one name each with two brothers, and your second son sharing just one name with one brother.
Yes, that’s what I like best. Use your father’s name for the first name (it’s a great name, and great with the sibling names), and give him his own middle name. I like Charles Robert a LOT, and that keeps all the names family names. You could also do Charles Matthew, which gives you and your husband both your first choices.
I will be very, very interested to hear what everyone else thinks about this. If it were me, I’d name the baby Charles Robert or Charles Matthew, depending on what my husband preferred. But what if it were you guys? Would you use Charles William? Would you not use Charles at all? I’m thinking of this as a question not so much of “Which names do you LIKE best?” but of “What do you think of the naming-after situation?” Freestyle in the comment section, but I’m also putting a poll over to the right [poll closed; see below].
[Poll results (204 votes total):
Name him Charles William: 13 votes, roughly 6%
Name him Charles, but give him his own middle name: 67 votes, roughly 33%
Don’t use Charles OR William; make both names different: 124 votes, roughly 61%]