3 replies to this topic

[BriaNicole]

Hello everyone,

 

I'm happy to be having a boy! However, my husband wants to name the child after him. This is my first child so I would like to have some say in the name. They will already share the same last name so I feel like my son needs his own identity. I love my husband but I really do hate his first name. His name is Enel (pronounced as eee-nell). I'm trying to think of other options like using the first letter in his name or making Enel his middle name. How do you guys feel about that name? What should I do?

[Macey Graye]

Elijah
Elliot
Everett
Ender
Edmon
Eli
Eric
Ellis
Elias
Eagan

[wordsmith]

I have never liked the idea of naming a child after someone else, especially father-to-son or mother-to-daughter. Even my brother was named after our pawpaw and it makes it confusing at family events as to which "David" someone is referring to. Even when people come up with nicknames, there is the idea of a child having his or her own identity, their own name, apart from others.

What has appealed to me is rather than passing on a first name, passing on a middle name. This is what my step mother did with my sister. Her mother before her was Suzy Renee, her name was Shona Renee, and my sister is Shyann Renee. So passing on a middle name might be preferable. Or even making your husband's forename the child's middle name.

You could get more creative with Neel. It has that same "eee" sound in it, and has the same letters as your husbands name, only rearranged. An anagram!

You could use the same letter, E, with Eric or Elliot, or keep the "eee" sound like with Ian. Eagan has the same letter and the same sound at the beginning.

[Katie-Nana]

I've also never been a fan of the having a "Junior" in the family, all the "Junior's" I've known are usually called "Little _____" by close family in order to differentiate and I very much dislike that trend. 

 

When I was pregnant with my son, my SO said he liked the idea of a Junior or perhaps naming a boy after his father or grandfather.  However, I think it is important for a child to have his own name even if he/she is named after someone else (it also avoids confusion) so we compromised by choosing a first name that we both loved that was not after a family member, and giving him the middle name after my SO.  We also plan to do the same thing if we have a second son with the middle name being after my grandfather. 

 

I think there are a lot of ways you can honor your husband in your son's name without using his exact same name.  You could use same initials or a similar sounding first name (although that can also cause confusion if they are too similar), or you can just use the middle name spot and find a first name you both love.