I'm named after three great-grandmothers. Both of my parents had a grandmother with the same name, and then they picked my mom's favorite grandmother for the other name. It's nice from a family heritage perspective, but I don't remember meeting then, I don't even really know my grandmothers (and barely know my aunts/uncles/cousins) so family heritage isn't something ingrained in me, and the names are old fashioned and often misspelled. It's also annoying to go by a nickname- trying to figure out when you have to use your legal name and when you don't.
Having said that, I do have a pseudo-adoptive grandmother (passed away several years ago) who I would consider naming a girl after- either first or middle. I'd change the spelling slightly, though. it's partially because I like the name, and partially because she's the closest thing I had to extended family growing up- even if I only SE her a few times a year.
One last comment on family names. My dad and bother have the same exact name. While technically my bother is 'the second', mail is just addressed to the name. You never know who it's meant for- even if one goes by a nickname, it goes back to the legal name/nickname fun I deal with. My dad's dad has the same first name, and now my nephew has that as a middle name. My dad was upset that his grandson didn't get to be 'the third'. I don't like that kind of pressure- or confusion.
One thing that will come into play for me when the time comes is international pronouncability. My husband is from another country and all of his family are there, so we need to ensure they can pronounce any names we'd choose. Some names that are fine in English don't translate well in another language or pronunciation!
And last thought. I know I'm not actually naming names, but it's hard! Especially for boy's names. I feel like for every boy's name there are 20 girls names to choose from. Girls names have so much more creativity. It feels like boys names are all either biblical or conquerors. As an agnostic I'd rather avoid an overtly biblical name, which leaves very few options! So in a way a girl would be easier- more names I like to choose from
I do avoid girl names that are big names with an 'a' or 'e' or whatnot in the end to make them feminine.
Hybrid Mode
