A New Baby Naming Tradition
A lot of parents-to-be I’ve spoken with have told me that they don’t want to follow the tradition of naming their first born son after dad. A few say it’s because they’re not crazy about dad’s name (I’m not sure if the dads know this or not), but most say they don’t like the tradition because they want their son to have a name that’s all his own. No more of this
living in dad’s shadow – or even great, great granddad’s shadow.
Sounds like a plan. The trouble is that a lot of these parents really love the idea of carrying on a family name tradition. Quite a quandary.
Here’s a baby naming tip from a dad I met at a baby fair a couple months ago. Since most of my interactions are with moms, it’s always a treat to hear from the dads. And this dad had some great advice…Instead of using the same first name, he told me that in his family, the fathers and sons share the same monogram—CMC. He said it’s great because everyone has a unique name, but they also share a cool family connection. I thought this was great advice!
Ditch Junior or Keep Him?
What do you think about Juniors? Is it a great tradition or outdated? You can email me or leave a comment. When you leave your first comment, you’ll need to take a couple seconds to “register.” It’s a way to prevent spammers from clogging up comment sections with off-topic advertisements. Once you do register though, you won’t have to worry about it again and can leave all the comments you want.
Happy naming,
♥ Amanda
It’s no surprise that mom and dad won’t always agree on everything, no two people could. But what do you do when you can’t agree on a name for your baby?
Here are three ideas for how mom and dad can get on the same page about baby names:
1) MAKE TWO LISTS OF NAMES: Mom and dad should separately make a list of names they like — pick your top 10 to 15 names. Then compare lists — if you have something in common, great. If not, be open to the other’s picks and try not to veto anything right away. Try using combinations from each person’s list for first and middle names. Maybe a combination will work as a compromise. If dad likes Archer and mom likes David, then Archer David or David Archer might be the right name for you.
2) DITCH THE NAMES & FOCUS ON MEANING: If you can’t agree on a name, agree on a name meaning. Then go through the names that fit your definition and start your list over together with names that are meaningful for both of you.
3) FAMILY TREE: Pull out your family trees and look for names that show up on both. You might not have come up with the name on your own, but seeing the family history may convince you to change your mind.
These are just a few ideas for how you can handle those sticky name disagreements. Put them to the test and see what happens. I’m sure you will be able to come up with a name that you both love!
♥ Amanda
If you have baby name questions for me, email me at amanda@amandabarden.com.
Your question might appear in a future edition of Ask Amanda.
