Passing down family name

When the child is grown, he may want to carry on the tradition himself and adopt the name.

I know it's a bit of a disappointment but honestly you'll get over it. Our adult children were bought up by us to be independent thinkers and so they are. Both sides of my family share the same male name, our sons didn't follow the tradition and gave their sons very modern names. My daughter did give the name to her son(different surname though obviously) it causes nothing but confusion. When I'm talking about one of them I'm always asked " you mean greatgradad name grandad name son name or grandson name? and don't talk to me about receiving mail addressed to Mr name morethan2

Agree with all the others. Just enjoy the baby.

Many congratulations on the new GC!

My OH's parents were heavily into "family" names - it seemed to be a peculiarly Scottish thing to me where you get poor girls called Donaldina to satisfy the desire for respecting heritage- but we and his two siblings did our own thing with our children and nobody died, or even turned a hair. I think you need to get over it and just appreciate the new baby.

DH's family have a family name but it is given as a middle name and most of the children have at least three names so there's plenty of variety. Luckily it's a namev that works for boys and girls.

NewGM really ? Get over it and move on. The mother must have her say and clearly does not share your views.

I didn't realise that anyone did this any more.

Sometimes it is nice to carry on a family name - although it can be confusing unless it is used as a second name.
But no-one should feel upset or hurt if the new parents want to choose something completely different - or a name that has been carried down through the mother's family either.

I rather like the tradition in Mr absent's family of giving the mother's maiden name as the second name of the eldest son. However, I can think of many surnames that would sound simply absurd.

Two of my grandchildren have second names with family connections; all of the first names are new, theirs and theirs alone. I like them all.

I wouldn't give a child my maiden name but one or two surnames have been passed down through our family - as second names only.

Ooh Jalima, now, that's got me wondering what it could be!!!

Ds2 had my maiden name as a middle name, it seemed to work well!

I never liked it very much but it has been fairly easy to trace the family history on that side!

Did anyone else ever try out the surname of boyfriends with their own first name to see if they liked it or not?

Or perhaps some people married their very first boyfriend

My maiden name was an adjective and would have been absurd as a middle name. The DC have carried on the family tradition of having William as a middle name for their first DS. No pressure at all from us, though I was touched that they wanted to do it. I'm sure they wouldn't have though if they hadn't liked the name anyway.

My DH is G IV,
his eldest son is G V, he was known as Wee G, is 6'4".
His son is G VI and is mini G.
All first names and a darn nuisance.
Another grandchild got G as a middle name.

Names are choices of parents, not GPs. Congratulations!

It's not your child so you need to move on . Don't let it spoil your enjoyment of a beautiful new baby.

Parents have the choice of their children's names. I have never understood the tradition of calling a son after his father, grandfather etc. It just leads to confusion.

As most say, you have had your turn so let your family choose the names.
My older son and his wife are also expecting a second daughter at the end of next month. Flora has informed me that as their older daughter does have my name as her second name, this time it will be her mother's name, which is understandable.
I gave both the lads a family name as their second name, one from my husband's family and one from mine, but definitely not a first.

Be happy with what you have, why do GP obsess so much about how they would do things? Yesterday someone spoke about the 'grandmotherly experience' the lack of which, as defined by herself caused her pain, we have the motherley experience we had all the choices we called all the shots. Now it is someone else's turn.

Is your husband really 'hurt' or is that you thinking how he should feel.

If you have a healthy grandchild with whom you can spend time and build a relationship then you are blessed.......

I faced this forty two years ago when our son was born. The generational name was so old fashioned. My Husband had it as a first name (still has) but has always been called by his second, very popular and straightforward name and has never understood why his first name was not given as a middle name. Anyway, we both stood firm and chose a name we both liked. It was an unpopular stance but our choice and never regretted.

I'm sorry for your disappointment but it really is up to the parents not the grandparents. Our grandchildren both have family names as their second name, would that be a possibility? Please, please, please don't let this get in the way of your relationship with your family. It really isn't worth it. In time he'll just fit the name they've given him.

Choosing a name is the parents right but it's not just a simple issue. Names indicate who or what you value, pecking orders are made very clear. These days fathers seem to give in to their partners. As a Mum of 4 sons I have seen over and over again how this works. The girls family and parents are always preferred in most situations and I am now used to being second in line. I never speak of it to them or say how hurt I am sometimes in order to preserve relationships. I have no sisters, no mother or Aunts, no daughters. My granddaughters are my closest female relatives so when they are named after the other grandmother it's hard. My name is definitely not trendy but would have been ok as a second perhaps. I don't know why this all hurts so much

Let it go. As people say names come back again. I had no idea when we called out eldest son what we thought was a novel name it was actually the middle name of my mother's youngest brother.

Now another branch of the family have called their daughter after my middle name which was my grand mothers' her great great grandmother's. I felt a bit suprised that they they did not tell me but I imagine they did not know.

I always feel a bit sorry for children with hand me down names. It's almost like it's not their name at all, plus it gets very confusing.

Handing down of family names cannot be such a bad thing these days when one observes what many of todays parents are subjecting their children to.
River? Bear? Brooklyn? Saint?
Poor kids. Should any of these children be in the military or police force where they are not just mr or mrs but given a rank they could be subjected to ridicule.